Thread: Router with a detachable plunge

Bunnies were selling an AEG router with a removable body. But even if you can't find one on the shelf somewhere they will order one in for you.

Have you considered a Triton router? These have above the table bit removal and above table micro-adjustable height winders. I have the original big TRA1 and it is superb as a table machine.

Thanks for that tiff... where can ya pick up a triton router these days?
Thanks
Geoff

Try this mob. In the last couple of years I've bought the baby Triton router and the Triton belt and disc sander from them. Click HERE

Cancel that Tiff... just checked out the prices - whoa!! I'd rather get out of it cheaper than that mate.

Surely there are routers out the just like that GMC one, actually does anyone know if GMC still trades in Aus?

Sorry Garfield, GMC long gone, but some very similar products are sold as 909 at Masters. Not sure whether you were considering buying the lift or making one, but PWS posted a couple of weeks ago that they had some Uni Lift cosmetic rejects coming in at $600 a pop, plus router. At that rate the Tritons seem to be a bargain.

If you are set on building a lift and can juggle sizing to suit, maybe the old style D handle Makita 3601b fixed base router (1050 W) would do. There are a few of these coming through ebay often with little use over their 25 years, and they are still listed as a current model on Maks au site.

Alternatively, their RT0700CX trimmer could surfice for light duty. 710W, supplied in oz as a basic fixed base trimmer, but available os as a multibase kit.

Otherwise can't think of much available locally as a straight motor or as a motor and multi base kit.

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah going to make the lift myself, I have the plans from shopnotes # 121.
I have 2 routers but the plunge will stop it from raising up through the hole. I see allot of the Americans use the potercable router which isn't obstructed by anything so you can raise it up through the hole to change the bits etc

Speaking of potorcable, i had a friend that bought some electronic music equip with him back from the states that was 120v. He went to jaycar and got a 240v > 120v power inverter and now he uses it daily. Albeit a bit heavy to lug around everywhere with him but surely can't we do the same with potorcable routers that will be living in our workshop? Does anyone use an inverter to run American made power tools here in aus?

Delbs, For 240 -120V AC you use a transformer rather than an inverter. Inverters are for converting DC to DC or AC. Yes you could use a stepdown transformer, but it would be large and expensive.

The fixed base router motors that the yanks put into lifts are in the 2.5 - 3.5HP range so a transformer that can run them on a regular basis is big and heavy and fairly expensive. I use 1KVA rated toroidal transformers manufactured for the power supply system of concert amplifiers to power some American gear like fast lithium battery chargers for my portable gear that was purchased in the states 2 years before it was released in Oz, and a small 110V vacuum pump. It would be running close to its design limits powering a 700W trim router, and wouldn't want to go for a 3-4KVA unit for a 3.5HP router.

I still thank that a TRA001B through table adjustable Triton would be cheaper than buying a similar powered PC in the states and shipping it out here, and it has the benefit of local warranty support. Add a small fortune for a megatransformer to run it from and it becomes a no brainer to my mind.

It might be possible to get an interchangable base system out of UK or Europe that is 220-240V, but again it won't be cheap and a lot of the kit would never be used if the motor is going to live in a lift.

Originally Posted by delbs

Speaking of potorcable, i had a friend that bought some electronic music equip with him back from the states that was 120v. He went to jaycar and got a 240v > 120v power inverter and now he uses it daily. Albeit a bit heavy to lug around everywhere with him but surely can't we do the same with potorcable routers that will be living in our workshop? Does anyone use an inverter to run American made power tools here in aus?

hmmm, interesting in how we keep running into the same problems.

Im on the verge of ordering an incra lifter with porter cable router from the US. They wont ship to Oz, so its via the old hospital pass postal service! (ordered some parts on Thursday last week, arrived yesterday, Tuesday.... boooooyaaa!!!!)

I looked into the transformers and while they cost "a bit" they are absolutely nowhere near the cost of buying ANYTHING her in Oz. There are quite a few transformer suppliers and getting the appropriate continuous use high wattage/amp jobbies isn't much of a problem. Was doing the maths earlier in the week and I think I can get a ripper of a solution for about a grand. Its expensive, but compared to the CRAP we are offered here, its a price I am prepared to pay.

Just, WHY WHY WHY cant we buy removable motor routers in this stupid country? Not ONE, not a single company. It strains and boggles the mind! I am so sick to death of dealing with suppliers who wish their stranglehold on consumers was stuck in the 80's.

As with all things, off to buy EVERYTHING internationally. This country is doomed.

Originally Posted by garfield

Thanks for that tiff... where can ya pick up a triton router these days?
Thanks
Geoff

There is a TRA001 for sale 2nd hand on here, you may have to scroll through a few pages as its an old post but i came across it the other night and its still for sale. Or on gumtree. heaps of people pass them on quiet regularly it seems. No reflection of the device it self it just seems people move onto something else or just no longer needed. I got mine for under $200 and its a beast!