I'm looking to buy an under-the-table router to do a variety of cabinetry,
including raised panel passage & entry door making.

While price is -always- a concern, I'm more concerned with getting a
router that will take anything that I, a hobbyist, am likely to ever put
in its path and still outlive me by a wide margin. I am willing to go as
high as $500.

If I don't make a fatal mistake along the way, I figure I have perhaps
another 20-25 years yet to live. So I am looking for something that was
deliberately over-engineered. Heavy casting. Premium bearings. Heavy duty
electronics. Little or no plastic & chrome.

What, in your opinion, is the current "Cadillac of Routers" for this
application and why do you feel this way?

Bill

2 links to help you decide, one a freebie the other is not:
http://www.patwarner.com/selecting_router.html

http://www.patwarner.com/rfs.html
********************************

W Canaday (in ) said:

| I'm looking to buy an under-the-table router to do a variety of
| cabinetry, including raised panel passage & entry door making.
|
| While price is -always- a concern, I'm more concerned with getting a
| router that will take anything that I, a hobbyist, am likely to
| ever put in its path and still outlive me by a wide margin. I am
| willing to go as high as $500.
|
| If I don't make a fatal mistake along the way, I figure I have
| perhaps another 20-25 years yet to live. So I am looking for
| something that was deliberately over-engineered. Heavy casting.
| Premium bearings. Heavy duty electronics. Little or no plastic &
| chrome.
|
| What, in your opinion, is the current "Cadillac of Routers" for this
| application and why do you feel this way?

Check E-Bay for industrial spindles in the 3-5 hp range capable of
24-25K RPM. You'll need a VFD for speed control. It should take
anything you throw at it and outlast you by a comfortable margin...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

W Canaday wrote:
I'm looking to buy an under-the-table router to do a variety of cabinetry,
including raised panel passage & entry door making.

While price is -always- a concern, I'm more concerned with getting a
router that will take anything that I, a hobbyist, am likely to ever put
in its path and still outlive me by a wide margin. I am willing to go as
high as $500.

If I don't make a fatal mistake along the way, I figure I have perhaps
another 20-25 years yet to live. So I am looking for something that was
deliberately over-engineered. Heavy casting. Premium bearings. Heavy duty
electronics. Little or no plastic & chrome.

What, in your opinion, is the current "Cadillac of Routers" for this
application and why do you feel this way?

Sounds like you're looking for a Porter Cable 7518. It's bearings and
motor are designed to run all day long every day in production shops.
No bells and whistles except electronic speed control. It's 15 amps,
which is as powerful as you're gonna get in 110 volt routers. It's
fixed-base; works very well in a table, but just too heavy for handheld
use unless you're built like Popeye. You can most always find them for
$350 and sometimes as low as $250. You'll have enough left from your
$500 to buy a smaller router for handheld use if you want.

I had a plunge router mounted in my table before I got the big PC.
Every time I needed to change bits I had to turn the adjustment knob
"round and "round till I found myself avoiding changing bits. I was
drooling over the router lifts I saw advertised. The PC 7518 adjusts
bit height by simply twisting the motor in the housing. It's quick,
smooth and accurate. I don't feel like I need a router lift anymore.

DonkeyHody
"Don't ever wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, but the pig
likes it."

"DonkeyHody" wrote in message
oups.com...
of Routers" for this
application and why do you feel this way?

Sounds like you're looking for a Porter Cable 7518. It's bearings and
motor are designed to run all day long every day in production shops.
No bells and whistles except electronic speed control. It's 15 amps,
which is as powerful as you're gonna get in 110 volt routers. It's
fixed-base; works very well in a table, but just too heavy for handheld
use unless you're built like Popeye. You can most always find them for
$350 and sometimes as low as $250. You'll have enough left from your
$500 to buy a smaller router for handheld use if you want.

While that was an excellent router in its day and still is, it has been
coming in close to last place when compared to the newer models in this
class.

Take a look at the bigger Triton.


"W Canaday" wrote in message
news
I'm looking to buy an under-the-table router to do a variety of cabinetry,
including raised panel passage & entry door making.

While price is -always- a concern, I'm more concerned with getting a
router that will take anything that I, a hobbyist, am likely to ever put
in its path and still outlive me by a wide margin. I am willing to go as
high as $500.

If I don't make a fatal mistake along the way, I figure I have perhaps
another 20-25 years yet to live. So I am looking for something that was
deliberately over-engineered. Heavy casting. Premium bearings. Heavy duty
electronics. Little or no plastic & chrome.

What, in your opinion, is the current "Cadillac of Routers" for this
application and why do you feel this way?

Bill

On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 17:53:21 -0500, W Canaday
wrote:

I'm looking to buy an under-the-table router to do a variety of cabinetry,
including raised panel passage & entry door making.

While price is -always- a concern, I'm more concerned with getting a
router that will take anything that I, a hobbyist, am likely to ever put
in its path and still outlive me by a wide margin. I am willing to go as
high as $500.

If I don't make a fatal mistake along the way, I figure I have perhaps
another 20-25 years yet to live. So I am looking for something that was
deliberately over-engineered. Heavy casting. Premium bearings. Heavy duty
electronics. Little or no plastic & chrome.

What, in your opinion, is the current "Cadillac of Routers" for this
application and why do you feel this way?

Hard to beat the Triton, IMO. A bit of plastic on it, but meets your
other criteria. My only criticism would be that it's a little heavy
for daily hand-held use, so I use a sub $50 chiwanesey cheepie for
quick and light jobs. Then I could *really* use a small trimmer, the
new Bosch PR20 looks neat.

Barry Lennox

PS, Nope, no connections to, or kickback from Triton, more's the pity!

Bill,

Read the last post about the Triton, which I own, and have to agree.
I've had one for about 3 years now and am very happy. It is a beast.
I don't find it too heavy for handheld use, but I do normally use the
PC690 for that. I've done about 30 raised panels on it so far and have
been very happy. I don't use a lift as it has a rack and pinion system
+ a fine adjustment knob. Works for me. Customer service has been
unbelievable (DAWGS on WoodChuck34 + Triton). I've had 1 problem that
was quickly corrected and I now believe that was caused by dust getting
trapped between the router and my base.

To be fair, I don't believe Pat Warner gave it a good review, but you
can check on his website. If I didn't have the Triton, I would take a
hard look at those Milwaukee's.

Chuck

Have you considered getting a shaper, instead of a router? Then you
can have a nice beefy cast iron table and an induction motor. Mine's
only 3/4 HP, but it can cut through oak and maple like butter with my
3" raised panel cutter. A friend of mine borrowed the cutter to do
some panels with his 3HP Porter Cable router. He told me it took him
five passes to eat through the wood without completely bogging down the
motor. Like I said, my shaper does it in a single pass without
flinching, though I usually do one last 1/32" finishing pass just for
looks. Since it's an induction motor, variable speed isn't an option,
but it spins at about half the speed of a router (~10k rpms I think),
so it never burns anything. Heavy duty fence, heavy duty knobs to
raise and lower the spindle and to lock it in place, built in dust
collection port, ability to wire to 110V or 220V, and built like a
brick outhouse - what's not to love?. I got it 5 years ago for around
$400, and I've never used my router since for anything but hand work.

Josh