Thread: Which Router ?

Originally Posted by Paddy

Hi Guys

Have just finished building a router table, using the "woodrat" approach
paddy

G'day Paddy,

By "using the 'woodrat' approach" do you mean that you have a WoodRat? In which case, did you build the router table with all sorts of nice joinery?, so where are the pics

I'm just curious as I have both a WoodRat for M/T and som D/T joinery work, plus a (shop built) router table for edge work and whatnot.

Cheers!

Hi Steve.

Wanted a woodrat but could not afford a new router as well, so decided to build my own version using junk i had in the work shop!

Not quite finished yet, but working well and very accurate. Total cost to date $85.. the most expensive item being epoxy paint for the top. Used acme thread from old toyota jack for cross drive and my wife is missing a couple of poly cutting boards.Most of the steel was from an old green house shelving system.

Had some fun calculating the geometry etc, but handles router angles from zero to 14 degrees.

Can't fully test it until i get a plunge router, hence the query.

Hope the attached pics come out OK but have not tried to send any before.

I have a TR12 which is smaller (power wise) over the M12V which a friend has.

My TR12 was first used by it's first owner to rebate redgum sleepers for gardens, rockeries and fancy atriums. Probably about an hour of this every working day, which when one really thinks about it, is quite a heavy work load. It did this for 6 years and then it was given to me as a so called worn out machine.

Well I've had it for about 10 years now and I only use it as a hobby, it looks rough but works like a charm. If the M12V is anything like the TR12 I have then I would say, get it.

My friend's M12V is more powerful but the slow start really makes a difference, although in your case being stuck in that jig, it wouldn't matter.

I have three main power tools. They are the Hitachi TR12 router, a Hitachi 4" angle grinder which has gotten so hot I couldn't hold it with welding gloves, yet it still worked faultlessly, and, a Hitachi 10" saw which I purchased 19 years ago, which was for 10 of those years, used in an industrial situation.

Basically I have bought or acquired these Hitachi tools when they were needed, with deliberation before purchasing (the missus) to ensure that they would be the correct purchase and last.

I haven't had a single thing go wrong with any of them.

Mick.

Hi Paddy. I have the De Walt 625E and think it is the bees knees. It has served me faultlessly for many years now and has power in abundance. I often cut worktops for kitchens with it and have even dropped it a couple of times and it still works fine. I have used it in a table although I have another router dedicated to this now and it did everything I asked of it. I like the on off switch which is just a slide that clicks into each position too as a lot of routers now use the idiot one where you have to hold another button in while pressing it. The plunge is still silky smooth and the depth adjustment very very accurate. Hope this helps you.

Paddy

You could use a angle grinder gear set off a dead angle grinder to drive your thread. They are quite plentiful and easy to adapt giving you a hadle to turn to let your horizontal vice have some "fine tuning" as it moves to and fro. Just a thought!

Regards Mike

We will have to be careful here or we will be forever known as Paddy and Mick.

Hi Paddy,

Good on you!

The key to the 'rat is:
1. having the set distance from the workpiece to the pattern
2. having the router exactly perpendicular to the axis of the workpiece,
3. being able to move the router North / South, perpendicuar to the base for straight slots or at a specified angle for dovetails.
4. being able to move the workpiece East / West using the (hand) power feed mechanism.

In other words, its all about geometry and precision. Sound familiar?

As to the router, I've used both a Bosch GOF1300ACE and a DeWalt 625 (currently sitting comfortably in said 'rat). Both are good, but each has drawbacks as well. The Bosch, due to the design of its base had to be mounted such that it was rotated around 20 degrees from direct fore and aft: no big deal, it just meant that the handles weren't equidistant from the machine's face - but the use of WoodRat plunge bars minimises this issue. The DeWalt, because of its dust collection guards on its base make changing bits a bit harder then it should be, but again, no big deal. I have an old Ryobi and a nearly new Triton as well, but the 'yeller monster' sits in the router table, and the Bosch and Ryobi are available for hand-held use.

By the way, although expensive, I can thoroughly recommend WoodRats HSS router bits, expecially their dovetail bits which, unlike most carbide bits, are available in 1:6, 1:7 and 1:8 angles, and from the gigantic to the tiny - but beware - some of them are 8mm shaft diameter, so one needs a special collet adaptor which is, naturally, only available from them





Let us know how you go!

Cheers!