Thinking to buy a router

[MikeJhn]

If I remember correctly the switch is on the other side of the router to the height adjustment, with the height adjustment at the front of the table the switch cover is at the back and is difficult to reach from in front of the table where you where standing to change the cutter, perhaps fiddling about was the incorrect word, I should have said grouping around under the table, or on your knees trying to locate it, this is especially irksome if you are serious about dust collection and have your router enclosed in a dust box.

Mike

 

[MikeK]

I have the TRA001 in my router table and none of my router bits can even be used when the router is lifted to the point where the interlock is active. The chuck is too high with respect to the table surface to make the bits functional.

With due respect Mike, you have missed the point of the interlock, its function is to lock the shaft to allow the collet to be undone for cutter changes, you then fiddle about under the table to unlock the shaft and then lower the Router to its operational height.

Mike

On the contrary, I understand perfectly about the interlock, as I find this a great feature of the TRA001. Despite many cutter changes from the table top, I have never fiddled under the table or groped for the switch cover. After I lower the router to the desired height, I simply reach under, flip the cap and push the switch. Simples.

 

[MikeJhn]

I am afraid we will beg to differ, reaching under the table flipping the cap, pushing a switch and locking the depth is in my estimation fiddling about, if the interlock wasn't there none of that would be required, as I said earlier if you are serious about dust collection and have the router in a collection box the whole thing becomes even more difficult, as all that would have to be done blind at the back of the box as the router on/off switch/interlock is on the back side of the router, if not then you will have to change position and walk around the table to access the interlock and switch, all of which can be avoided by having a router without the interlock, or putting an extension collet or MuscleChuck on the Router, I use my Router a lot and it soon became a chore I could not live with.

I am also not alone in this assertion/conclusion, look on google there are lots of threads on this subject, most saying the interlock is a pain and some even removing it, but that brings its own problems with dust ingress into the router.

Mike

 

[Alexam]

Being new to routers and having only just purchased the TRA001, I have fitted to to a Kreg plate and mounted in in a table.
The position of the router is now that the height lock is on the left corner near the front and the switch on the right cornet, both not difficult to access.
Reading what Mike is saying makes me think he may have a different plate that mounts the router in a more difficult position access wise.
Changing a bit was no problem. Raise the router with the lift handle to full height and the shaft automatically locks and turns off the power switch. No need to reach under and lock the shaft, but when the bit is changed with one spanner, just reach under to switch on again. As I have the router plugged into an NVR switch,(it could be aa wall switch that you hav switched off) switching on the router switch under the table does not start the motor, that is started when you are ready by pressing the NVR switch, or wall switch.

This is the position my router is in with lock handle almost central and the switch is on the right side corner.
As someone said ........ simples.

Malcolm

 

[RogerP]

Reading what Mike is saying makes me think he may have a different plate that mounts the router in a more difficult position access wise.

I think that must be the answer. I have no problem at all with my table mounted Triton - it really couldn't be simpler or easier to use, adjust or change cutters.

 

[MikeJhn]

My Triton was mounted in a Triton router table, the winding mechanism was under the fence when positioning a bearing cutter, so not ideal, constantly having to move the fence to adjust the height, and then re-set the fence, the switch and interlock where on the right hand side at the back, very difficult to get at because of the large drop to the front of the table, this required kneeling down to see it and switch it on again to allow lowering, the Router could not go in any other position due to the manufactured holes in both the mounting plate and bolts in the router, all in all a very bad design.

With my current Hitachi MV12 fitted with a MuscleChuck and in a UJK lift, everything is done above the table, including locking the height, its only when I tried this sort of set up that I realised what a faff the triton was and how simple it really can be.

Mike

 

[Alexam]

That proves the point Mike, the winder in the Kreg plate is on the leff, front part of the plate. No need to move the fence at all, but I have seen the Triton TRA001 mounted like that on other plates. The Kreg is the one to go for.
Malcolm

 

[MikeJhn]

With my current Hitachi MV12 fitted with a MuscleChuck and in a UJK lift, everything is done above the table, including locking the height, its only when I tried this sort of set up that I realised what a faff the triton was and how simple it really can be.

Mike

I have the UJK lift which is similar, sold the Triton.

Mike

 

[Lonsdale73]

Hi all
I have decided to buy a router to replace my crappy old Power Devil one, which wasn't the bargain I thought it might be - I have since learned to generally avoid cheap kit. Anyway I was thinking of the Trend T5EB which I can get for around £110. Do any members have any experience of this, either good or bad. At the price, is there a better buy? I won't be getting a Titan, Erbauer etc, it's going to be a Trend, Makita, deWalt or other well being respected brand this time.

Any opinions?

K

If you think you need a router then my advice would be THINK AGAIN - and think long and hard about it.

I was in your position not so very long ago, albeit without the benefit of this site and its largely experienced, knowledgeable and infinitely patient denizens willing to advice and guide you on your way. A router, the guy in the big box store, was the answer to all my problems. He lied, it was merely the start of them, the slippery slope into a world of endless outlay, at first on the essential array of bits - including the ones you're not sure exactly what it is they do but damn they look impressive so have got to be bought, haven't they? Then there's a table to house your router because these damn fine looking bits are too big to be used safely handheld. They're also so damn scary looking they sit unused in their original packaging for months on end till you reach a point when you feel experienced and confident enough to give them a go. So out they come however one look at the potentially life ending razors looking like something from a Bruce Lee movie and straight back in the drawer they go.

Now your router is table mounted, you NEED a second one for things you can't do at a table. And of course a trim router, because every woodworker worth his sawdust has one. Then there's the table itself. It's okay but is it really the MOST ULTIMATE ROUTER TABLE EVER? No, of course it isn't, that distinction belongs to that guy on youtube. Or maybe that guy. No matter, you will take the best of their ideas, incorporate some of your own and before long yours will be hailed as the MOST Ultimate etc.

But to achieve that, you absolutely have to have a Festool Domino - and pretty much everything else Festool make. Then having amassed all this hardware, you need to build Systainer ports to house them all. And an MFT table to use them effectively. And despite offering the best dust extraction capabilities in the world, your work area still resembles the interior of an old west saloon, minus the spittoons. So then you enter the mysterious world of Dust Extraction, perhaps the biggest mystery being why do no two tools - even from the same manufacturer - have the same sized ports? It is amazing how resourceful one can trying to link hoses and pipes of varying diameters together to make an effective dust extraction system.

And when you're not in the shop designing and building things to house all the tools you bought or to make them function as intended, there's the countless hours spent trawling forums and watching youtube videos to see how easy it is for some people who can barely string a cohesive sentence together. You will become envious of all the goodies readily available to our American cousins, items deemed not safe for us dimwitted Europeans - and, for the most part, how cheaply they can be purchased.

Still think you need a router? Be like Renton, chose heroin, it's safer and cheaper. But probably not as much fun.

 

[graduate_owner]

Lonsdale - it seems as though you are talking from experience.

K

 

[Lonsdale73]

Lonsdale - it seems as though you are talking from experience.

K[/quote

Oh yes

 

[MikeJhn]

My Router table is the most productive machine I have in my workshop, it does not bear thinking about how I would make the eight rail and stile raised panel doors of the wardrobes I have just made, quite literally my other machines are only there to allow preparation of timber to go through the Router Table, could not work effectively without it.

Before anyone tells me I could do it by hand I have Arthritis in my hands/shoulders which precludes any type of hand preparation, the machines allow me to continue my hobby without undue pain.

Mike