LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

deciding what Router to buy for table

Tags
question
3K views 28 replies 15 participants last post by  timbertailor 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello everyone,
It's been quite some time since I've been active here, and the only reason is how busy I have been over the past couple of years. I've deployed a couple of times, and I bought a house last year… between work and the new house, I've had very little time to get into the workshop. Actually the workshop is finally starting to take shape after a year in our house.

OK… so there are several things I want to do over the next several months to further improve the layout and efficiency in my shop, and one of the things I want to do is build a smaller router table. Currently I have a slapped together plywood box with a plastic cutting board router plate in it. I want to get something a bit smaller, and I am going to build a semi-portable wall mount table with a shop-made lift in it. I think I have decided on the router lift shown here http://www.ibuildit.ca/Workshop%20Projects/router-lift-1.html

My current router is a 10 year old 3.5HP Plunge router from Craftsman which is a beast! I want to get something a little more manageable for the lift, and I'm trying to balance cost and effectiveness.

My foray into the big box stores around me has me looking at the Ridgid Fixed based router that sells for around $180. I need you guys to help me out with some advice on what I should be looking for based on my needs, and whether or not the router I have picked is going to work for me or offer suggestions on alternatives.

This router will be exclusively used in a table
It needs to have a 1/2" collett
I would like to spend as little as necessary. I don't want cheap, I want something that will work for me but isn't going to put me in the poor house.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
 
See less See more
#4 ·
I am in San Diego, and I did take a look at Craigslist. I think I want at least a 2HP router, and I need to have a 1/2" collet. It appears most of what ends up on CL is a lower powered 1/4" collet lower end routers. I am leaning more toward one that I can pull the motor out and mount in the router lift I linked in my first post. I feel that will be the easiest way to get a solid mount in the lift.
 
#5 ·
I was looking at the Grizzly website and saw that they have Dewalt DW618M motors for a less than the Ridgid kit at HD. If I am mounting this in a table will this work? or is there something that i would be missing if I just bought the motor?
 
#6 ·
I would stick the more powerful Craftsman in the new table and try it out. If you need a second router, buy one then but I have a feeling if you go to your local woodworking store and spend some time with a quality aluminium lift, you may want to own one.
 
#7 ·
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
I take for granted that all the routers I have ever owned have been table friendly.

Leave it to Craftsman to put the power cable, speed dial, and switch in the handle.

The bearings in the new Porter Cable routers suck and their QC has disappeared.

I would have to recommend a Bosch or a Milwaukee. The 5625-20 has been a great router for me and I have run thousands of board feet over its collet over the last 5 years in my table.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the link Charlie M.

I've read great things about the Triton routers, and it might work for what I am doing.

I notice that the Triton is over 16 pounds. I think I've decided on the Hitachi that Bill M. mentioned above… It's only a little over 7 pounds, and my intentions are to wall mount my table/lift/router using a french cleat, then when i am not using it, pull the router setup off the wall and stick it into a storage racking system.

My idea is that I can build similarly sized work stations for my different bench tools etc… and use the same area with french cleat for all the tools.
 
#13 ·
The triton does work great in the table. I went from my hitachi to the 3 1/4 triton which is great with lots of power. The problem I've come to find out is that it is hard to get service and parts. I haven't needed either, but I know other people are having trouble because of the fact that triton has changed hands several times. Hopefully I won't have any problems. The thing must be 20 pounds or more. I never take it out. I use my hitachi for handheld work.
Are you gonna get the hitachi kit with plunge and fixed base? I guess if you're gonna put it in a lift you won't need the bases. That wall hung system will be nice.
 
#14 ·
The Dewalt is a great handheld router and they own a patent on dust collection through their plunge base column. I love mine and am glad I have a DW618. However the DW616/DW618 doesn't easily support above table height adjustment.

I was looking to the Triton as it seems to have a very compelling built-in lift capability. Note that there has been a recent change of US supplier (no longer Kreg Tools, now Toolstream Inc) and have been a bit leery as I don't know much about Toolstream Inc.
 
#15 ·
Personally I think it all depends on what diameter bits you want to swing on the router table?

I have a Bosch 1617 in my TS router extension table and it works great. The fixed base allows top side adjustments with an supplied T-handle allen wrench without needing a lift. It handles most anything I want to work using a bit less than ~2" in diameter with full depth cuts (if the wood doesn't chip and require smaller bites). It will swing a full 3" diameter panel raising bit without issue, but need to make 3-4 passes or it bogs down.
When I want to route a large number of panels with big bits, I borrow a friends Milwaukee 3.5hp 5625-20 (he uses the same plate I do!). The 3625 handles the large panel bits with only 2 passes (1 heavy, 1 clean up) and if I didn't already own two Bosch 1617+dewalt 611; I buy one of them for a permanent heavy duty router table solution.

YMMV.
Best of luck on the tool decision.
 
#17 ·
First and foremost, Thank you for your service. I appreciate what you have been doing, and, also want to say welcome home. Work/play safe. Keep makin dust, when you can, bro. :)
 
#18 ·
I found that the Hitachi M12V2 - 3 1/4 hp router makes a great router table router. You don't need a lift it has one built in. Drill a hole in the router table plate right above the nut on the threaded column that the manual adjustment knob attaches to. Then drop in a 13mm socket onto the nut on that shaft. bolt on the router plate. Hang your router plate into your router table. Then stick a speed handle wrench in the hole you drilled in the plate above the nut.

You can crank the router up and down from the top of the plate. It works a lot easier if you remove the springs from the plunge assembly. Gravity will be all you need when the router is upside down.
 
#19 ·
When I was deciding between the triton and the m12v2 I could not find anything anywhere that suggested that you could take that spring out. I read the entire manual. Now the original m12 had it listed as an option with instruction on how to do it. That was why I went with the triton. Based on my experience with my other hitachi, the v2 would be good in the table.
 
#21 ·
Hi, just joined. I got a new 3 1/4hp Triton on sale for $200 and use it exclusively in my Incra router system. I used the 2 1/4hp Hitachi (now my handheld router) and a Craftsman Pro 2 1/4 (bleh, returned the next day after 6 hrs of use wore it out). The Hitachi was not worth trying to make it work without a lift but it is a good, smooth router. Craftsman above table lift crank worked good but the base was junk. I love the Triton and want a smaller 2 1/4 for handheld use. Good dust control thru the base & the above table height adjustment with the Wixey digital gauge gets me .002" adjustment. I have had the Trtion increase current draw with panel raising & lock miter cuts so 2 1/4 hp might struggle with some cuts.

If you go with Triton, remove the plastic cover that retains the plunge spring in addition to the spring, otherwise it catches chips & binds. I also always reach under & latch/unlatch the plunge/lift lock. The big Porter Cable baseplate ($15) can be used on the Tritons, allowing use of standard PC style bushings; you just have to sand off the stiffening ribs. Also both size Tritons use the same baseplate so the smaller one could always be sub'd in if the larger one needs service, that's another reason I want the smaller Triton as my handheld.
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
The Milwaukee bodygrip ones are great topside,
have big nuts and robust wrenches, and have
a thing where you can adjust the height
topside.

The whole fancy router table thing is way overblown
in my opinion. I wonder what I'm doing wrong
sometimes to not need an elaborate router table
setup or high-end fence.

I do not cut decorative joinery on a router table,
or use it often for that matter. Decorative
joinery like table dovetails and box joints are
the only major application I can think of for much
of this fanciness.

Here's a recent thing I wrote about cutting tenons
with a very basic router table setup: http://lawoodworking.com/?p=173
 
#24 ·
Nothing fancy here Loren. That's why I went with the triton because I couldn't afford to buy a router and a separate lift. Thought about it, but then I wouldn't have had a handheld one to use. I make quite a few rail and stile doors and also run a lot of moulding for cabinets. My table is something I hobbled together with some rough sawn 1×12's I had and a hand me down Rockler top from my father in law.
 
#25 ·
I forgot to mention that I drilled holes in the router plate insert rings (after seeing the Incra "clean sweep" inserts) and it catches most of the chips. I got black sump pump hose at Lowes that will work in the Triton base. I loosened the plastic guards to insert the hose then tightened the guards down. My shop vac hose fits into the sump hose perfectly. This would work great for handheld router dust extraction too.
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
Believe me, I have invested plenty in shop gear
and built many cabinets and things for clients.

The basic 1/2" router in and of itself is an awesome,
liberating tool. All you do is screw it to a flat
board and flip it over and it can do amazing
things.

Engineering shop tools is great fun. I do it too.

All I'm saying is any 1/2" router is an amazing
tool of itself. Triton has a good design in a
table-ready plunger and the Milwaukee is good
for a fixed-base table-ready router. I bought
my Milwaukee reconditioned for like $120 years
ago to cut recesses for "the Burgess Edge",
a method of insetting solid wood into plywood
edges. The topside handling of the Milwaukee
was great for it but after a few jobs I didn't
use it anymore. One slip with the router and
a panel edge would be wrecked. It was excessive
stress and clients didn't comprehend it anyway.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top