Hello Scott! I am now down to three routers but over the years have had five and doubtless will collect at least one and maybe two more. There are a few things which make some better than others and the features continue to improve. They include:
Quarter or half inch chuck Wrenchless bit change Plunge or fixed base Through the table depth adjustment variable speed Horse power There are now even cordless routers and some known as trim routers and doubtless some things I have forgotten to mention. I have a bruit made in Australia by Triton, 3.5 horse power plunge router. It came on sale for something like $325, a couple of years ago. It is a fine variable speed plunge router best suited to a router table because of it's weight and bulk, it works well for very heavy cutting but is a little difficult to handle free-hand and I find the switch awkward, intended to be safe it is complicated. In a table this doesn't matter particularly as I have a switch wired to it. It does have a single wrench bit change which locks the spindle when you raise it fully through the table for example however to do this you have to work it from underneath and it is heavy. Shortly after I bought it a couple of models came out with a "Through-the-table" feature whereby you insert a long key from the base surface into the machine and can raise or lower the router with it. Very nice for bit changes and for bit height adjustment in a table mounted router. Variable speed is helpful particularly when routing with very large bits as in panel raising bits which should only be used in a table or in cutting some very hard woods which are prone to burning but mostly it is unnecessary with a little care. Smaller routers are much more satisfactory for hand held use but too small and light will limit usefulness. A nice small trim router which I do not yet possess is very good for chamfering or rounding over edges, cleanly forming the edges of laminate coverings like Arborite or cutting a decorative edge on a table top. They are light weight, easy to handle and with a smaller base they ride well over a surface while following a bearing. They are really nice for plowing out shallow mortises for things like hinges. A trim router will probably be my next router acquisition. Porter Cable makes a pretty nice router which includes both a fixed and plunge base. If memory serves it is a 2.5 HP, a good compromise of power and size and should be a very good multi-purpose router. My only complaint is that it is a two wrench bit change and if anything like my Porter Cable, it is a bit inconvenient for bit changing. It does however accommodate the most common types of template collars which the Triton certainly does not. Many routers these days will accept a quarter inch collet allowing for both half and quarter inch shank bits and this is a feature well worth while. I have a Sears router which I bought as part of a router and table combination. The depth adjustment is poor, difficult to use and hard to get a truly accurate depth setting. The table is cast alluminium and not bad but the wings are pressed steel and both have warped with use. Finally, the collet doesn't hold bits very well, I have ruined a few pieces as a quarter inch straight cutting bit was drawn up out of the collet. This is unimaginably dangerous particularly if cutting a narrow dado or groove partial depth and the damn bit begins protruding up through the work. So far I am not impressed much with commercially available router tables. Doubtless there are some really good ones but they must cost loads, Lee Valley for example has one or two but they cost several hundreds. A router table certainly adds wonderful value to a router but I warn you, you will certainly want two routers as moving one in and out of the table soon becomes bothersome and you will want hand-held for many operations. Hope this gives you a few ideas from someone with a little experience.. ----- Origin Message ----- From: Scott Howell To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:50 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] routers and the use there of Folks, to change the subject and make this thread a topic on to itself, I have a question on routers. I'm not planning to run out and get one right away, but at some point I'd like to consider it for a couple of projects. What is a reasonably good router that would get some use, not heavy use, but then not something that is so inexpensive that I regret purchasing it either. Would it make sense to look for a table and router combo set or do they even have such creatures? Any particular things I should consider and how about some howtos on using a router, especially from a blind person's perspective. Maybe I don't necessarily even need a router. Here are the things I'd like to do. I'd like to make some tables for our living room. I'd like to make them somewhat fancy, it's my wife's formal living room. Now mind you it's got the "Country" look and we're not some "up scale" snob types or something cause I'd probably go buy the darn table instead of making it. The point is I would like to try my hand at doing some basic furniture and some other small projects. I imagine a router would make some of these projects a little more interesting for one thing and might help do some other things. Maybe I might even consider refurbishing my kitchen cabinets. Ok, so I'm getting way ahead of my skills, but one can dream I think. grin Scott Howell [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.6/1540 - Release Date: 7/8/2008 6:33 AM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
