MasterGrip Router

[Marius]

Mastergrip Router Model 481186

Hi Everybody,
I just registered on this site 5 min ago. Woodworking is just a hobby for me but I’ve always loved wood. Now to get to my question:
- I have a major project that involves dovetails and I found somebody that sells a Leigh D3 12” dovetail jig for an asking price of $250.
- I own a small router Mastergrip and I would like to know if I can use it with the jig (Guide-bush adaptors u can buy from Leigh are designed for various routers but this one is not even mentioned by the jig manufacturer).

I tried to find information about my router but I don’t even know who made it (China most likely but who?). The base might be similar with other manufacturer’s.
Does anybody know where to find some info on this mysterious router (base dimensions, who made it etc? Cosco doesn’t have a clue (strange?!).
Thank you,
Marius

[poolhound]

Hi Everybody,
I just registered on this site 5 min ago. Woodworking is just a hobby for me but I’ve always loved wood. Now to get to my question:
- I have a major project that involves dovetails and I found somebody that sells a Leigh D3 12” dovetail jig for an asking price of $250.
- I own a small router Mastergrip and I would like to know if I can use it with the jig (Guide-bush adaptors u can buy from Leigh are designed for various routers but this one is not even mentioned by the jig manufacturer).

I tried to find information about my router but I don’t even know who made it (China most likely but who?). The base might be similar with other manufacturer’s.
Does anybody know where to find some info on this mysterious router (base dimensions, who made it etc? Cosco doesn’t have a clue (strange?!).
Thank you,
Marius

Marius,

Welcome to the best woodworking forum on the planet - well in our opinion anyway

As you can tell from this thread I did own one of these Mastergrip routers (for a very short time) a few years back. I have to say that it went back to costco pretty quick as the one I got was a piece of junk.

Although I dont own one, Leigh jigs have a great reputation and I know many members on this forum love them. IMHO although you could in theory use this router you would be better off trying to get a higher power and better quality tool. As I recall the MG routers only have a 1/4" collet and if you are cutting lots of dovetails you would really benefit from using 1/2" bits. Also more HP, I think the motor on the MG was pretty weak.

You could get a good workhorse mid range router for less than the price of the jig. I have the Bosch 1617 and also the Dewalt 618 3 base kit.

Porter cable is always a good buy and their standard fixed base router can be had around $115 on AMazon or a little more at HD if you need it NOW.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-6...4070803&sr=1-9

Take a look at your local craigslist as you can usually find one of these for sale for less than $100.

A lot of folks also have good things to say about the Hitachi although I have never used them

As you can see the fixed/plunge kit can be had for $129

http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-KM12VC...4071046&sr=1-1


Good luck with your search and do keep comming back, you will find lots of help and encouragement here.

FYI Holbren is a great source for bits and Brian offers a standing discount for BT3 members.

[Wood_workur]

congrats on the BT3100, and as far as the router goes, I wouldn't get it. I have a Ryobi kit that was the same deal, and while it gets the job done, the height adjustment has a fair amount of play in it, so I have to do a bit more work than should be needed to use it. You can just imagine the quality on a kit half the price that comes with more.

[rjwaldren]

I picked up one of those tables a few years back from costco, not the kit. Check the fence carefully, I had to shim it to get a straight cut. And make sure you get a good coat of wax on the table, the bare aluminum will leave gray/black streaks on your wood. I ended up building a quick table out of melamine and a straight solid fence. It filled the immediate need but quickly showed it's limitations. I was using a ryobi made craftsman router combo, that I still have today, it's a struggle to get repeatable adjustments.

It will do the job but expect to spend alot of time on setups...