I guess the one advantage to buying one of the HF/other Router Speed
Controls on sale is that the unit is already assembled*, cheaper than
building one from individual components.

*Assembled, in Chinese terms can mean anything close, and the 2 units I
bought maybe 8 years ago needed the hand-soldered connections to be
reflowed, as a few AC wires popped free from their connection points with
almost no effort.

After checking to make sure the wiring and the earth ground are secure, and
not pinched, etc.. the finished unit has a power cord, AC receptacle, hi-lo
switch, speed pot.. and is stated to have a 15 amp capability (although I've
only used them for light duty applications, die grinder etc).

The units can be very versatile for various resistive loads, small universal
motors and various other applications.

Much of the hand-soldered and wave soldered thru-hole connections will be
even more suspect (crap quality) now, for nearly all consumer and commercial
products, since the lead-free solders are being used almost universally
(aviation and a few other industries are exempt).

--
WB
..........


"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
On Mar 12, 7:11 am, "Wild_Bill" wrote:
...
I haven't tried one, but the laminate trimmer motor may also work well
with
a light/med duty versions of Minarik or KB DC controllers, which would
likely provide better speed regulation (depending upon model and
features),
if they're compatible.
WB

Just tried both, the Variac turns down slower but there isn't much
difference in the low-speed torque (or lack of it).
I used a lamp dimmer, not a router control.

jsw