wood router advice please

sarabande

sarabande

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I have bought an ecclesiastically pre-used router table today, and it has become clear that my old Black and Decker router is not up to scratch (650W, 1/4 inch chuck, single speed, signed by Barny Rubble, yadda yadda.)


So what do I look for please , oh experienced routers ?


Immediate job list includes:

window cills (with drip channels)
new teak locker tops (approx 20mm thick) with drainage slots
lots of mortice/tenon work in pine, say up to 60mm x 40mm
new solid edges to my ply worktop benches
bevelled winch bases
keyhole slot in the spruce mast

I have 110v in the workshop and am slightly biased towards that; reasonable quality is important, Bosch, Hitachi, Makita is the area ( I cannot afford Festtool!)

thanks in advance
 
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What's the problem with the existing router? With the possible exception of the window cills there's nothing particularly heavy duty in that list.
 
I have two Makita's. Neither variable speed. A big powerful brute which is normally used in a router table, but can be used to take large chunks of wood away hand held. A wee one for cutting dovetails etc. It is a little difficult to satisfy all your requirements in one tool. I'd hate to have to cut dovetails with the big one. They are both great.

However I am a sucker for tools and have to hide the receipts from the chancellor. I'm sure you'll find a more economical solution.
 
I have both 1/4" and 1/2" routers

My weapon of choice is the 1/4" Trend T4EK. 850w, good quality, lots of accessories available, upto the jobs you list with a good router bit fitted .... and best of all, it has a 42mm collar and so will fit in a standard drill press. Mount the drill press base under a length of kitchen worksurface (not in SHMBO'd kitchen) with a length of wood and two G cramps as a guide.
- Lovely big flat surface
- Excellent view of cut
 
I have two, an AEG big one, excellent bit of kit powerful and light and a bosch palm router, for the more delicate stuff and routing teak deck grooves. I use the AEG in my home made router table. A pice of 15mm ply, with the router screwed underneath, clamped in a B&D workmate and a movable fence, works a treat.
 
I'm almost afraid to admit this, among 'proper' woodworkers.
I have a nice big Bosch Router.
I also have a router adaptor toy for the Dremel.
The dremel one gets a lot more use, it is just brilliant for small jobs.
The Li-ion Dremel is particularly handy IMHO.
 
Wood Routers.

My original Black and Decker just wasn't up to the sort of use it experienced when I started to use it inverted. I now use a Trend T11 on my router table and have a small Bosch for hand held work. The Trend is great and I would fully recommend it. Once you start using the table it's surprising how much easier it all becomes and how many additional jobs find their way onto the to do list.
Martin
 
If you want cheap but powerful the Clarke/Machine Mart 'Contractor' type is pretty good value. Soft start and drives a 1/2 inch bit with ease. It's a bit like a Russian tractor, mind you.

By the way I agree with CCScott about home made router tables. How complicated does it have to be?
 
Wood routers

After over 30 years in the trade I am still using my Elu Mof 96 1/4" 650w router for small jobs and a bigger 1/2" 1300w Elu can't remember the number think its a Mh 31.

Brilliant routers now obsolete, but still available sometime on ebay etc, they were taken over by Black and Decker and re- badged as Dewalt but not as good as the Swiss made Elu original ones.

The Trend router is very similar design and quite good modern equivelant, but you will pay the price if buying new?
 
I have three. An ELU 650w, a B&D 650w (which appear to be the same machine, except that the ELU is much smoother) and a 1/2" Roybi. The latter spends most of its time under a table and takes some useful bits that only come in 1/2" shank. Not the smoothest, but slow start and speed controlled.
 
Responding as the ecclesiastical supplier of router tables.

The Trend router that I had in it was a 'soft start' machine variable speed. I never worked out when I would want to slow it down though... The soft start makes it very comfortable in hand use and I would buy another if I was shopping for one again.

I have another Bosch one which was struggling when routing big slots in lots of teak to make gratings.
 
sarabande said:
I have bought an ecclesiastically pre-used router table today, and it has become clear that my old Black and Decker router is not up to scratch (650W, 1/4 inch chuck, single speed, signed by Barny Rubble, yadda yadda.)


So what do I look for please , oh experienced routers ?


Immediate job list includes:

window cills (with drip channels)
new teak locker tops (approx 20mm thick) with drainage slots
lots of mortice/tenon work in pine, say up to 60mm x 40mm
new solid edges to my ply worktop benches
bevelled winch bases
keyhole slot in the spruce mast

I have 110v in the workshop and am slightly biased towards that; reasonable quality is important, Bosch, Hitachi, Makita is the area ( I cannot afford Festtool!)

thanks in advance
Click to expand...


Just looking at what you want to achieve I would go for a 1/2" if you are using with a table, you can always get a collet for any 1/4" cutters, 240v is easier if you use it away from workshop.

Hitachi or Makita are good but guess the majority are now made in the same factory in far East.
 
xeitosaphil said:
After over 30 years in the trade I am still using my Elu Mof 96 1/4" 650w router for small jobs...
Click to expand...
Me too, and a Ryobi 1/2" which is mounted in a table, a small Festool (super accurate) and a DeWalt 1/2". The Elu is very nearly as good as the Festool, and they still fetch silly money on eBay. I wouldn't buy another Ryobi (too much play in the slides and spindle to be accurate), but DeWalt, Bosch and Makita are safe bets.

Looking at what you want to do you'll really need a 1/2" router. Don't be tempted to buy a 99 piece router bit set - the bits will be rubbish and you won't use many of them. Buy as you need from, for example, http://www.wealdentool.com/
 
srp said:
Me too, and a Ryobi 1/2" which is mounted in a table, a small Festool (super accurate) and a DeWalt 1/2". The Elu is very nearly as good as the Festool, and they still fetch silly money on eBay. I wouldn't buy another Ryobi (too much play in the slides and spindle to be accurate), but DeWalt, Bosch and Makita are safe bets.

Looking at what you want to do you'll really need a 1/2" router. Don't be tempted to buy a 99 piece router bit set - the bits will be rubbish and you won't use many of them. Buy as you need from, for example, http://www.wealdentool.com/
Click to expand...
As the OP lives near Exeter I will suggest either http://www.exetertoolshop.co.uk/index.php (who have some router bits in stock and will order very quickly anything you need) or Axminster tools at the outlet shop in Axminster itself. Axminster aren't always that good - but they are only a few minutes from where I live so they get some custom on convenience alone.
 
Like 'xeitosaphil' and 'ccscott49' I find I've accumulated several routers. Here's two of 'em....

IMG_2845.jpg

The old 600W MOF96 still does a good job - when cleaned! - and I use that lightweight 1/4" machine when the tool needs to be taken to the job. One will also see a 730W Hitachi TR8, which I tend to use mounted inverted in a simple stand-alone table such as this.

That £50 price includes both table and router - which seems staggering value, if it lasts a handful of jobs.

Your 'all-singing, all-dancing' ecumenical arrangement will warrant a decent and respectable 1/2" job with a sound guarantee and all the little goodies that make wood shaping more of a pleasure than a penance..... Fine height adjuster, soft start, precision collet, perhaps even a cutter quick-change device....

One of the first 'necessaries' is a current 'Trend' catalogue so you can prepare your Christmas List early....! ;)
 
Lots of different routers around then. Mine is a cheapo (probably Lidl years ago) sometimes clamped under a B&D bench. The main problem is having to use a "G"clamp to keep the buttom pushed! Oh and the plastic air-moving-device on the shaft melted fairly early on. Still works OK but only on high speed. Lack of soft start means hand-guided jobs can be spoiled.
To answer the OP- get the best you can afford, it will probably be safer to use.
 
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