Valgard
01-29-2009, 03:29 PM
Right now I have a big 3HP Milwaukee in my router table and my monster 3HP Porter Cable plunge router. They will rout the heck out of any piece of wood but I'm thinking of getting a smaller hand-held to use for all those edging tasks and smaller things where the big machines are either impractical or just too difficult to maneuver.
One possibility is a small trim router. They're very light (couple of pounds) but come with a 1/4" collet (no 1/2" available), and I have almost entirely 1/2" bits (which I use in my big routers, they chatter less).
Another possibility is a small "regular" sized router - something like the Milwaukee 5615 body-grip router, it's a 1.75HP fixed base. It's a bit larger (around 8lbs) but very comfy to hold, small enough that I think doing smaller tasks in situ wouldn't be very difficult and it's more up to "regular" routing tasks where the table router or the big plunge model don't work or are just too large. Also comes with 1/2" collet so I don't have to think about that. It's single-speed (24,000rpm) but I've never had to change speeds on my other routers unless I was using very large bits, the sort of thing I'd never put in the smaller router anyhow.
A new trim router is around $100-$130. I can get the Milwaukee as a factory reconditioned for about $80.
Any thoughts or recommendations?
One possibility is a small trim router. They're very light (couple of pounds) but come with a 1/4" collet (no 1/2" available), and I have almost entirely 1/2" bits (which I use in my big routers, they chatter less).
Another possibility is a small "regular" sized router - something like the Milwaukee 5615 body-grip router, it's a 1.75HP fixed base. It's a bit larger (around 8lbs) but very comfy to hold, small enough that I think doing smaller tasks in situ wouldn't be very difficult and it's more up to "regular" routing tasks where the table router or the big plunge model don't work or are just too large. Also comes with 1/2" collet so I don't have to think about that. It's single-speed (24,000rpm) but I've never had to change speeds on my other routers unless I was using very large bits, the sort of thing I'd never put in the smaller router anyhow.
A new trim router is around $100-$130. I can get the Milwaukee as a factory reconditioned for about $80.
Any thoughts or recommendations?