Hello and router advice if possible

[Mark Karacsonyi]

Hi all,

Have joined the forum some time ago and been looking through past posts. Essentially have been off the tools for some time, have spent the last year plus, building them back up. Mainly famous/reputable names, Record/Marples, Robert Sorby, Ashley Iles, Record, veritas etc., via a well known bidding site, or via Axminster, as from my recent Stanley smoothing plane purchase, I guess some modern versions tend to not follow the same quality.

Although I am a chippy by trade, too many years in IT - now something has re-kindled the spirit howver my passion is for joinery and cabinet making.

Am a regular reader of Fine Woodworking magazine and its site - and Practical woodworking, also no longer living in the UK, but in central Europe. So I would like to say hello.

I am looking at building a router table, MDF is the way I will go, with beech carcassing. However I am looking at routers. I guess as I will be buying the Axminster elevator from UKJ Technology *and read in a past thread about keeping it dry lubricated the extraction to keep the dust of the chain/sprockets - sound advice*, I am wondering what router I should be looking at to compliment it.

Seems our American cousins seem to go for fixed base routers, with a 1/2" collets. I am wondering if I should be looking at something similar, unless I butcher a plunge router if so, does anyone have any ideas - which do not go into the Festool priice bracket, the lottery over here is not that fantastic?

Thanks in advance - Mark

 

[dm65]

too many years in IT - now something has re-kindled the spirit howver my passion is for joinery and cabinet making.

You sound like me - welcome back to daylight

I have two routers I would recommend - Dewalt 625 which you can remove the plunge springs from in seconds - makes it useable for table and freehand, plus you can get a lot of attachments for it

I also have a Triton TRB 2000 - also remove the springs in seconds, but this one has built in fine height adjustment (the fha for the dewalt is a pain to keep fitting/removing) and the collet raises proud of the bed and self locks for one handed adjustment

Of the two, for table use, Triton every time (comes with a 1/4 reducer, not a proper 1/4 collet is the only downside)

 

[clivethecarpenter]

How about one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221236883942? ... 1423.l2649

And then buy a Jessem lift from here
http://www.fine-tools.com/JessEm-routerlift.html ( A fantastic web site for tools......enjoy.... )

Not sure about the axminster lift being a good idea, chains and dust doesn't sound like a good combination

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Trend T11EK is my choice for two reasons. 2KW motor for those big cutters (90mm panel raiser) and it has adjustment upside down ie via the top of the table...no bending down. Ive had mine four years and its never been out if the table. Works a treat

 

[Eric The Viking]

Trend T11EK is my choice for two reasons. 2KW motor for those big cutters (90mm panel raiser) and it has adjustment upside down ie via the top of the table...no bending down. Ive had mine four years and its never been out if the table. Works a treat

Absolutely spot on, Bob.

Save yourself the cost of a wholly unnecessary router lift!

The T11 collet comes almost flush with the table (about 5mm below if memory serves me). You can certainly spanner it from above with the supplied 14mm one (which is quite tidy, incidentally, not a pressed-steel thing). I do it every time.

I see no point to add cost and complexity if it's not necessary. I'm very pleased with my T11 on balance. It's certainly done everything I've asked it to do, both in the table and handheld. The only two differences between it and the T10 / DeWalt 625EK are the size of the base aperture (the T11 is bigger) and the ability to adjust the fixed depth through the baseplate (for use in a table). I'm told it's not as well built as the original Elu ones, but it's still built like a Sherman, at least.

Having a bigger aperture might make fitting guide bushes harder. I'm not sure as I've not used a T10. On the T11 there's a mounting plate on which the bushes go, so you have to align and fit both bits, but it's not hard and the centring tool (for 1/2" collet) comes with it - nice, steel thing, too.

If you use bushes all the time, the T10 might be a better bet, otherwise it's a no-brainer, IMHO.

One caution: When you drill the table's router plate, fix it in slightly twisted clockwise (looking down from the table top), so the handles aren't parallel with the long edge of the plate. Otherwise the hole you drill for the height adjuster clashes with the usual position for the most convenient lead-on pin. I didn't think of this till it was
too late in my case. I reduced the size of the hole to the bare minimum, to keep the existing lead-on pin position, and the supplied box spanner fits just fine (and the lead-on pin's fine, too), BUT, if I'd twisted it round, the spanner hole could have been big enough to take a socket, meaning I could drive the height adjustment with a cordless drill. It was a Homer moment when I realised!

(homer)

E.

 

[Mark Karacsonyi]

Hi I think I need to thanks you all, will do a investigation and see what comes up next. To be truthful, sprockets and chains and sawdust does not seem te best combination.

Regards,

Mark.