Thread: Router for starting out

I have both the JOF and the TRA in my router collection (7! ), the TRA is used in the table only and the JOF for handheld. If I absolutely had to come down to only 1 () it would be the big TRA over every other router I have.

For handheld work any big router is a little awkward to use but the extra mass is useful as it takes a lot to move it off the path you've chosen. The soft start works well and really limits the kickback on starting.

Where this machine (and all other big 1\2" beasties) really shines though is mounted in a table. I pretty much always use a router in a table if at all possible. My very first "table" consisted of screwing a small sheet offcutof 1\4" ply onto the baseplate of a DeWalt 625 and clamping the whole lot in a Black & Decker Workmate. The fence was a batten clamped to the ply. Very simple but effective.

I started with a very powerful Makita 3612 which my wife surprised me with at Christmas many years ago before I was much into woodwork. I have since gone down in sizes on two more routers, being the smaller Triton and a Ryobi laminate trimmer. All are excellent routers and all get regular work,in my home hobbyist workshop, albeit these days, the Makita permanently lives in a home made router table. I use the small model Triton as my plunge router.

The Makita is a beast of a machine but it has proven to be a very versatile machine over the years. Its only disadvantage has been that it was manufactured before the availability of a soft start machine but you learn to live with that, after a while, by not switching it on too close to the work piece. The laminate trimmer is not far behind in terms of its utility because it is so easy to put a small round edge on a work piece with a light little one hand router.

Sooooo - my recommendation would be to get the biggest plunge router, preferably with a soft start, that you can as a starting point and then a little while down the track, get a laminate trimmer. Don't be misguided by the term, "laminate trimmer"; they are a proper router, but without the plunging facility and they only take 1/4" shank router bits. They are however, soooooooo handy and augment, well, the bigger muscle router that you will use for big roundovers, raised panel profiles, deep grooves, pattern routing into very thick stock, etc.

When you do have a muscle router as your first, you will be surprised at how often you will use it.

The incremental cost of the laminate trimmer will be easier to sell to SWMBO after you have the first big one than the other way around, of course.

I own all three of the routers you mention and have used Triton routers for many years. I have reviewed all three and this page features the smallest, with links in the first paragraph to the other two models. I hope you might find it useful. I believe the the MOF001 might suit your needs best at the moment, as you can readily use it freehand or in a table.

As you're new to routers, then this page may assist. Any further/supplementary questions, let me know.

Ray