powerful and european style router ...

[sploo]

I want cylindrical bodies because they are easy to work with and integrate into homemade solutions, and they take a lot less space that way. I had to modify my tilting router lift and modify the mount to make it work with my plunge router, which I basically stripped down to it's bare essentials to make it work, even had to reroute the power cord. I want to build a pantorouter one day and I don't wanna muck about with a clumsy plunge router again, fortunately it seems Draper sells a nice router at a reasonable price level.

I take your point about cylindrical bodies but I don't think I've ever seen anything from Draper that I'd describe as "nice". Excrement maybe, but not "nice". I've not seen their router though, so I may be surprised.

 

[DennisCA]

I'm basing it on what I've read when searching for reviews and opinions, granted one can never be sure, but the experiences of other people don't fill me with dread. It's apparently a copy of the Master Craft routers sold overseas, which are considered usable budget routers. I'd like a Bosh GMF 1600 CE but I'm not made of money.

 

[sploo]

I'm basing it on what I've read when searching for reviews and opinions, granted one can never be sure, but the experiences of other people don't fill me with dread. It's apparently a copy of the Master Craft routers sold overseas, which are considered usable budget routers. I'd like a Bosh GMF 1600 CE but I'm not made of money.

Yea, the Bosch is very pricey; certainly compared to the cost of a Porter-Cable 892 you could get in the US.

I have one (the Porter-Cable) for a CNC machine, and got my local rental place to do an electrical safety check after I'd done some plug mods so I could run it from a UK building site power supply. The guy was amazed at the quality for the money; but I've never seen anything close in the UK.

 

[DennisCA]

I'm starting to wonder if this is a good way to go yes:
http://www.horizonplatforms.co.uk/Trans ... 3300W.html

 

[heimlaga]

I doubt so. You still have 60Hz electricity as opposed to the American 50Hz.

What about buying a secondhand overarm router and fitting it with a wooden fence? Then you would have the super powerful plunging router that you are dreaming about. I have a lead on a pretty good one which likely could be bought for a few hundred euros later this spring.
I have never seen this done but I suppose it would work.

 

[DennisCA]

I read the hertz difference wasn't really a problem, but after doing the math on shipping and costs and import fees, I wouldn't really stand to gain anything so it's not actually economically feasible.

I don't actually want a plunge router, I just want the cylindrical body, if I could buy just the motor sans the rest of the stuff they tack on to make a router it would be great.

 

[sploo]

I'm starting to wonder if this is a good way to go yes:
http://www.horizonplatforms.co.uk/Trans ... 3300W.html

Yep. It works for me (with a PC892). I got a US style "female" socket, and wired it up to a plug for the transformer as an adapter lead - works great. I've not noticed any issues with the reduced power frequency.

I read the hertz difference wasn't really a problem, but after doing the math on shipping and costs and import fees, I wouldn't really stand to gain anything so it's not actually economically feasible.

I don't actually want a plunge router, I just want the cylindrical body, if I could buy just the motor sans the rest of the stuff they tack on to make a router it would be great.

That's the problem for a one-off purchase. My PC892 came with a US built CNC machine, so it was all just one big tax hit - though it did mean the shipping costs for the router were absorbed in the overall costs.

It's not trivial, but I've seen people take plunge routers, remove the legs, and make a bracket to hold the motor body. Much more inconvenient than a cylindrical unit, granted.

 

[DennisCA]

Yeah it's what I've done and would like to avoid in the future.

 

[Job and Knock]

What about buying a secondhand overarm router and fitting it with a wooden fence?

In Finland I believe that you are fortunate enough to have 3-phase into all houses. Most of Europe is not so fortunate. Pin routers are pretty much always 3-phase and weigh 1/2 tonne and upwards (and because they are top heavy can be a bear to move)

I'm starting to wonder if this is a good way to go yes:
http://www.horizonplatforms.co.uk/Trans ... 3300W.html

I doubt so. You still have 60Hz electricity as opposed to the American 50Hz.

As someone who is mainly site based in the UK I can tell you that with 90% of tools out there from the USA it will work - many of the 110 volt tools we get are identical to the US market models if you check the relevant part numbers. With variable speed routers you may find that they run a little slower, that's probably all, but unfortunately you can't guarantee it. I've have had Porter-Cable stuff in the past imported from the USA (692s), but they were single speed no electrnic speed controllers where there are no problems with the frequency. I still have a Festo OF1000 "115 volt 60Hz USA " router bought over there years ago and brought back. Runs off my site transformer quite happily.. More than fifteen years on it is still working and it hasn't crashed or burned, yet

It's not trivial, but I've seen people take plunge routers, remove the legs, and make a bracket to hold the motor body. Much more inconvenient than a cylindrical unit, granted.

With a deWalt DW625 it is - take the domed nut and sprung nut off the threaded depth setting rod and you can pop the bottom off, complete with legs and springs in a couple of seconds. The DW625 (originally the Elu MOF177e) was designed to be used in Elu's various jigs - back then Elu were also a big player in the aluminium and PVCu window trade (which use a LOT of big jigs). The design incorporates a round collar, like a Euro collar on an electric drill, which can be used for securing the motor and also has two threaded mounting holes in the bottom of motor plate. All it needs to mount it is a flat plate with a big hole for the collar and two small ones for the machine screws. That or a thick split circular collar. On the plus side it's as powerful as the Porter-Cable 7518 but it has a far superior collet system (basically an engineering collet). What it won't do is fit into a US-style router lift. Build your own, however and it's easy to accommodate the big DW

Sorry, long post I know, but hopefully relevant

 

[sploo]

As someone who is mainly site based in the UK I can tell you that with 90% of tools out there from the USA it will work - many of the 110 volt tools we get are identical to the US market models if you check the relevant part numbers. With variable speed routers you may find that they run a little slower, that's probably all, but unfortunately you can't guarantee it. I've have had Porter-Cable stuff in the past imported from the USA (692s), but they were single speed no electrnic speed controllers where there are no problems with the frequency. I still have a Festo OF1000 "115 volt 60Hz USA " router bought over there years ago and brought back. Runs off my site transformer quite happily.. More than fifteen years on it is still working and it hasn't crashed or burned, yet

Yea, I strongly doubt many "simple" power tools are going to be that sensitive to the frequency - with a motor speed controller in a router it's likely it'll just run a bit slower at "full speed", but that's rarely a big deal.

With a deWalt DW625 it is - take the domed nut and sprung nut off the threaded depth setting rod and you can pop the bottom off, complete with legs and springs in a couple of seconds.

Ah, by "not trivial" I was meaning the mounting not the conversion - but if it does have a round collar then that would help greatly.

 

[DennisCA]

In Finland I believe that you are fortunate enough to have 3-phase into all houses. Most of Europe is not so fortunate. Pin routers are pretty much always 3-phase and weigh 1/2 tonne and upwards (and because they are top heavy can be a bear to move)

Well heimlaga and me live quite near each other and yes I do have 3-phase in my workshop. Still this time I am not after a heavy monster machine, I'd like something lighter and easier to move, the whole thing should be on locking castors ideally. I think I'd like to put it on a rotating table like Alain Vaillancourt does with some of his machines. A nice solution when shop space is at a premium.

I do think most of continental europe has residential 3-phase as standard too, at least the major countries.

 

[sploo]

I do think most of continental europe has residential 3-phase as standard too, at least the major countries.

Didn't know you had it in Finland. In the UK it's a standard single phase 220/230/240V to any residential place I've ever seen.

 

[Job and Knock]

I do think most of continental europe has residential 3-phase as standard too, at least the major countries.

Having lived and worked in a few countries myself my own experiences are to the contrary (based on France, the Benelux and Germany). It's supposed to be a Finnish thing.

On the subject of pin routers, even the modern "lightweight" fabricated steel machines are over 500kg in weight. Older cast iron machines are often in the 750 to 1250kg range. Not something I'd like to put on castors!

I'll take a look at the DW625s over the weekend, take a few pics and post the dimensions if you'd like

 

[wcndave]

Italy does not have 3 phase as standard, you can order it very easily though. However you pay about double per kwh.

 

[DennisCA]

It's standard in finland, sweden, norway and denmark for sure, basically all the nordic countries. It's also easy to miss, you could live here and not notice it unless you had a specific need for it, even then you could be using your stove every day for years and never notice that it runs on 3-phase. For instance in my house there are no 3-phase outlets, only two permanent installations for the heat pump and stove. I have one outlet in the central panel and in my garages standard configuration there where no 3-phase outlets, I had to add those myself. So it's an easy thing to miss unless you're actively looking for it.

Now I've seen several hobby woodworkers from germany and belgium and poland too I think, wiring up 3-phase motors for use in their projects in their garage workshops so that's where I've gotten the impression. I also asked a swiss guy I know if they had it and he said yes.

 

[Job and Knock]

It may be an option, but our place in Brussels certainly never had it, neither did the place in Germany. Maybe it's down to the age of the house. Either way we certainly don't have it here in the UK. You do need to be a bit more cautious when wiring it, though - phase to earth on single phase or three phase will give you a heck of a shock, on three phase a phase-to-phase earth will give you 380 to 415 volts (depending on which country you are in), and that will almost certainly kill you. I'm not frightened of it - I've wired my own houses and workshops for years - but I always have my work checked and tested by an electrician when I'm done

 

[DennisCA]

Well my current solution is just an extension cord from the main panel and a store bought splitter I hang on the wall, the main panel is conveniently located on my garage. Sometime in the future I will have an electrician add real outlets, but this works well for now. I thought the current european standard was now 230/400V, at least to a dozen volts either way.

I wouldn't attempt anything more complex than wiring up motors or contactors for them myself, those bits are straightforward enough though.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I have the Triton an like it.

Although the height adjustment isn't a precise or controllable as on my smaller dewalt (the better class dewalt router). Still it's not a problem, it just means you have to be a bit more careful.

One annoying thing is the base plate screws seem to be a strange taper, I guess it must be what's used in Australia as you can't find them in the UK. If you drop one and lose it you have to pay about 50p or a pound for a new one. I've actually thought about drilling and tapping my own screw holes for it.

 

[sploo]

One annoying thing is the base plate screws seem to be a strange taper, I guess it must be what's used in Australia as you can't find them in the UK. If you drop one and lose it you have to pay about 50p or a pound for a new one. I've actually thought about drilling and tapping my own screw holes for it.

They're 1/4" UNC (also known as 1/4" 20, or "Coarse"). You'll find loads on-line (eBay etc.) dirt cheap.

A 3/4" long countersunk screw seems to be ideal for mounting it under a 1/2" thick router table insert plate (with the plastic router base removed). 1" long screws would be just a bit long, IRC.

 

[AES]

Just to confirm what Dennis CA says - here in Switzerland we do have 3 phase (380V) as standard, though you wouldn't necessarily know it without looking for it. Our (separate) cooker hob and ovens are both 3 phase, though of course you can't see that. Under the kitchen sink there's a combined 5 pin/3 pin socket for the dishwasher - you get the choice of either single or 3 phase machines here.

Similarly down in the cellar, with (in this house) 2 of the above combined 5 pin/3 pin sockets already wired in, allowing the choice of either single or 3 phase washing machines and tumble driers.

Incidentally, the above combined 5/3 pin sockets are rather clever because (mechanically) it's impossible to plug a 3 pin plug into anything other than a single phase, and similarly the 5 pin 3 phase appliance plug will only contact all 3 phases. Just as well when you think about it

The above applies to all 3 addresses we've had in Switzerland. We have also lived in 2 separate addresses in Germany where it was exactly the same as the above (EXCEPT that Swiss and German 3 and 5 pin plugs and sockets are NOT the same!!!! - they can generally be made to fit but aren't the same ). Ditto for my wife's girlfriend's house in Germany.

But before any UK member gets "jealous" about 3 phase on tap here, I must say that so far all my gear is single phase, though when looking for 2nd hand stuff I do at least have a bigger choice.

Krgds
AES