I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

That's all ... just the one job (I already have a Milwaukee 3.5 hp in
the table, a HF 2.5 hp on its way back to the horizontal table and a
1/4" Craftsman because it was free :-). If it later finds additional
work, so be it ... but that's in the future somewhere. I have 20 amp
110v service available.

It needs to be a plunge router. Other than, that I am open to
suggestions. Cheaper is better as long as I end up with a well-aligned,
reliable machine with enough guts to get on with the job.

Bill


--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com


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On Feb 9, 7:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

I have the 2.25hp Dewalt 618 with plunge base, and I found it more
than sufficient for making 3/8" mortises with a spiral upcut bit in
red oak and cherry. I think I plunged 1/4" of depth at a time, using
the built-in stop system. No problems with it bogging down, and the
chip collection is pretty good, though I occasionally had to slow down
and give it time to get all the chips. Overall, very satisfied.
Andy

Andy wrote:

On Feb 9, 7:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.


skip the DW 618 and get the Dewalt 621 plunge router
variable speed
SOFT START (start up kick ain't no fun)
plunge s m o o o o o t h
dust extraction via one of the plunge columns actually
works
no reaching for lock lever - turn the left handle to do that
so you keep both hands on the router
trigger, with trigger lock on the right handle - no reaching
for a switch with carbide spinning at 20-30K rpms
two STRAIGHT edges - no worrying about eccentric
round base
relatively quiet - for a router
ONE wrench to tighten or loosen collet (I HATE PCs 2
wrench set up)
micro-depth of cut adjustment
YELLOW is easy to find

charlie b

If you want more hp go with DW's bigger plunge -
lacks some of the control features of the 621 though

charlie b wrote:
Andy wrote:
On Feb 9, 7:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

skip the DW 618 and get the Dewalt 621 plunge router

Hmmm ... these guys are $60 less than Amazon for the full kit and have
the router alone for still yet $30 cheaper.

http://www.tylertool.com/dewroutandcu.html

I started this search on the presumption that Amazon would liely have
the lowest price. As Gomer Pyle, USMC would say, "Surprise, surprise."

--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com


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I bought a Makita compound miter saw from these guys and they were
considerably cheaper than Amazon.
I got the item as described with no issues.
Cheers,
cc

"Bill in Detroit" wrote in message
...
charlie b wrote:
Andy wrote:
On Feb 9, 7:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

skip the DW 618 and get the Dewalt 621 plunge router

Hmmm ... these guys are $60 less than Amazon for the full kit and have the
router alone for still yet $30 cheaper.

http://www.tylertool.com/dewroutandcu.html

I started this search on the presumption that Amazon would liely have the
lowest price. As Gomer Pyle, USMC would say, "Surprise, surprise."

--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com


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James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:
I bought a Makita compound miter saw from these guys and they were
considerably cheaper than Amazon.
I got the item as described with no issues.
Cheers,
cc

"Bill in Detroit" wrote in message
...
charlie b wrote:
Andy wrote:
On Feb 9, 7:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.
skip the DW 618 and get the Dewalt 621 plunge router
Hmmm ... these guys are $60 less than Amazon for the full kit and have the
router alone for still yet $30 cheaper.

http://www.tylertool.com/dewroutandcu.html

I started this search on the presumption that Amazon would liely have the
lowest price. As Gomer Pyle, USMC would say, "Surprise, surprise."

--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com


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Thanks ... sounds like a well-qualified referral. All such referrals are
welcomed. I'm not a rich dude (a 'gentleman woodworker') ... and $10
still matters - so $60 makes a huge difference when both are from
mail-order vendors and I'm not likely to get much hand-holding anyways.

Bill
--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com


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charlie b wrote:
Andy wrote:
On Feb 9, 7:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

skip the DW 618 and get the Dewalt 621 plunge router
variable speed

Charlie, at first look that model looks like a pretty sweet router, but
then, on second glance, it looks like it would be tipsy for (normal
base) hand-held use.

Pat Warner said "The 621 is king in ergonomics but not stability." and I
can see his point. (I took his word when I chose my Milwaukee for under
the table mounting and haven't had but about two regrets.*)

What has your experience been? Did you swap out the smaller baseplate
for a larger one? Do you disagree with Pat about the stability issue?

Pat mentioned that the dust collection funnel was a bit of a problem ...
while it aided chip collection, it tended to obscure vision. Is this a
true fact? Is it a gross exaggeration only just barely related to the
facts? Is it true but a minor niggle? Did you pitch the funnel altogether?

Inquiring minds want to know ... before plunking down all-to-rare cash
on a machine that, whether it suits my needs or not, will rattle around
in my shop for most of the rest of my life.

Bill

* I find that the speed control can be a bit awkward to get to in an
under the table location - a dial laid in the same plane as the top cap
might have been a better idea and that the lack of a brake means I have
to wait a long, long time for the bit to spin down before it is safe to
change or otherwise work near it. I am thinking about the possibility of
dropping a space ball into the collet opening to hold the bit up off the
shaft while I wrestle with two wrenches and a limited access range under
the table. This is a situation ALL router manufacturers should take a
look at ... either design in enough room for both wrenches to have near
180 deg. motion or find a way to do away with the wrenches altogether.
(Maybe I could just magnetize the collet to hold the bit up while I
tighten the collet nut?) The Milwaukee could also use 2-3 more threads
worth of down (up?) adjustment as it is easy to lose the threads when
cranking a bit down low.
--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com


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Just about any router will make a mortise, with less hp and smaller
bits it will just take longer, i.e. less depth with each pass and
smaller diameter bits. When I only had a Skil 1 1/2 hp, 1/4" collet
router I would use a 1/4" spiral bit and take shallow passes. I have
pretty much relegated the Skil to a horizontal table set up that sees
an occasional use. I leave the Hitachi M12V beast in the regular
router table with a Router Raizer and a Xtreme Xtension for ease of
above table bit changing and depth set up. For handheld routing I just
recently purchased the Dewalt 618 kit with the three different bases
and have been happy with it. I was going to buy the Hitachi 2 1/4 hp
kit with the fixed and plunge bases but at the time I wanted it Amazon
didn't have it for sale. I almost drove an hour and a half round trip
to a Lowes to buy the Hitachi but the orange BORG had the Dewalt kit
and a $50 rebate offer a month or so ago so I ended up with the
Dewalt, for some reason I really wanted the D-handle base so there you
go. For very light router work, 1/8" or 1/4" roundover or small inlay
work I use a Ridgid laminate trimmer. I would definitely buy something
that has 1/2" and 1/4" collet capabilities. If you can go to a store
and pick up a few and see how they feel, you may prefer one over
another based on how they fit in your hands and location of switches
and plunge locks, etc. I would stick to a reliable name including (but
not necessarily limited to) Bosch, Dewalt, Hitachi, Milwaukee, Makita,
Porter Cable. I noticed that Ridgid has a fixed base/plunge kit now as
well, though I haven't seen many reviews of it yet. I've been happy
with my little laminate trimmer and my Ridgid TS and jointer. Whatever
you get, good luck and happy woodworking.

Dale




On Feb 9, 4:49 pm, Bill in Detroit wrote:
I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

That's all ... just the one job (I already have a Milwaukee 3.5 hp in
the table, a HF 2.5 hp on its way back to the horizontal table and a
1/4" Craftsman because it was free :-). If it later finds additional
work, so be it ... but that's in the future somewhere. I have 20 amp
110v service available.

It needs to be a plunge router. Other than, that I am open to
suggestions. Cheaper is better as long as I end up with a well-aligned,
reliable machine with enough guts to get on with the job.

Bill

--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)http://nmwoodworks.com

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On Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:49:32 -0500, Bill in Detroit
wrote:

I'm looking for recommendations regarding necessary h.p. and suggested
models of hand-held plunge routers for making mortices.

[...snip...]
You might want to visit Pat Warner's web site at http://patwarner.com.
Specifically http://patwarner.com/dw618pk.html.

My suggestion is don't look at HP, look at amps.

Anyway, to break that rule the 2-1/4 HP (12 amps) routers are
conventionally considered the sweet spot in routers. Big enough for
most table work, not too big for handheld use. Get one with soft start
and electronic speed control, particularly if you envision table use
with large router bits. And although you specify plunge, you might
want to consider the kits that include a motor that comes with both a
fixed base and plunge base.

And for all that, I do nicely with my one speed 11 amp Porter Cable
690.