Product Description

Able to accommodate the heaviest routers, this thermoset 3/8-inch base plate measures 9 by 12 inches with a 1/4-by-1/2-inch lip, and allows mounting in 3/4-inch tops. Two rings snap out to accommodate larger router bits up to 3-3/4 inches with opening sizes of 1-1/4 (designed to fit template guides), 2-5/8, and 3-7/8 inches. The shoulder pin can be used in any of five locations for ease in starting freehand work. Also included are four corner Snuggers to remove excess play if the opening doesn't exactly match the base plate and to securely mount the plate to the top. The base plate is molded with a slight crown to ensure the center is the highest point.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13311 in Home Improvement
• Brand: Rousseau
• Model: 3509

Features

• 1/4-by-1/2-inch lip
• Rings snap out to accommodate larger router bits
• Snuggers remove excess play
• Shoulder pin can be used to start freehand work
• Limited lifetime warranty

From the Manufacturer
Able to accommodate the heaviest routers, this thermoset 3/8-inch base plate measures 9 by 12-inches with a 1/4-by-1/2-inch lip, and allows mounting in 3/4-inch tops. Two rings snap out to accommodate larger router bits up to 3-3/4-inches with opening sizes of 1-1/4 (designed to fit template guides), 2-5/8, and 3-7/8-inches. The shoulder pin can be used in any of five locations for ease in starting freehand work. Also included are four corner Snuggers to remove excess play if the opening doesn't exactly match the base plate and to securely mount the plate to the top. The base plate is molded with a slight crown to ensure the center is the highest point.

Customer Reviews

The most bang for the buck
I looked into a lot of router base plates. This one by far gives you the most bang for the buck. Their are cheaper ones out there, and other ones that are much more expensive. The cheapest I found was at Sears, a flat smaller metal plate with a 2 1/2" hole in the middle. Drill your own, won't accommodate a freehand guide pin, or accept 3 1/2" bits, but a great price for a solid metal plate. Then you get into the plates that cost three times as much as the Rousseau, and they are flat, and come with insert rings, and a freehand guide pin as well. Then there is everything in between. Now on to the Rousseau.
The advantage to the Rousseau plate is that it accepts even the larger and more popular 3 1/2" raised panel bit for kitchen cabinets etc. It also has two concentric rings that lessen the size of the opening for smaller work, and the smallest one is the standard in the industry: the porter cable template guide. It is ridged out in the center to accommodate the pc guides.
I must say, much is to do, about the difficulty of removing the Rousseau center rings. They are easy to remove, if you know the secret. All you have to do is take a new pencil, unsharpened, place the rubber end on the ring or rings, and give it an ever so slight tap with a small hammer. They pop right out. Additionally, when seating them, you want to use a rubber mallet to push them snugly into place. They fit perfectly that way, and it is effortless to remove them. You can press against those rings with your thumb, until you are blue in the face, they won't come out. A gentle tap, and they pop. Ever see the commercial with the guy fighting to get the lid off of the jar, and the wife comes over, gives it a light tap, and pry's it right off. This is the same thing, albeit a slightly different principle.
Forget setting it up using the concentric rings on the bottom of the plate. The porter cable template guide should be your guide. The beauty of this Rousseau plate is that you can use it for freehand, and template guided work. That template guide needs to be dead center. That is an asset, not a challenge. Simply insert a 1/4" shaft from a router bit combination into your router, then use a bearing the size of one of your template guides, to sit snugly on it. If you don't already have a Porter Cable template guide kit, get one. They are relatively inexpensive, and fit most routers, and will definitely fit this Rousseau plate. What we are accomplishing is getting a snug fit from your router to the template. You can look around in your bit collection, and accomplish that whichever way is easier. Now you are talking dead center accuracy to within thousands, instead of close. Try as you will, eyeballing, and drilling won't give you the type of clearance a template guide requires.
The nice thing is that Rousseau offers an install kit that has the template-guiding feature, to truly center your router. Additionally it has 4 screw studs, with sharp points on them, that you install in the base of your router, and then make an impression on the Rousseau plate. Start with a super fine drill bit, to get your holes exactly on center, then drill for the size to accommodate your base plate screw size. Another tip is to use a forstner bit after the super fine, to create a larger flat surface for your pan head (flat head) screw to be able to slide around. Then slightly oversize the hole for your screw, and it will give you the amount of forgiveness, and adjustability that you need for a perfect fit. I recommend that procedure, no matter how you do it. Original thought, NOT. That is they way the base of the Bosch feature of adjustable centering of the bit is designed. Simple but very effective.
Finally, the crown of the router plate is slight. The engineering created that hump, to assure that the bit was always the same height to the work. If you have so much as a shaving on your router top, that will affect the alignment of the board to the bit. By putting a slight crown, it offsets that problem.
Oh yeah, and one more thing, is that think about getting melamine or any material you are making the router top out of. They are usually 3/4" thick. So you don't want to be cutting a mounting plate too deep into that. What did Rousseau do, they created a 1/4" lip all the way around the edge. So you make your regular opening, then rout out only 1/4" deep for the plate edge. Much stronger than the standard thickness plates, and no having to special order 1+" melamine.
Pertaining to the safety label, it peels right off. If it gives you any trouble use a heat gun, or hair dryer to warm it first.
All in all, a sweet combination. Looks good too. Wish they still had the Rousseau name emblazoned on the top. After all it's a designer router table insert, why not show it off? :-)
Buy it you won't be sorry. Highly recommended.

Installation tip makes the Rousseau plate even better
I wanted to add to my other review. I must admit, the installation tip that I am about to discuss, I discovered by from installing the Bench Dog RT-250 router extension table. It is the way Bench Dog does their installation. The great idea is to use melamine screws, which have flat ends, and coarse threads to make an adjustable platform for the Rousseau plate to sit on. Ok, let me ramble.
The problem is trying to rout out the opening, at precisely the proper depth, so the plate is perfectly flush with the top. A little too deep and you have a valley. A little proud, and you have a ridge to run into, and run the risk of your workpiece coming to a halt. So what to do? Rout out a 1/16" or 1/8" deeper than is necessary. Then drill holes a little smaller than the melamine screw size all around the outside lip. Since melamine screws are not tapered, the threads are the same size for the full length of the shaft. You can look up melamine screws here at Amazon with a search. They refer you to McFeeleys, which is a great business, with instant service, and a full array of screws and fasteners. Much more variety than the usual home centers. They have a box of 50 available. Ok so what is the big deal about using the melamine screws? This is it, by using the screws with the flat tips, screwed in from underneath, all around the circumference, you wind up with a fine adjust system for getting the Rousseau plate, perfectly level with the table top. Combining that with the four countersunk holes in each of the corners for securing the top, you get an incredibly adjustable platform for the Rousseau top. I used 14 melamine screws, equally balanced around the circumference. It enabled me to fine adjust the plate so well, that I was able to completely eliminate the ever so slight crown in the plate. Although I did attach it to a wide base plunge router, which I am sure contributed to the leveling.
Since the adjusting screws are now the contact point for the base, you are now given a lot more freedom in routing the opening. For one, you don't have to rout up to the edge all the way around. You can rout to just one depth, and for example create 45 degree angle corner shelves under the plate, thereby creating greater overall stability of the greater table.
This melamine screw installation is not exclusive to new installations, it can be easily done with an already installed plate. That way if you are dealing with a small dip on any edge, it can be easily corrected.
I thank Bench Dog for turning me on to this installation method, and to Rousseau for making such a great router plate. Once you install any manufacturers router plate using melamine screws for adjustability, you will never want to do it any other way. Hope this helps.

Rousseau Base Plate
Not a lot to say about this product. It is made of very solid material and is very easy to install. Getting the router centered on the plate is the hardest part of the install and this was made easy by the circle marks on the bottom of the plate. All you have to do is find the set of circles that is the same size as your router base and clamp or tape it down.

I would have given this product a 5, but the center rings are a little difficult to remove. I like to use the plate just as much out of the table as in so i am ordering another to install on my second router.