New Router advice

[noddy67]

Hello all. My dewalt 621 has finally packed up so I'm in the market for a replacement. I was thinking of getting the same again but am also considering the Festool 1400. Its a lot more money but based on my experience of owning the TS55 circular saw (absolutely superb machine) I was wondering whether it is woth paying up for their router. Does anyone have any experience they could share on owning/using the Festool 1400?
Thanks for any feedback

 

[ByronBlack]

Everything i've read about the festool says it's great, but I decided to go for the triton MOF001 - superb in the table, and still excellent in the hand and for only £150! Bargain!

 

[tim]

I have a 1400. It has a lot of plus points eg - its DX is unbelievably effective, its is braked so cutters stop within a couple of seconds (very useful if you have long cutters protruding etc) and its very well made.

I do have some gripes about it though - it is one of the only festool products that doesn't quite seem to fit their system ie the sliding carriage for the rail is basically adapted from the 1010, the anti tip jockey for the rail doesn't work very well.

Other things to note - festool don't provide a wide range of standard guide bushes and nor does it fit a unibase (in fact it seems to have missed being adapted for by other manufacturers).

Overall its a great router and I use it daily but I think its pushing its asking price because of those niggles.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Loz_S]

I also have a 1400 and would have to agree with almost everything Tim said.

It is a brilliantly smooth router - incredibly easy to use with a very light plunge action. It seems more powerful than it is for its modest wattage.

I don't know how many guide bushes are normally provided by other manufacturers but the 1400 has 7 different sizes from 8,5mm to 40mm. I've only ever used a couple though as I don't have much use for them.

...however, the router table module for the CMS/Basis table is utter rubbish! The insert rings have to be mounted from the underside of the table before you mount the router! #-o You can't do with out them as they are the only thing that lines the router up with the hole.

...it gets worse... The rise and fall screw-thread-thingy that adjusts the cutter height from under the table is obviously just a modification of the 1000/1010 router module as it doesn't even fit the underside properly. Worse still, the cup that pushes up onto the router leg doesn't fit properly which allows it to wiggle about from side to side. So when adjusting the cutter height, if it wiggles at the wrong moment, it drops by up to 2mm which is bl***y marvelous for accurate cuts! ](*,)

So basically, an excellent hand router and probably not bad in a home made table but don't even go near the table module. Biggest and most expensive duff Festool purchase ever....

 

[Corset]

loz_s, I am glad that someone else has had the same problem as me it is strangely c*** by festool standards. I went to fit a panel cutting bit last night and the aperture must be about 3/4 mm smaller than a the 3inch cutter which i irritating to say the least. I think if you mounted a permanent router by drilling you could probably make some inserts to fit. The height adjuster is rubbish rubbish rubbish it vibrates loose and the clamping leaver things to hold the router in place are fiddly to say the least.
On the other hand the top side of the table is great with good dust extraction etc. If you need to joint with it the adjustable fence is brill.
I have made an MDf table to put it in as i bought it on ebay and did not bother to get the table for it which i think would improve it a fair bit.
It rates as one of my more rash purchases as i thought it would save space and now i have moved workspaces i have quite a bit of space.

ON the other hand the 1400 is brill and its one of my best purchases, i like everthing about it, I found the guide rail pretty good but maybe i wasn't expecting too much.
Owen

 

[Corset]

Right spurred me into action. I have just emailed festool to find out why it is so duff. Hopefully they will respond in the next couple of days. If anyone else feels the urge it is dead easy on there web sites.
Owen

 

[Loz_S]

It is funny you should mention the fence... I forgot to have a go at that bit!

If pushed I'd have to admit it is quite good... now that I've finally got the fences aligned along the same plane and at 90 degrees to the table!

I don't know how good your fence was out of the box but mine required a ridiculous amount of shimming to get flat. I bought 3 sets of auto feeler-gauges to get the d*mn thing flat. Before that, it was virtually impossible to get any cut without snipe or a wobble in the middle.

Its alright now but it does wind me up thinking about how much it cost and the effort required to get anything half decent out of it.

Now I've got that off my chest I can go and calm down now.... :roll:

 

[Loz_S]

Right spurred me into action. I have just emailed festool to find out why it is so duff. Hopefully they will respond in the next couple of days. If anyone else feels the urge it is dead easy on there web sites.
Owen

Oooh direct action. I'm impressed! Let us know what they say wont you?

 

[Corset]

I will give you an update on the response. With regards to the fence its straight enough that i havn't noticed any problems, however setting the adjuster knob at 0 means the fences aren't aligned. I have been thinking about drilling it out for another router and making some home made inserts i think they need to be 8mm thick. MUst admit i have never tried to set the fence at 90 degrees as i havn't tended to use it like that.
What do you reckon to the chances of getting a response along the lines of "we are unaware of any issues with this products but we get back to you if we do" :roll:
Owen

 

[Corset]

I have to say i am very impressed with the response from Festool however i think they have skirted the issue. I have pointed this out, anyone else in the same boat might be worth having a mention to them.
Response:


Good afternoon

Thank you for your enquiry on the Festool website.

I paased your email to our Festool trainer and a colleague from Germany who is in the country at the moment who documented this answer below.


You would normaly lock the router with the knob, the fine adjuster is just for setting the height .
If this is done the router will not drop or become loose.At the time of writing there is no alternative available.

Regards


John and Bernhard

 

[Loz_S]

Sounds to me like they didn't understand the problem. If the router knob is locked off, then the "fine-height" adjuster on the 6a module wont work!

An alternative would be to dispense with the table module height adjuster and replace the 1400's depthing rod with a screw thread and box spanner à la Ron Fox' Tips. I can't see the cutter height moving with a nut holding it in place.

Following your lead I decided to mail the Dutch Festool site with similar questions. If I get a response I'll post it here as well.

 

[Corset]

Many thanks, i have again re stated the problem and posted this link so they get the general gist. like yourself i know i can make a threaded rod but when the basis is so expensive and festool so adament about their superior designs they need to get some of the basic features right its hardly rocket science to make a fine adjuster, they have a massive sheet of aluminium to play around with.
Owen

 

[John]

Hi Tim, reference to you message regarding guide bushes for the of1400 Festool router, Trend do make a sub-base to suite. I hope this helps with your guide bush problems. You should be able to contact them direct and ask for their tech dept who will give you the reference No.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi John

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Corset]

Once again superb response from the festool team, i guess I will just have to wait and see what the German Boffins come up with.



Dear Owen
I have sent the info to our colleague Roland Muenz who is looking into the problem, he is one of our specialist designers for routing. We are grateful for your response and pleased that you have given us the link to the forum. I normally deal with most problems given to us in the UK and as you have said in the forum, it is not common. But I must add that if more people gave us feedback, positive or negative we could help further. One point made in the forum was the fine fence ajuster not being at zero when the fence is in line, the white ajuster can be set independently of the knob, this helps if you wish to take off 1.5mm as an example after already taking of .7mm wthout doing the maths. (I hope this does not come accross in the wrong way)
When I get a reply I will forward on to you.

John

 

[Cabaxi]

Hello all is there any body else using the Triton MOF001 im thinking of buying one of these and it looks good for the money £150, just wanted to see what you thought. ta

 

[ByronBlack]

Cabaxi, I've recently purchased the triton and for the money is a wondeful machine, easily the best router i've ever used, and veyr very versatile. I would not hesitate for a minute to recommend one.

 

[Loz_S]

Just a quick update from the Festool moaning front...

Festool NL so far doesn't seem to give a ****. I haven't even had a standard "we have received your e-mail and will be in touch shortly" time filler. Obviously some parts of the Festool empire are more customer savvy than others...

 

[Cabaxi]

HI Thanks for the reply ByronBlack just wondered did you look at or try the TRB001 i've read that its a bit big for hand routing. I want it mainly for putting in a table and the odd kitchen worktop. do you think it will be to big, thanks

 

[ByronBlack]

Hi Cabaxi

I didn't look or consider the larger model for two reasons, the first being i'm tight and didn't want to spend the money for the larger model and secondly, the smaller one has the handle-winder for above the table adjustments of the router-bit height which appealed to me more because I intend to use a router-table quite a lot.

Most people will undoubtedly suggest the bigger one is better for kitchen worktops, but from what I read/researched the smaller one is fine for work tops you just need to take less of a cut with a few extra passes, this for me is no big deal unless you are a kitchen fitter and need to work at a faster rate.

The smaller one for me has more positives than the larger:

- It's better in the table because of the height winder
- It's better hand-held because it's lighter

- It's not at fast cutting worktops
- You'll need to take smaller cuts when using larger panel raising bits - but again, no biggie for me personaly, just adds a little extra time to a project, it's still capable of doing the job.

Well, that was my rationale for selecting the smaller one, I hope that helps. Its also worth having a look at argee's excellent comparitive review, I can't seem to find the link at the moment, maybe argee will be kind enough to send it to you..