sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki) (11/06/85)
There have been a couple of articles about routers posted recently.
Here is my two cents... ("Ever notice how it's a penny for your
thoughts, yet you put in your two cents? Someone is making a penny on
the deal." - Steven Wright)
Don't buy a Sears router. I wouldn't buy a regular "consumer" Black
and Decker router either. Basically, the motors are anemic and the
plastic used to make the bases isn't stiff enough. The height
adjustment isn't very precise. If you are only going to use the router
occasionally, then maybe a 1HP Sears on sale is reasonable. I speak
from experience here, I own a 1-1/2HP Sears and find that it isn't
adequate for my needs.
I'm planning on buying a 1-1/2HP Porter Cable router, the one with the
1/2 inch collet. I wouldn't recommend buying a router that didn't take
a 1/2 inch collet. The vertical adjustment is very good, and the
router itself is very solidly made. I saw it on sale at Trendlines for
$129.95, so it should be available locally for under $150.
If I needed a plunge router I would probably buy a Japanese router. A
friend has a monster 3HP plunch router which looks like it would cut
through anything.
Porter Cable also has a nice router table which you can buy with or
without the motor. It has separately adjustable fences and looks
pretty sturdy.
After the router fiasco, when I wanted to buy a table saw, I checked
out Sears machinery and found that, in general, the quality is poor
for the cost compared to other companies. The run-out on saws is
usually pretty poor, the fences are poor, and the tops are often
warped.
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Marty Sasaki net: sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
Havard University Science Center phone: 617-495-1270
One Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138jimd@iddic.UUCP (Jim Delwiche) (11/11/85)
I recently bought a Makita 3612br, which is their big 1/2" collet plunge router. I wanted a plunge router, and I was also considering making a dovetail jig to make through dovetails. The cabinetmaker who taught me how to make the dovetail jig recommended 2 hp or more for through dovetails in hardwoods, since you can't really do a partial cut; you have to be able to cut the entire depth in one pass. I am very pleased with this brute. It will be all the router I'll ever need and then some. It has collets to accept smaller bits, so you don't obsolete your collection of bits. I don't usually go overboard on tools, but this thing is great. In a router, I think more horsepower is safer, and it cuts very well in all kinds of wood. It would probably cut well in aluminum! There are nearly identical products from Hitachi and Ryobi (I think), and similar ones from some U.S.A. manufacturers.