Kitchen worktop router...

[cusimar9]

Can a basic Black & Decker 1/4" router do the cutout for the sink on a 40mm oak worktop?

I thought it could if handled carefully but the more I read up the less convinced of this I am. For starters the only long router bits I can find are £4 cheap-and-cheerful jobbies which I'm not going to trust on a 3.5m full stave worktop.

I've had a look at 1/2" routers and these seem to start about £150 but the general consensus seems to be that anything less than £200 is just not going to cut it (excuse the pun).

Can anyone offer any words of wisdom before I shell out £250 on a Dewalt?

 

[Ring]

Could you hire one for the day if it,s a one off job?
Jim

 

[Racers]

I would go for a second-hand Makita 3612c or Hitachi M12V, I have both and they are very good.

Pete

 

[kostello]

If its for the sink cutout can you use a jigsaw?

 

[cusimar9]

Could you hire one for the day if it,s a one off job?
Jim

Well yes that's an alternative but probably a false economy by the time I hire a router for 2 days and spend £30 on router bits that won't fit my 1/4" router.

 

[cusimar9]

If its for the sink cutout can you use a jigsaw?

I've not had good experiences thus far with a jigsaw on thick stock... don't fancy trying it on this worktop!

 

[Mar_mite]

A jigsaw will be fine if it's a sink that fits from the top. If it's an under mount sink yes, you will need a router.

 

[cusimar9]

A jigsaw will be fine if it's a sink that fits from the top. If it's an under mount sink yes, you will need a router.

It is an undermount sink, yes

 

[andersonec]

I think that most 1/2 inch routers do a decent job nowadays and will last you longer than expected, most probably the brushes would burn out before the router packs up. I fell for the same hype and bought a Trend some years ago for my router table and just after the warranty ran out lo and behold so did the bearings and because of the make the repair was just a bit extortionate to say the least. I also got a cheapo £20 second hand Ryobi for handheld stuff and that has been going with no problem, in fact I like it better than the Trend which tends to scream at you, the Ryobi seems more beefy and stronger to me.
Triton is well recommended by many people so is the Screwfix own make Erbaurer then there's Hitachi, Clarke and Wickes used to do one and not to mention the sheds.

Andy

 

[cusimar9]

Thanks for the advice all. I'm looking at a second hand Trend, Dewalt and Makita and i'll see if I can pick something up for ~ £150. Fingers crossed.

 

[mahomo59]

I've just bought hitachi m12 £149 ffx tools for routering oak top, bolt cut outs and straight rip. I don't mason mitre Oak, laminate etc. Normally use dewalt 625 but I'm leaving this in my ujk router table (cast iron, with lift! Awesome)
Sink and hob cut outs I'll be using my ts55.

 

[Student]

I'm a rank amateur but is it possible to

1. use a jigsaw to cut, say, 5mm inside the required lines, then
2. use a top bearing guided cutter 1/4 in shank 25 mm long and a template to clean up the top half of the outline, then
3. use a bottom bearing guided cutter 1/4 in shank 25 mm long from the other side to complete the cut

Lots of work but would not require a 1/2 in router although whether it would give a professional finish, I'm not sure.

Just a thought.

 

[Rogw]

I have the 1/2" erbauer router which I've used to cut our work tops at home with no problems, think it cost less than a ton. Whilst I'm sure it's not as good as a festool for the amount I use it it's just the job.

 

[Racers]

Jigsaw blades can wander a lot in 40mm oak it will look straight on the top of the cut but the bottom will be miles out, been there done that.

I used a collar and oversized template and a 1/2" spiral milling cutter to finish the sink cut outs and ends, they leave a very nice finish.

Pete

 

[dickm]

Recently had to tidy up a joint in piece of worktop and didn't have a 1/2" bearing guided cutter so had to make do with a 1/4" one which was JUST long enough to reach down to the template on the underside and could take off about 1mm at a time on the lower half of the workpiece without bottoming on the shaft bit. Then repeat the operation using the new cut as the template to do the upper half. Tedious, but it worked.
So with a jigsaw to rough out the hole, it should be possible for the OP to finish it off with lots of very fine cuts using 1/4" cutter. But cuts would have to be very fine, to avoid overstressing the bearings on a 1/4" router.

You pays yer money and takes yer choice! But if you can get a decent Elu 177E for under £150, go for it.

 

[mahomo59]

Hitachi came today, wait out for review...Oak going in this week. So far looks pretty much like and feel of the 625. So happy so far...