Choosing a Router

BigDaddy · Post by **BigDaddy** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:55 pm

Hey guys, Sears is having a tool sale this weekend and I want to finally pick up a router so I can build some panels and rings for my stereo. I would love to buy a nice Porter Cable or Dewalt set but to be honest, it wont be used all that much. I don't want to buy a whole set so I was wondering, what do you recommend? Higher amps are always better so I was thinking this one:

http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B0012OP9 ... =396982011

It's on sale for $149 Canadian.

I plan on buying a router table too. Let me know if there is anything I haven't thought of. I want it to be as versatile as possible and cheap as possible. Anything you regret not buying? Something you bought but didn't need? Any tips will be helpful.

Thanks, Jason

rlockwood · Post by **rlockwood** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:03 pm

isnt sears ALWAYS having a tool sale?

im sure the one you picked will work fine, especially for MDF. You really dont need a powerful router unless you plan on working with hardwoods.

IMO, one with a plunge base is better.. and more effort is required for choosing tooling, than the router itself.

KHPower · Post by **KHPower** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:52 pm

I picked up a Hitachi for 125.00 and could not be happier! Lowes will match online prices from anywhere and they matched it! 179.oo router/plounge combo.

It runs sooo smooth and ya cant beat a 5 year warranty.

I uded mine to assist in my box building , it looks alot better when ya see it

http://www.tylertool.com/hitachi13.html

PS you can find them cheaper then the above link

BigDaddy · Post by **BigDaddy** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:52 pm

KHPower wrote:I picked up a Hitachi for 125.00 and could not be happier! Lowes will match online prices from anywhere and they matched it! 179.oo router/plounge combo.

It runs sooo smooth and ya cant beat a 5 year warranty.

I uded mine to assist in my box building , it looks alot better when ya see it

http://www.tylertool.com/hitachi13.html

PS you can find them cheaper then the above link

Thats a pretty good site, thanks. They have the Dewalt set I was looking at, even cheaper than Amazon. I guess if I have 2 bases I can leave one in the router table and have the plunge base for when I need to use the router without the table.

KHPower · Post by **KHPower** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:11 am

The plunge base comes in handy when I am making sub box holes with the jasper jig. I cannot beleive I used a jig saw in the ol' days

Here is another good site that is based in my home state and these are the folks I had Lowes price match http://www.toolbarn.com/

joyride · Post by **joyride** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:12 am

Just saw this, and it is quite a steal. That Freud router is a beast at 3.5 HP.

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?t=35182

BigDaddy · Post by **BigDaddy** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:12 am

joyride wrote:Just saw this, and it is quite a steal. That Freud router is a beast at 3.5 HP.

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?t=35182

That thing is a beast. But it's a little more than I want to spend. Not to mention shipping would be expensive too. Also, I have no room for a full height table. I need a bench top router table.

I have my eye on either the Porter Cable or Dewalt combo set from the website above. Amazon has them too I just have to look into it a little further to see which is the better deal.

Thanks.