Router recommendations

[Golibear]

Hi Guys,

I am quite new to wood working, been working in construction for a few years, so I have amassed quite a lot of tools. I've recently developed an interest in wood work, and am shopping around for a good quality albeit reasonably priced router. If you have any good suggestions then do share! Ideally, I am looking for a 1/2" shank.

 

[Racers]

Hi

One thing this is the hand tool section, the only screaming is when we let the red stuff out :wink:

Hitachi M12V is probably the best cheapest 1/2" router. I have one and prefer it to my Makita 3612.


Pete

 

[skipdiver]

I have Makita stuff but if i was in the market for one, it would be the Hitachi as mentioned above.

 

[sunnybob]

Do you have any idea what you are going to do with a router?

Table mounted routers can be as big as you like. If youre going to do hand held then you need to think about the weight. some 1/2" routers are absolute monsters.

you'll get at least 20 different recommendations as far as make.
I have a makita 1801x in a table and I love it.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I'm a fan of Elu routers. However they are no longer made. If I lived in the UK and was searching out a large router for hand and table use, I'd take a serious look at the Trend T11. This is the re-incarnation of the Elu 177e (which I have used for over 25 years). It has the advantage of a built-in Router Raizer.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's a good tool - but it's over twice the price of the Hitachi.

 

[Golibear]

Thanks for the replies!
I was browsing around, and it appears there are a few variants of the Hitachi, namely, the M12VE abd M12V2. Any guidelines on which I should go for?

 

[Racers]

As far as I can tell just some styling changes.

Pete

 

[John Brown]

I have a Hitachi M12. It's great. I use it both hand held and in a table. If you're looking to use a router table a lot, you might want to look at a model with table-friendly height adjustment, such as the Triton(IIRC). I have a "Router Raizer" attached to my trusty M12. But I only bought it because they were on sale in America, and I had one of my brother-in-laws bring it over for me, so fairly cheap option.

 

[OscarG]

I have a Trend T11 which I love but it's not the cheapest, about £330.

 

[Alexam]

If you want a router mainly for table mounting, then consider the Triton TRA001, which will change bits above the table so no need to go under the table for anything.

 

[superunknown]

The Triton routers are fantastic for the price, perfect for router tables. Also you can't go wrong with any of the Festool's

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The OP did say reasonably priced.

 

[sunnybob]

I seem to be the only makita router owner here.
I have a large 1/2" router in the table which is faultless, and cost barely £200 brand new delivered. It can be height adjusted above the table and bits changed comfortable through the kreg plate opening. With sleeves I use 1/4", 6mm, 8mm, even 3/8" bits as well as the 1/2"
And I have a couple 1/4" edge trimmers which are so easy to use. These are at least 15 years old (possibly 20+) and still function fine. The on off switch got broken off the top of one of them. £25 for the makita part, £2.50 from my local electrical wholesaler.

No desires to change any of them.
I also have a new powerplus router. PIECE OF S%£*. DO NOT BUY Powerplus.

 

[Alexam]

Old and reliable........... just like ?

 

[memzey]

What model of Makita have you got in your table bob? I didn’t know they had one with above table height adjustment and would be interested in hearing how that works.

 

[timber]

Thanks for the replies!
I was browsing around, and it appears there are a few variants of the Hitachi, namely, the M12VE abd M12V2. Any guidelines on which I should go for?

Triton every day,,, can't be beaten for price and for use under a table. The TRA001 under, and the next model down MOF 101 for table and hand held work I have both fitted to my Legacy lathes.
Very easy bit changing, and spares easy to get from [email protected]

 

[sunnybob]

memzey,
its a ,,,,,,(hastily runs to the garage to look at the handbook because he cant remember) RP1801.
It comes with a long threaded phillips headed screw that fits into the router base. You drill a suitably placed hole in the plate and then you can use a phillips screwdriver to adjust height.
I very quickly got fed up with the phillips screwdriver because of my arthritic hands so changed the screw out for a 10 mm long bolt, and then used a 1/4" socket speed brace. Very fast and accurate adjustments.

But Then I got a new kreg plate because the other bowed (kreg customer service is 5*), and decided that rather than drill another hole in the top I would build myself a router lift out of scrap wood and put a large rotary handle on the front of the cabinet. Now I have micrometer adjustment with no effort at all. Cost about 75 pence or so.

 

[memzey]

Sounds interesting bob. Did you put up details of your table and lift mechanism on the forum?

 

[sunnybob]

i've mentioned it a couple times, but no documented wip. I can make stuff that works, but cant make stuff thats pretty as well.

I can email you under plain brown wrapper if you want. (lol)