Which router

[Palletmangler]

Hi, I’m in the market for a new router. I’m in a bit of a decision fuddle though as to what path to take.

I’m trying to flog my guitar for £600, £350 going towards a Makita plunge saw with two rails which is my main priority to get. So I was thinking the Makita rp1801 which I can find for £230, which would leave me a bit of change for a couple of bits or something. Seems like a quality tool and fit for all my purposes.

However, I’ve just been pondering something cheaper like screwfix’s Erbauer, which would leave me with money for a workshop vacuum and a few router bits.

It’s basically a choice of quality or quantity?! How much ‘better’ is the Makita over the Erbauer?

I’ve used Festool stuff and appreciated how they just do the job expected; is the Makita similar or am I just looking at price tags and assuming?!

Ive a friend at work who wants to do joinery in our free time leading to something more permanent, so I’m leaning towards quality but at same time I’m thinking “ooh but I could get one of these and one of those... “ etc!

Any thoughts appreciated!

 

[coupster]

I don't know the answer to your question as such, but I have had a 1/2" Makita router for a good few years which has put up with some site abuse, whereas cheaper makes( not erbauer though) havnt lasted the distance. If it was me id but the makita, but someone else may have good things to say about erbauer - although I guess it depends on what sort of usage it will get?
All in all probably not a lot of help?!

 

[powertools]

Just go to screwfix and buy the £100 titan track saw and the Erbauer router.

 

[Palletmangler]

Lol more helpful than you may think. My reasoning is I've had my guitar for 15 years so I want something of similar endurance; my hobby has just changed!

I wanted the plunge saw because it has the long track capability. I know I could get a single track (or the titan of course) and save a few quid for extra gear but I know that at some point I'll want a long track and say to myself why didn't I just get it when I could?! Or be in the middle of a project, fiddling around to compensate for the inherent inaccuracies of cheaper tools and turning the air blue.

The router was really what I was debating, I've had two which were cheap and both have suffered despite little use. I just want something that I'll enjoy as much as I used to the geetar!

If makita last for years, i suppose ive already made up my mind... Thanks for the input!

 

[MikeJhn]

There must be over a hundred threads on this subject, it all comes down to what you want to do with your router, without that informations its difficult to recommend anything, the Draper expert is a good router with transparent base and three LED work-lights built in, light weight and a good router for jig work, the Hitachi 12 series are very good work horse's, but heavy, as I said what do you want to do with your router?

Mike

 

[Palletmangler]

I want to do everything with it! Seriously though, I would like to have something powerful enough to dig a half inch mortise to 60mm in a bit of oak, but light enough to whip a 2mm chamfer around an edge and everything in between.

I did a stint with a joiners and they had a 2200w festool that handled the big stuff and a 1050w one for delicates. Unfortunately I can't budget for the same setup so am looking for a decent middle ground. One of my budget routers lost its ability to hold depth properly. I can't rely on it for anything meaty without it slipping and changing height so I stuck it under a bit of old desktop as a kind of table for rounding edges which has worked OK. I don't want a third router that would just have another problem!

I think my friend wants to go in to kitchen fitting, but I got really inspired by the entrance doors my ex- bosses were getting me involved with so I'd like to have a tool that can handle deep joints. They had very strict tolerances for depth and so forth so I'm looking for a micro adjustable fence.

I know there's the bigger motor makita rp2301 but its probably a bit heavy?

I dunno... :? :roll:

 

[RobinBHM]

Or keep an eye out for a 2nd hand.

Elu routers often come up on fleabay mof96 or elu mof177

Dewalt too......same routers

Look for one with an almost scratch free base

 

[siggy_7]

I spent a long time looking into the same problem recently. I already have a big Triton for my router table and a small trim router, I wanted something for bigger hand held tasks that was still lightweight enough for more delicate work. My conclusions:

*Dewalt DW622K would have been my first choice, but it's no longer sold it seems. Can't see why as it looks a cracking unit. There is a 1/4" collet version, but no good for big morticing etc
*Festool OF1400 was too expensive and didn't like the D handle
*Makita units seemed quite dated and heavy if you wanted a 1/2" collet. Having tried my big Triton in the past hand held, weight ruled these out
*Bosch GMF1600 looks great but expensive for what it is, and having had a lot of problems with speed controllers on a Bosch blue jigsaw I'm a bit put off
*I have a couple of Draper Expert routers which I like, but had electrical problems with the speed controller and the bearings aren't the best
*Triton MOF001 largely fitted the bill in terms of size, weight, power and I've had a good experience with my bigger one in the table

In the end I decided the Triton was the way to go. It seems like a nice unit so far but not had cause to put it through its paces on anything challenging yet.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

[sunnybob]

When I started wood as a hobby 4 years ago I asked my son for advice. He's a 20 year time served carpenter / shop fitter. He said makita (he has a van full of stuff, mostly that famous blue colour).
I bought an 1801 and put it straight in a table. 4 years on and its my go to machine. Faultless.
With different sleeves I can use every sized bit from 6 mm to 1/2" even 3/8"
Now i also have two other makita 1/4" edge trimmers for little jobs.

 

[MikeJhn]

I spent a long time looking into the same problem recently. I already have a big Triton for my router table and a small trim router, I wanted something for bigger hand held tasks that was still lightweight enough for more delicate work. My conclusions:

*Dewalt DW622K would have been my first choice, but it's no longer sold it seems. Can't see why as it looks a cracking unit. There is a 1/4" collet version, but no good for big morticing etc
*Festool OF1400 was too expensive and didn't like the D handle
*Makita units seemed quite dated and heavy if you wanted a 1/2" collet. Having tried my big Triton in the past hand held, weight ruled these out
*Bosch GMF1600 looks great but expensive for what it is, and having had a lot of problems with speed controllers on a Bosch blue jigsaw I'm a bit put off
*I have a couple of Draper Expert routers which I like, but had electrical problems with the speed controller and the bearings aren't the best
*Triton MOF001 largely fitted the bill in terms of size, weight, power and I've had a good experience with my bigger one in the table

In the end I decided the Triton was the way to go. It seems like a nice unit so far but not had cause to put it through its paces on anything challenging yet.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Just goes to show, you have to take in the reviews one these pages and then make up your own mind, my two Draper Experts, six years on have been perfect the only router I had bearing problems with, was a Triton MOF001.

Mike

 

[jpor4180]

What a coincidence. My new Makita tracksaw and router arrived this week. I chose the makita rp2301 over the dewalt because of the track. You see, for £30 you can buy an adapter that'll let you run your router parallel to your track, I thought this would be useful for housings and rebates, I do a lot of these. Up till now I'd been using a 1/4" router and an mdf offcut clamped down as a straight edge.

This is my first 1/2" router so I can't give you a detailed comparison of how it compares to the others mentioned but I can give you a good idea of how it feels coming from a few bosch and a dewalt 1/4". The thing is really heavy, I honestly thought I'd made a mistake when I took the box, as I never thought I'd be able to control it. Actually, it feels more predictable and controllable and it really glides under its own mass. The plunge is the easiest thing to use. I've only used it in MDF and pine so far, and I've got some new router bits from Axminster so that could have something to do with it as well but it just eats the material and I can do most things in one or two passes.

The router itself doesn't feel dated, and the guide is actually really well engineered. But I must say the box is a joke. It doesn't come in a Makita systainer (okay fine by me as I think they're rubbish anyway and I'm going to put my router and track saw in tstack boxes as most of my other tools are dewalt anyway). Like my biscuit joiner (makita) the case is moulded to take everything in a certain place, but nothing ever goes back in without a struggle, and I can't get the wrench back in its slot. Everything falls out of the slots on closing the lid and the flex is a jack-in-the-box.

If you're based in Kent, by all means come over and have a play with it!

I've also read good things about the Triton for use in tables, so I'll be upgrading my router table to that one in due course. I wouldn't personally buy the Makita for use in the table as I think most of the features I like about it are for free-hand use.

 

[jpor4180]

However, I’ve just been pondering something cheaper like screwfix’s Erbauer, which would leave me with money for a workshop vacuum and a few router bits.

Ive a friend at work who wants to do joinery in our free time leading to something more permanent, so I’m leaning towards quality but at same time I’m thinking “ooh but I could get one of these and one of those... “ etc!

I might be able to help you here too. Every time I've tried to save by buying an off-brand or cheaper quality unit, I've ended up spending more. For me, woodworking is a hobby that pays for itself. Sort of. My advice would be not to scrimp. I battled on with a plywood and circular saw track saw for far too long and it just meant I wasted time down the line when nothing lined up properly!

I personally think that you'll replace the Erbauer in 6 months if you bought it now.

Where you can save money is non power-tools. Clamps etc by buying top notch old british stuff

I've also bought far too much for my workshop. If I were to start over I'd want someone to tell me to just buy and use the basics for a while until you work out what it is you like making, and then you can build on that.

On shop vacs, I've got the lidl vacuum cleaner which works great - bought off the recommendation of another thread on this forum

 

[Palletmangler]

Ah, I just wrote a big reply but session timed out!

Basically I think I’ll drop the Makita saw and get a Titan, it seems good enough at cutting but I can get Makita rail pairing, then if I make some money I can upgrade in future to a Makita and already have the rails.

This would leave me enough for the router, a little vacuum and if I chuck in some birthday cash, get a Titan planer thicknesser too! I know it’s the cheapest but I use pallets a lot and wouldn’t want to ruin a good machine. If it breaks, I take it back anyway!

I can get a couple of other things with the remaining money like new chisels and extension lead to the shed.

All in all, a versatile set up I think, making the cash go as far as I can! And if I can make money assisting my work friend and selling bits I make by myself then hopefully it’ll pay for itself!

Many thanks for all the input

 

[powertools]

My advice is make your cash go as far as you can and learn to work with the tools you have and the material you are using.

 

[jpor4180]

Ah, I just wrote a big reply but session timed out!

Basically I think I’ll drop the Makita saw and get a Titan, it seems good enough at cutting but I can get Makita rail pairing, then if I make some money I can upgrade in future to a Makita and already have the rails.

This would leave me enough for the router, a little vacuum and if I chuck in some birthday cash, get a Titan planer thicknesser too! I know it’s the cheapest but I use pallets a lot and wouldn’t want to ruin a good machine. If it breaks, I take it back anyway!

I can get a couple of other things with the remaining money like new chisels and extension lead to the shed.

All in all, a versatile set up I think, making the cash go as far as I can! And if I can make money assisting my work friend and selling bits I make by myself then hopefully it’ll pay for itself!

Many thanks for all the input

Sounds like a well considered strategy

Might I suggest a good hand held metal detector for the pallets?

For chisels, that's the kind of thing where you can get more for less. I quite like my Stanley 5001 bevel edge chisels I picked up on ebay for maybe £20 a while back. The flip side to this is you do have to be patient as quite often sellers have bought them at a boot fair then added some zeroes to the price tag

Pragmatically, if you're going to be running dust collection and a large router at once, it might be an idea to get a new breaker put on your consumer unit and run it out to the garage? I only recently moved my woodworking from outdoors/on a customers site to my own "workshop" (garage) so this process is still fresh in my memory. I had to dig a big old trench out to my garage, lay thicker wire and get an electrician to connect it up and test (notifiable work). It took me maybe a day to dig and fill then pave over again but it really was worth it in the long run as I now have safe power with no trips. Depending on how long your run is the cost of a cable that can take 40A or so safely was £25 for me, and then the electrician for that job (he did a few others at the same time so I'm estimating) was £100, and the new fuse box for the garage was maybe £40. I'm not a qualified electrician at all but feel free to send me a pm and I can tell you more about the process. I also justified the cost as it was something that adds value to my house so it looks better on the balance sheet!

Of course this is potentially something you could come back to once you've found your grove - I'd rather get it out of the way at the start.

you mention you do a lot of pallet work, do you have a mitre saw?

finally, have you seen Peter Millard's video on comparing the festool track saw with a Titan? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8sagpnlF1Q

 

[chippyminton59]

If you shop around you can get a HITACHI M12V for around £150. Superb machine. FFX are currently selling them for £159 with case.

Chris

 

[MikeJhn]

Agreed the Hitachi M12 series of routers are excellent war horse's, the M12V2 is especially good at kitchen worktops where its weight is an advantage, the M12VE is a bit lighter, mine is in a router table and has done sterling work for the last five years, 100's of M passed through it, if you want something lighter then the Draper Expert has my vote, smaller and lighter than both the above with a transparent base and built in work lights, impressed enough that I bought another, ideal for hand held jig or template work.

Hope this helps
Mike

 

[Palletmangler]

I’d love to have a permanent power supply to the shed but unfortunately the shed isn’t really fit for it. It’s mostly made out of, guess what, pallets! I haven’t even finished closing up the sides and the wind last year got to it so the felt is already torn; not exactly somewhere you’d want electricity 24/7! I’m hoping a sturdy extension will do the job, even if I can’t run a vac at the same time, cleaning with a vac is an improvement on sweeping and I can get endless masks from my job so I feel ok with that. My shiny new tools can live in my secure metal shed (too small for woodwork though).

I kind of discounted the hitachis I’ve seen, they all come with a plain fence and I’ve got two of those off my last routers. The Makita has a fine tuning one, plus good reviews so I think I’ll stick to it! I came up with an idea to use the plain ones as a simple 90 degree mitre guide with the dead router base on my bodge table so all is not lost. Not pretty but it sort of works!

 

[MikeJhn]

What is the alternative to a plain fence for a router?

Mike

 

[jpor4180]

The makita one can be dialled in so if you need to just nudge a cut over by a few mm the fence has a scale that'll tell you how far to move and fine adjustment. If it's not cast aluminium it certainly feels similar: more robust than the pressed units that I've received with mid-market routers