January 27, 20179 yr Is there a link or can someone give me information on a good Wood Router. I'm looking into building a router table and mounting it so I can make kitchen raised door panels and more. Or your own personal experience with a good router. How big a router I would need. Edited November 24, 20178 yr by Ron Dudelston tags added
January 27, 20179 yr Larry, There are several good routers on the market today. Porter cable, Hitachi, DeWalt, Triton, Bosch and more. I'd recommend a 2 1/4 HP router with variable speed. There are combo units with a plunge base and a fixed base. Depends on your budget . I have the Hitachi 12 VC in my table. It is the quietest of all routers, but if you ever plan to purchase a router lift for you table, most lifts wont fit the Hitachi. Price wise, Hitachi is about $160.00 with both bases. Another top router is the Bosch 1617 VSPK which runs about $220 with both bases.. Amazon offers lots of routers and they have customer reviews available to view. That is where I'd look to see what is available, even if you choose to buy somewhere else
January 27, 20179 yr Here is mine. Motor only. Must use a lift. It's made a passel of raised panels without once complaining. It's 5 speeds allows you to get the speed down to safely spin those monster panel raising bits.
January 27, 20179 yr I kinda like Porter Cable routers. That said, I've read where their more recent plunge base doesn't have very close tolerances. My older model plung base is very good, however. +1 for what Al said about variable speed and lots of horsepower. Here's something to consider when thinking about raised panels- the "vertical" router bits. Because of the smaller diameter, they don't require quite as large of a hole in the router table. As for a router lift, I built one from plans Shop Notes- ShopNotes Magazine No. 121
January 27, 20179 yr Not to dissuade you from building a router table because it's a very useful setup, but here is a bunch of YouTube videos about raising panels with a table saw.
January 27, 20179 yr Popular Post What I have to say is about the new 7518's and not the older American made ones... bought 6 PC routers for heavy production use.... (over $2,000 worth).... 1st failure in the 1st month.. none lasted longer than 2½ months two speed controllers went down and 4 bearing failured W/ 3 of them catastrophic... Fields and armatures damaged.. I installed 30K ceramic bearings (sustained) in the two remaining routers and bypassed controllers... their bearings had became quite noisy and hadn't failed yet... 1st issue put a centering point in the router... set the router up against a clamped on edge guide you are not using a router mounted edge guide for this test... spin/rotate entire the router around 360º while it's up against the edge guide... the router doesn't even need to be plugged in.... observe where the CP indicates the center of the router is... you'll find that it moves elliptically... it's not because the base isn't round it's because the CL of the motor isn't centered in the base to it's self... The CL of the motor and CL of the base are offset ever so slightly... the router that was flagrant about this and that got my full attention was offset 5/64"... have you ever wondered why you need to center the guide bushings to the CL of the motor??? PC told me I must have dropped the router and were happy to sell me another base for 85$$$... plus shipping... since I still have the two bases from the catastrophically failed routers I swapped out the bases/motor... same issues only not as bad but, the measures were different on each swap but the offset is still there... hmmmmmmm... that tells me a lot... like that huge hole in the base that receives the motor is offset for starters... so that motor got new ceramic bearings and lives in the JessEm lift...2nd issue... install a 1/2" drill rod into the router... longer is better.. measure/test the motor to the base for perpendicular squareness... it isn't..... so not only is that hole for the motor offset it's at a slight angle...3rd issue install a 1/2x6" drill blank... turn the router on... what you see is run out because of the bearings... so much for QC... the motor having inadequate bearings and the base being poorly done just doesn't make/cut it... the defects in the base aren't even consistent for crying out loud.. swapping bases and motors all show the same issues but measure differently... My four American made 690's haven't got these issues.. nor do the two American made R2D2 looking ones... The PR department for PC says these are commercial production routers... Right.. can you just feel/touch the sarcasm... The CS/TS departments said they wouldn't warranty them because they used for production in a commercial setting... What they were suppose to do... 1¾'' rail and stile... 2'' thumbnail.. glass door bead... 1½''(?)... assorted ogee.. edge and groove... 1''±... *picture molding.... *chair rail... *base... *casing.. *crown... *built up... *hand rail.. *these sizes were all over the map... mid plus 5 figures in LF all totaled... never kept track of actual machine in operation hours.. some days.. all day... other days an hour or two... or not at all... did use up around 190 bits total for the project... the idea was to use the PC commercial motors for the heavy work in the tables and 1617's and 19's for hand held.. finished the job w/ 1617 motors in the tables... job lasted 7 months... 15 routers... replaced the 6PC's w/ Bosch.. 1 Bosch stopped working due to brushes... 1 pulled from service due to noisy bearing(s)... in both cases Bosch was all over it w/10 star CS... when PC CS found out their motors were used commercially they wouldn't warranty them... I did notice all of the bearings in the PC's had leaked but not till after they were torn down..... according to my bearing wholesaler the PC bearings are only good for around 16~18K RPM sustained no load... and the cost less than a buck new... shapers were the right tool for the job but there was no way to move and set up 3 ea 2 spindle 3Ø shapers..... (Whitney 90'' tilting spindles) I couldn't find smaller machines other than delta (and lots of those were needing some extinct part) so I gambled on the routers... and lost.. also I didn't use big cutters (large dia)... not for a 3+ HP motors anyways... if you go w/ the new offshore made PC 7518 w/ a lift... change the bearings to ceramics (easy to do) and plan on replacing the caps in the speed control at some point or do it now (about 5~6$) and you should be good to go for a long time... they may even out live you... also .. W/ ceramic bearings the router runs cooler/quieter/smoother/ and run-out about disappears... have you considered a Bosch reconditioned 1619 or a 1617???
January 27, 20179 yr I have two of the bosch 1617's- one with the fixed base and the plunge base. The other resides in my router table. I have not a problem with them and love them both
January 27, 20179 yr Thank goodness all my PC routers are at least 15 years old. Everything B&D touches turns to s#%t. If they are as bad as Stick indicates, Bosch would certainly be a better choice.
January 27, 20179 yr I've had a PC690 for over 35 years. For much of that time it was my only router (Norm to the contrary). I have heard the new models are radically worse. I have a Bosch 1617 and really like it. Reviews I have read confirm it's a good machine. Or you could spend more than twice as much on a Festool.
January 27, 20179 yr 4 minutes ago, kmealy said: Or you could spend more than twice as much on a Festool. or 5 times... http://www.festoolproducts.com/power-tools/festool-routers.html
January 28, 20179 yr 1 hour ago, Gene Howe said: Thank goodness all my PC routers are at least 15 years old.
January 28, 20179 yr WHY I LIKE BOSCH... 2nd to none CS and support that's absolutely painless... They respect us, the consumer... they make tools that are real work horses... they make tools that last a very long time... decades of hard heavy use.. they make tools that protect my bottom line... I think/believe Bosch to be more an outstanding company that offer outstanding products...
January 28, 20179 yr Larry...if you haven't already might take a look here...Free shipping for many items right now. Sometimes they'll have reconditioned models also... CPO Outlets Bosch 1617EVSPK Combo Base-New
January 28, 20179 yr 14 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said: Larry...if you haven't already might take a look here...Free shipping for many items right now. Sometimes they'll have reconditioned models also... CPO Outlets Bosch 1617EVSPK Combo Base-New good outfit to deal w/... very good.... better than 90% of the Bosch I have is reconditioned and never an issue...
January 28, 20179 yr 8 hours ago, Stick486 said: PC + old = good... Wish the same formula applied to my body.
January 28, 20179 yr 28 minutes ago, Gene Howe said: Wish the same formula applied to my body. you and me both..
January 28, 20179 yr I have mostly switched to Milwaukee routers, but as with some other brands mine are older models, and I'm not sure what the Chinese owners have done to the newer ones. That said, my RT has a Milwaukee 5625, which is my mind has replaced the PC 7518 as the defacto standard for use in a table with a lift. I had actually bought a 7518 for my table, and if it ran more than 5 minutes got incredibly hot. A call to PC (this was when they were a US based company) got me an analysis that went like "it's new and the bearings are just getting worn in". (BS). I stumbled onto a 5625, which would also fit into the same lift with an adapter from Woodpecker, so I bought it and sold the 7518. The Milwaukee routers have built in through the table adjustment (the 5625 and 5615/6 models) so you wouldn't need a lift to use those. The 5615 and 5616 I have replaced an aging PC 690 (in use) mostly because it's so much easier to move the motor from one base to the other...the 690 (the older ones) were a colossal PITA to move back and forth. They (5615/6) also interchange with a few of the PC accessories I have on hand. Take all this for what it's worth. With all the tool company changes that have occurred recently, about the only brand that hasn't changed (ownership, etc.) is Bosch....and they do make very good tools.
January 28, 20179 yr One of my old PC690's burned up back around Thanksgiving. Just before Christmas Grizzly put the new 690's on sale so I bought a replacement. The new model spins a couple thous. faster; and it has a new draw latch on it. The latch is a little clumsy for me to use, haven't gotten use to it yet. I hope this new one lasts; the old one's sure earned their keep. Cal
.jpg.7ed77a14f2bd787fff5d9becb5ff96e3.thumb.jpg.9e1210f3bdc62f57716037bab91ca41c.jpg)
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.