Do I really need a router?

[cowfoot]

Hello everyone,
I recently moved out of London to a place in the countryside with a separate workshop (living the dream!).
Like many of you, I suspect, my first thought was "let's fill this full of shiny new power tools and get busy". As the weeks have gone by, however, I've found myself getting annoyed with the noise and dust and much prefer the swish of a freshly sharpened plane. I've worked on building sites on and off for twenty odd years, I suppose it becomes a habit that you want to get the job done quickly rather than satisfyingly...
Anyway, I've identified my router as the chief culprit in the crime of being a noisy possibly dangerous tool that's no fun to use. Before anyone here gets the chance to buy my Festool 1400 with all the trimmings, can any of you safely say that it's possible to replace all its functions with handtools and a bit more elbow grease? I'm thinking rebate plane, plough plane and possibly some hollows and rounds?
I build small items of furniture (in small quantities) from common hardwoods, if that helps.

 

[RobinBHM]

For me, a router is so versatile that I would find it hard to do without, but then I dont do woodworking for a hobby so maybe too biased.

I believe the festool machines are the best in the industry for dust extraction, so that must help a bit.

ear defenders are a must for routers, the sound is not too obtrusive with a decent set of cans.

Of course if you would like your festool 1400 to go to a good home for a few beer tokens, then yes you would be much better off with hand tools, Ill be around later to take the horrible thing away from you

 

[otter]

Oh without a doubt. You don't need that noisy, dust-making piece of junk at all, it's just taking up space. I'll happily help you regain that lost space and fund a nice plane to help you on your way to silent, wood cutting nirvana. Shall we say £100? I'll even throw in an old Marples chisel to sweeten the deal. It's a bit rusty and blunt, but think of it as a good thing. It'll help you practice your honing skills.





:mrgreen:

 

[cowfoot]

Hahaha, such generosity! Tell you what, throw in a full set of Philly hollows and rounds and it's a deal

 

[glynster]

Stick around and give it 18 months and you'll be posting "Do I really need 14 routers?"

To which the correct answer is always "you need just one more"

BTW the Festool of 1010 is as quiet as a hairdryer

 

[adidat]

There is a festoon 1400 for sale on here, fantastic router!

Adidat

 

[otter]

There is a festoon 1400 for sale on here, fantastic router!

Adidat

SHHHHH! Don't tell him that. He'll find out how much his is really worth. I've got a haggling session going on here!

 

[MattRoberts]

I hate routers, I really do. They're so unforgiving, so easy to make a mistake and such a pig to move.

And yet I have three of them, and wouldn't be without one - particularly in the table.

Does that answer your question?

 

[cowfoot]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for labour-saving devices. The weeks I've spent rubbing down joint filler with a pole sander, I'd have remortgaged the dog for my Deros.
Thing is, if I wanted to spend my spare time surrounded by noisy machines I'd get a weekend job making tea at the local garage...

 

[MattRoberts]

Perhaps it's better to have one, but try and avoid using it to see how you get on?

Or sell the festool and buy a more reasonably priced one, using the change to get alternative hand tools?

 

[lurker]

If you have the time don't use it.
There are plenty of tail less options many easy to make yourself.

Keep it for when you are in a hurry or have repetive work
I recently had to hang 9 doors (all new) - 54 hinge slots
A simple jig & my triton was cutting the hinges in double quick time and tidier than with a chisel.

I confess to owning 5 :roll:

 

[custard]

Hello everyone,
I recently moved out of London to a place in the countryside with a separate workshop (living the dream!).
Like many of you, I suspect, my first thought was "let's fill this full of shiny new power tools and get busy". As the weeks have gone by, however, I've found myself getting annoyed with the noise and dust and much prefer the swish of a freshly sharpened plane. I've worked on building sites on and off for twenty odd years, I suppose it becomes a habit that you want to get the job done quickly rather than satisfyingly...
Anyway, I've identified my router as the chief culprit in the crime of being a noisy possibly dangerous tool that's no fun to use. Before anyone here gets the chance to buy my Festool 1400 with all the trimmings, can any of you safely say that it's possible to replace all its functions with handtools and a bit more elbow grease? I'm thinking rebate plane, plough plane and possibly some hollows and rounds?
I build small items of furniture (in small quantities) from common hardwoods, if that helps.

Of course it's possible, that's how exquisite furniture was made for hundreds of years so there's no doubting that it's possible.

But park the romance and the reality is it's much more demanding of hand skills, tool fettling skills, and, above all else, hours of practise. Before you sell your router why not get a used rebate plane and try cutting rebates that are absolutely true and straight, with crisp 90 degree angles, through their entire length? You'd think that would be one of the easier hand tool options, and so it is. But easier isn't the same as easy!

Matt had the best suggestion, before you dump the powered router try some of the hand tool equivalents, if you're prepared to put the effort in you'll find they all work beautifully, just not straight from the box they don't.

Good luck!

 

[AndyT]

The answer is yes, of course you can make anything from wood without needing an electric router - as hundreds of years of woodworking prove. Sometimes it will take longer, but you will often find that you save a lot of time by not needing so long to set up a jig and make a test cut. You can work quietly, without dust, and enjoy the process as well as the end result.

Good plough and combination planes can be found for less than a couple of tct bits - I've seen some good examples of the versatile Record 405 go unsold on eBay recently at £25 opening price.

The best YouTube guidance on hand tool woodworking comes from Paul Sellers, I think, so try some of his videos to brush up on the details. For written guidance, try anything by Charles Hayward.

Or best of all, post specific "how would you do this" questions in the Hand Tools section.

 

[cowfoot]

I'm booked in for a one-day course with Paul Sellers in a couple of weeks.
Doubt he'll be saying "f that for a game of soldiers, buy a spindle moulder" but we'll see.

 

[novocaine]

Do you need to realise the capital invested in this pricey Green letteeed chuck of plastic?
Is the specially designed stackable lockabke oversize container with a daft name taking up space in which you could store something else because you are pressed for space?

If it's no to either of these then put it on its shelf and leave it were it is. There will be a job or task at some point in the future where you'll be kicking yourself for if you get shut.

 

[PAC1]

Yes you can make things without a noisy router, but I would not want to be with out my router (Alright 5 routers). No doubt for some small furniture you can do the job by hand quicker than you can set up the router. But equally there are jobs that you have to ask why you would want to do it by hand. It is without doubt the most versatile machine.
My view would be do not sell the router (sorry Otter) put it in a cupboard and give hand tools a try for a while and you will eventually find the right equilibrium for you.
some tasks are better done by hand and some look better done freeform. Take curved work it is very hard to make a curve look natural using a template and router but very easy to achieve by hand and far more satisfying.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Just my piece from a beginner.
Yes, routers are noisy. Yes they can be heavy and cumbersome, awkward, messy and costly on the cutter department.
But I think they are great! They are so versatile on their own and even more so with a few home made jigs and a table to pop one in.
I own two. A cheap Workzone one which lives in table and deafens me when going full chat and a Triton which is lovely to use.
You can do things so quickly with them I wouldn't want to be without.

I'd say keep it or at least get a cheaper one as said previously. Chances are you'll come up against something it would have been great for and you'll regret it. You may not always have all the time in the world for every project you do.

 

[Orraloon]

Like others have said you can do most things without one but I find that now and then they have a place in the workshop. I am more and more leaning to hand tools these days and can do most strait things like rebates and dadoes without one. I do M&T joints and dovetails by hand. I even have some of grandpa's moulding planes but only one plane per profile so how many of those do I need.
I would say if you already have an electric router then hang on to it for those things that you have not got the hand tool for. However you if you find an old hand router plane grab it. A very mellow tool to use. I find for small jobs they are done in less time than setting up the power router.
Regards
John

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Of course you can do pretty much everything without a router, for many years people had to. Provided you are working proper wood, that is. If you need to work chipboard, MDF or other modern rubbish, you'll need a router because it ruins hand tools.

I have just the one, and use it as a last resort. Noisy, dusty and dangerous. I add the dangerous after an experience using mine when the cut seemed to be getting deeper, and on inspection it turned out the bit was working its way out of the collet. Probably dirt in there I guess. How far and fast it might have travelled if it had escaped was a very scary thought.

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

In my opinion you definitely do not need a router. I have 3, one in a table, one in a woodrat and a little one for occasional freehand. I used to do most of my joinery with them but now mostly do it by hand and do not find it particularly slower than the router or less accurate (if anything the reverse it true). I am not planning on getting rid of the routers but I use them less and less. Like most machines the real time saving is in production runs, for example I recently had to make 18 cupboard doors for a boat I've been fitting out, the rail and stile cutters and the panel raise bit saved me bags of time, however if you have one or two cupboard doors to make I'm not sure the time saving is significant. Another thing with routers is when you go wrong, even if you still have all your fingers, you usually have a piece of wood only fit for the burner. One day I will retire, and when I do I will get rid of the routers, indeed most of the machines, using hand tools is so much more enjoyable, and when time is not directly related to paying te mortgage I don't see why I'd use them.
One of the times where a router is most useful is for edge profiles, I have some moulding planes but they are hard to come by and it is often easier and cheaper to buy the router bit.
By the way can you report back to us on your experience at your day with PS
Paddy