Router preferences

[jussi]

Already alot of great info. One thing I'll add is that while the Dewalt 618 set is a great router they do have a history of having speed control problems. Basically you lose it and it goes straight to full power. I have 3 and had the problem with one of them. It's an easy and cheap fix if you have the right equipment. Perhaps the current versions have fixed the problem.

[LinuxRandal]

Already alot of great info. One thing I'll add is that while the Dewalt 618 set is a great router they do have a history of having speed control problems. Basically you lose it and it goes straight to full power. I have 3 and had the problem with one of them. It's an easy and cheap fix if you have the right equipment. Perhaps the current versions have fixed the problem.

Thanks for this, but I do wonder when did they have this issue?
The reason I ask that, is PC was also known to have speed control issues but on a different series then the one I mentioned. The Bosch 1618 series, had at least a run, where the motor housing would in effect weld/rust itself to the frame. So a lot of the mentioned ones have had issued during their lifetimes.

[JimD]

You don't really need a variable speed router. I use a separate speed control for my old Ryobi and it works great. I also use the same controller on the shop vac when using it with a hand sander. I only use it with really big bits which I only use in the router table. I don't really need it for hand held use.

[jussi]

The routers I have were all bought on craigslist. I pretty sure all of them were at least 3 years old. You may be right that the newer models don't have the same problem.

Thanks for this, but I do wonder when did they have this issue?

[vaking]

You don't really need a variable speed router. I use a separate speed control for my old Ryobi and it works great. I also use the same controller on the shop vac when using it with a hand sander. I only use it with really big bits which I only use in the router table. I don't really need it for hand held use.

I also subscribe to this philosophy but with one caveat. External speed control works only on older routers. Modern routers have feature called soft start. Routers with soft start cannot be used with external control. I agree that big bits should only be used in a table and only big bits need to use slower speed. Router in your hands don't need variable speed. I have a Hitachi KM12SC kit (single speed router with plunge and fixed bases) for hand use and a very old Hitachi M12V in a table. I also have an old Craftsman professional router used for dovetails. A rotozip with dremel plunge base doubles up as a trim router.

[LCHIEN]

I also subscribe to this philosophy but with one caveat. External speed control works only on older routers. Modern routers have feature called soft start. Routers with soft start cannot be used with external control. I agree that big bits should only be used in a table and only big bits need to use slower speed. Router in your hands don't need variable speed. I have a Hitachi KM12SC kit (single speed router with plunge and fixed bases) for hand use and a very old Hitachi M12V in a table. I also have an old Craftsman professional router used for dovetails. A rotozip with dremel plunge base doubles up as a trim router.

I don't think you'll find soft start on routers with fixed speed (because soft start is a ramped up speed rather than jumping directly to speed.
You only find soft start in routers with variable speed control built in.
You cannot of course use an external speed control with a router that already has variable speed. The corollary to this and my previous statement is that you cannot use a external speed control with a soft start router because that router will have variable speed.

FInal comment: soft start is desirable for the reason that a router that jumps straight to maximum speed is going to jerk your hands with the starting torque. I have a Bosch 1617 EVS of hand held and it has variable speed and soft start which makes it comfortable when switching on. I also have a Bosch 1617 without VS; I use it in my router table with an external speed control from MLCS; soft start is not a concern since the rigid table mounting absorbs the starting torque; the table is quite heavy and stiff (unlike the low mass and flexible hands holding a handheld unit) so soft start is of no use there.

[JimD]

I know lots of people like soft start but I don't see it to be a significant benefit. You shouldn't start the router close to the workpiece so you don't cut where you don't intend and if you hold it off a bit, the movement from the router starting doesn't do anything. It doesn't move far.

[LCHIEN]

I think its just a comfort thing.

[leehljp]

I know lots of people like soft start but I don't see it to be a significant benefit. You shouldn't start the router close to the workpiece so you don't cut where you don't intend and if you hold it off a bit, the movement from the router starting doesn't do anything. It doesn't move far.

Jim, It may be partly my technique but it is also getting to be about my age. To turn most of my routers on, except in a router table, I have to hold it in one hand and flip the switch with the other. 75% of my 100 bits are 1/2 inch. With 1/2" or occasional 5/8" round overs, ogee or similar, the sudden start jerks the router. I would not allow one of my 12 year old grandsons to turn it on even with me watching. Too much torque for them, however I will allow them to do that with a soft start. . Speaking of too much torque, even for me, I instinctively lock the muscles in my hand to prepare for the start up jerk. These are 690 PCs. But on my soft start, I don't worry about it.

It is personal. I remember Rod from down under making a post about cordless tools, He did not like 14V or 18V. He said they were too heavy and hard to hold for him. He used 12V and less. He also made a comment about the simple squeeze clamps. The big ones were too hard for him to use. I never had a problem with them. But what I learned, is that what is not a problem for one person causes them to not understand that the same thing may be difficult for others. For me, the jerk is tolerable but I don't like it. At a few months away from 70, and noticing that I have to alter technique on things to compensate for aging. Soft start is a safety feature for me.

[JimD]

Well if you like soft start you should use routers that have it when possible. My 690 with soft start router is on the fritz and will get changed to non-soft start non-variable speed when I figure out how. I have admittedly large hands and at 60 I am not having any issue with the little jolt when it starts up. I sometimes use the 690 one handed. On the plunge base I can reach the switch with both hands on the router, however, but on the fixed base, it depends on the rotation. But I find it easy enough to get it away from the work, flip the switch with the other hand and then do what needs done. It's nice we have options.

[leehljp]

Jim, I am so used to the way I do things - usually for a reason - that I take it for granted and forget to mention it, as in this discussion previously. I fell off a ladder in 2001 and broke the left wrist. Resulting arthritis? catches in my wrist when turning on a regular 690 with a 1/2" bit caused it to jerk it out of my hand once, when I was in Japan. Still paying for that today with flair ups of arthritis, or what ever, especially when twisting motion is required or forced. Doctors say "that is normal for your age."

I have three 690 bases in which one is on a jig. I am looking down the road to building a router table like I had in Japan. One with three routers. Two under the table and one horizontal. One 690 will be the second router, and under the table and be used for alternating bit use on a project. I hate changing shaping bits once I get it set perfect, so the second router will allow me to leave one set and use the other for different bits. One 690 base will be used for the horizontal mount.

That will leave the soft start for free handed use.

[JimD]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I ended up fixing my variable speed motor, by the way, so I am back to two functioning 690s (both single speed) and 4 bases. I use one in a fixed base on the back of my router table when I need a horizontal table router. I also use one in my setup on the table saw extension table when I need a second vertical router table. Extra routers always can find a use for me

[vaking]

I don't think you'll find soft start on routers with fixed speed (because soft start is a ramped up speed rather than jumping directly to speed.
You only find soft start in routers with variable speed control built in.
You cannot of course use an external speed control with a router that already has variable speed. The corollary to this and my previous statement is that you cannot use a external speed control with a soft start router because that router will have variable speed.

Loring,
Today you will find soft start on most routers including fixed speed models. My Hitachi kit is KM12SC (Single speed) but it has soft start. Here is a cheep Craftsman single speed router but with soft start. External speed control will not work on these routers.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-9.5-amp-1-3-4-hp-fixed-base/p-00902767000P?prdNo=17&blockNo=17&blockType=G17

[LCHIEN]

I guess I haven't shopped for a router for more than 10 years or so.
The fact that you can't use a speed control seems to indicate to me that these soft start routers have a internal variable speed control but just don't have a external knob to control them! They just ramp up to full speed and stay there.

[gsmittle]

I have the Bosch 1617EVS package and like it so much that when it was the only tool destroyed in the floods last year I replaced it with another one.

That being said, the best way to find the right one for you is to get your hands on several brands, work the features and controls, then go with the one that feels right in your hands. The brands mentioned, as well as Hitachi, all make good routers. Most are variable speed and soft start, both essential features. The differences are in the power of the motor, shape of the handles, and location of the controls.

+1 on the Bosch set. I found a combo with the Bosch router fence on Amazon a couple of years ago for about the same price as the combo kit alone. I'm saving my pennies for a Colt now…

g.

[LCHIEN]

I posted about reconditioned Bosch Colt for only $75 in bargain alerts less than a week ago... which seemed like an excellent price. Check it out.

[mpc]

I recently picked up the Bosch 1617 fixed + plunge base combination as I got fed up with my prior router + Router Raizer combo in the router table. The Bosch motor in a new Incra Mast-R-Lift (the one Rockler sells that uses the same plate size as their basic router plates) is SO MUCH BETTER. The Bosch has been pretty good for hand-held use as well. However, for most hand-held use I like the little DeWalt DWP611PK fixed + plunge base combo (I use the plunge base the majority of the time). The DW611PK operation is very smooth and easy and the motor power seems quite good for anything I'd do hand-held. I've never used one of the trim routers like the Colt but I can't imagine it'd be any better than the DW611PK in its fixed base.

My only complaint with the 1617 is that it requires adapters to use the PC-style guide bushings and attachments. It actually needs two separate pieces to adapt to the PC style bushings. So some extra cost. The DW611PK does take the PC bushings. I really like it.

mpc

[LCHIEN]

There's actually a cheap Bosch accessory which is a quick mount for Bosch guide bushings. The Bosch ROuter guide bushings fit with a quick release and fit with no slop. Faster and easier. A nicer solution, if you don't have PC-style guide bushings already. But, if you do, there is another adapter to mount the PC-style bushings and then to the quick mount on the router. Yeah, it sounds like a lot but its not that bad.