Thread: where to buy a fixed base router???

just read the very helpful email from Neil about mentioning products and thought I should elaborate on the Makita router 'not being worth a cracker' as its motor sounds and feels great but really the straight guide and the play in the plunge stroke could do with some work and thats coming from a Makita fan
Thats not a slurp....
ah back to digging holes...

Not to sure what advantages you think you'll get from a fixed based router? There mostly relegated to under the table use...............

I'm really interested in what technique you are using to rout your straight lines? are you attempting this freehand OR using a straight edge?

I think you need to give us a bit more info so we can help out. Regardless you wont find any fixed based routers in OZ

REgards Lou

Originally Posted by benswoodwork

Well I have a question I never thought I would have to ask! With an armoury of tool catalogues and willing sales men I dont know where to buy a fixed base router!
I bought a Makita Plunge router that wasnt worth a cracker if you like straight lines so figured fixed base is for me!
But I can only find them in America!
Any help to fund the Aussie econmy would be great
keenly awaiting info and chewing at the bit in the absence of a router
Ben

GMC make or made one. Derek reviewed one here back in 2004.

Well maybe I am being to picky but I like a good solid tool regardless to what it does but when I route a channel or edge it is mostly fixed into a table, but when routing a channel or mortice I might use the straight guide (that comes with the tool) or a straight edge, so if you have to remove the router because it moves in its plunge doesnt that defeat the object of a plunge router?
I reckon free hand would be a mighty challenge beyond a fella like me!
So I guess from previous experience fixed base is the go for under the table and edge work that you want a dependable results with.
Having said all this though I have found a great looking package with both the fixed base and plunge base routers for the same price delivered as what I bought my previous one. Catch is its in the states again.

I'd be taking the router back for the shop to look at, doesn't sound like the typical build quality to me. I have a Makita fixed base router and can tell you this type is not the answer to your problem. You will find when you do a series of passes to reach a desired depth, there may be shoulders on the rebate, due to slight changes in the alignment of the body in the base as you screw it down. It is a well know problem with fixed base routers. Mine lives in a router table now and is set to the full correct depth for each cut, with intermediate depth passes made by laying a 3 -5mm sheet of mdf etc over the table.

Cheers
Michael

Originally Posted by benswoodwork

Having said all this though I have found a great looking package with both the fixed base and plunge base routers for the same price delivered as what I bought my previous one. Catch is its in the states again.

AFAIK Ben, there are no combination fixed/plunge routers marketed in OZ. We have had this discussion before and I don't think there were any at all offered. Seems a shame, because they are quite versatile. Porter-Cable, DeWalt, (yes, and the large TRITON for table work!) probably make the best routers going, but your choices in OZ seem to be limited.

GMC definitely sold one in Oz, I bought one for my son a year or so ago in Bunnies when they were selling heaps of GMC tools for special prices. This one cost $40, 1/2", can't remember the wattage or model no. Am going to Adelaide tomorrow and will look it up.

The usa uses 110 volt and in oz we have 240 volt.
So you would also need a power supply if you buy one from the usa.

There really isn't the market demand here for fixed bases as the plunge is far more versatile.

Is there any slop in the makita when you lock it down in the plunge position?
If so its a dud. Take it back.

Hey

Good to see you can now (Last time I sought one (fixeed base) there were none on the market of decent quality that i could find.

So far all my plunge routers give excellent results I have A Triton Bosche Dewalt & Metabo ll capable of giving great straight line cuts with use of a straight edge.

I reckon its an issue of technique or somehing wrong with your Mak if not getting excellent results................Regardless a quality 2+ HP router should give excellent results in all but the most demanding situations

REGards Lou

Another point. If you plunge or set the router into place/depth first and then start it, you will get a bit of a kick with the makita. I've found that setting everything up first, including fence etc, start the makita in the air and then put the machine to the timber works well for me.

cheers
Wendy

Youre right Wendy,
The Maks have soft start, but I know for a fact the big ones still twist abit on the start. Once you know this, its not a problem Dont plunge until its reached full speed.
The Makita's do have a little play in the plunge..mine does ( alot of plunge routers have this) but its not excessive enough to create a bad cut.
Have you put a "face" on the routers fence guide? this usually helps make it a little user friendly just a flat piece of hardwood will do it.
When you use the fence guide, dont make too deep a cut with each pass. If you do the router has a tendency to wander off the fence guide, you'll be constantly fighting the router. Its much easier and quicker to make a series of cuts, progressing deeper each time
cheers Underused.

Carba-Tec sell a fixed base router here in Oz.

Ben,

It could be, if you are having trouble routing straight with the router's edge-guide attached, that you are feeding the router the wrong way. Unless you feed the rourter in the correct direction, the bit rotation tends to push the edge-guide away from the edge that it is following, instead of pulling the edge-guide against that edge. To feed the router correctly, the edge-guide should be on the left-hand side of the router, and you should pull the router towards yourself.

Underused,

Not all Makitas have a soft start. The 1/4" Makita that Wendy, and I, own does not have a soft start.

Rocker

Originally Posted by Rocker

Ben,

Not all Makitas have a soft start. The 1/4" Makita that Wendy, and I, own does not have a soft start.

Rocker

I have a 1/2" Makita 3600BR, about 20 years old, and it doesn't have a soft start either!

In fact I have a nickname for it "Aunty Jack" ( it'll rip your b****y arms off)