Freud FT1702VCEK Advice

bought one for $129 – love it.
I think you should look elsewhere on the LJ site – I think it was available even cheaper – like $99.

-- Ellen on Cape Cod

Lowe's has this router for $99.97.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

It is a good machine and that is a good deal.

-- making sawdust....

Ellen, Scott and Motthunter,

Thanks for the quick responses. I pulled up Scott’s link and saw it for $99. If $129 was a deal, what is $99. Looks like it is not available at the local Lowe’s per Web inquiry. So I will have to look a bit further.

It is sounding like it is a pretty good value.

Dalec

You Jocks make me sick LOL we don’t get deals like that here.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

I have two of them, good routers. Springs on the plunge base are a bit stiff for me but otherwise good. If you ever go for the 3 1/4 hp know that its one powerful beast!

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Super Deal. Price at Sears is currently $245. I paid $169 for the fixed base only 6 months ago. I have the router mounted in my router table.

-- DaveH - Boise, Idaho - “How hard can it be? It's only wood!”

im with you Alistair if only and if only we could get the varied timber that you guys over the pond get and the price lol

andy

-- cut it saw it scrap it

might want to check the reviews at amazon on this one. Seems that it breaks. Some broken on the shelves in stores.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

Thanks Scottman, Kindlingmaker, DaveH, Pommy and Daniel.

Your responses and feedback to this question and all my other questions over the pass years are always appreciated from LJ members. It’s great getting first hand information and opinions, so that I can make factor that information into my decision making process.

Dalec

I bought one of these at Lowes for $99 and it is a deal. I gave it a good workout today and the router motor seems more than adequate for my needs. I intend to mount it in a Jointech router table as soon as it arrives. I used the plunge base today and was rather dissappointed with it. This is the first time I used the router and the plunge base keeps hanging up. I have to keep pounding the base to get it to move but when I do it works smooth for one cut and then hangs again.

I think that if you want to use the fixed base or mount it in a table you will be fine. If you want a plunge router you might want to keep looking.

The deal I got at Lowes did include a 1 year return policy, no questions asked. I figure I’ve got 11 more months to test it out and decide.

For the price it is a decent router. The quality of the castings is a little off compared to the more expensive brands like Bosch (who just bought Freud).

The fixed base is a little oval shaped which causes the bit it wobble a little between up movements and down movements. If you went down, setup your fence and then went up the bit position is a little different.

The plunge base I’ve heard is also a little rough, but workable (I only have the fixed base)

The Fixed base red 1/2 nut wears out quickly, call Freud they’ll send you a better one, their 5 year warranty is very good and they as a company strive to keep their customers happy.

Thanks treeman and Marcb.

In the review I read, there was comment about the plunge base needing better engineering. Your response reflects that opinion. I also have to agree that for $99 is pretty tempting, if it is table mounted it may be a very good value.

In that I am in no particular hurry to buy a router at the moment, I think I will wait until I can afford a router that has received higher review ratings. It gets down to balancing quality, value and the idea of avoiding making a buying mistake and spending twice for one good tool.

Dalec

Dalec-
I very recently bought the Freud router at Woodcraft and took it home to look it over a bit more. After messing around with it, I ended up taking it back for a few reasons mentioned above- the plunge base was not very smooth, it was extremely hard to install it in the two bases, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t have a fine adjustment on the plunge base(if it did I guess I must be really blind). The guy at the woodcraft store also told me, and I confirmed, that it will only take the Freud guides if you wanted to use it on any jigs. They are not much money, but I could only find them on Freud’s website. After I returned it, I purchased the Bosch 1617EVSPK 2-1/4 HP Router Combo Kit from this website:

http://www.coastaltool.com/bosch/1617evspk.htm

It was $199 for the two base kit, various template guides, and edge guide kit(about $40 if purchased seperately). Shipping from the east coast to Utah was $8.00 and it was at my doorstep in 5 days. In my opinion it is a lot better router all around. So far I am very satisifed with the Bosch.

Thanks treeman and Marcb.

In the review I read, there was comment about the plunge base needing better engineering. Your response reflects that opinion. I also have to agree that for $99 is pretty tempting, if it is table mounted it may be a very good value.

In that I am in no particular hurry to buy a router at the moment, I think I will wait until I can afford a router that has received higher review ratings. It gets down to balancing quality, value and the idea of avoiding making a buying mistake and spending twice for one good tool.

Dalec

Thanks mvh,

I kinda cooled to the idea of the Freud based on earlier responses from other LJ’s. Your response only reinforces my decision to hold off. I recall reading a piece about the Freud router working with just the Freud guide adaptor, but could not the specifics until you brought them up in your response.

Thanks for your response and the link to coastal tool.

Dalec

If you are looking at the Freud router that mvh suggested above it’s a good deal. I bought the Bosch 1617EVSPK 2-1/4 HP about 2 years ago and it’s been a fine router. I paid way over $200 for the kit and then purchased the Edge Guide Kit (Model RA1054) from Amazon for $40. My 2 cents.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Thanks John,

I have been looking at routers over the last couple of months. The Woodcraft advertisement for the Freud 1702 combination router got me digging further. As I mentioned earlier, I have decided not to buy the Freud, but continue to be interested in the Bosch 1617EVSPK. I have also seen some good reviews for the Triton 2.25hp plunge router which is priced very much like the Bosch 1617EVSPK.

Dalec

currently have the pc691 d-handle and a milwalkee vs in the router table. love them both. I wanted to get a plunge base for the pc and found that they were about $120 then got the e-mail from Woodcraft yesturday about the Freud 1702 combo for $130 and figured for another ten bucks i get a new vs router and a plunge base plus more power than the pc. Also i figured that Freud is a good name and couldn’t go to wrong. I picked up the kit today.

I haven’t used it yet other than turning it on a couple of times, switching the bases and figuring out how to change the bits, everything seems pretty good. the plunge works smooth and i didn’t have any trouble switching bases. It’s pretty quiet also. So far the only thing I’m not real happy with is the depth control knob does not work with the plunge base and it looks like i’ll have to get there edge guide. But i do like the above the base bit changing feature.

It will get broken in this weekend as i’m working a cabinet for a customer so I’ll see how the thing works.

-- Talent on Loan from God - Rush Limbaugh ----------www.genesiswoodworks.com----------

I haven’t owned any Freud tools, but I just purchased my second Porter Cable 9690 and for a router getting mounted in a table, I love it. not to mention, it seems to be such a standard, I believe there are more accessories made for this router than any other. it is not the power house of its big brothers in the 2 1/2 hp or more, but for me the size/power/options I think its one of the best out there. and its at the $129 price point that is what grabbed your attention.

-- "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most logical explantion is that I was made for another world." -C.S. Lewis

A few days after receiving many replies to my initial forum topic posting, I looked further at the Coast Tool link provided by mvh. I finally decided to pull the trigger and ordered the Bosch 1617evspk.

The LJ forum is terrific for gathering first hand information and recommendations. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and thoughts.

Dalec