Erbauer 1/2" router

I remember someone mentioned on another thread the other day that Wickes had a special offer on their clone of the Freud FT2000E - currently only

That machine is tested in this month's Good Woodworking (page 18).

Plunge depth is said to be a little limited. Component quality not always good, e.g. cheap and nasty adjustment knobs. Some vibration. Plus points are power and range of adjustments.

Basically it's given the thumbs up, but these mag tests are done over a very short period of time so how long it will last is anyone's guess. Far-eastern machine quality can be patchy.

W.

I subscribe to that and read the article.

That's OK.

That's really poor.

IIRC, that was mentioned a couple of times and along with the lack of smoothness is a problem.

I thought 'finger up'

It's not terribly helpful when there is not a comparative test.

I'm not sure that it's an issue of how long it will last. If the plunge action and adjustment doesn't operate properly, accurately and smoothly on a router, then it's a chocolate teapot from the outset.

Certainly if there is little or no quality control.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

The Wickes 1650W clone is £40.

So for around £120 and less, which 1/2" router would you recommend?

I'm in the same boat as sheeprug.

In message , sheeprug writes

It's OKish. I've got the Axminster AW127R, the same beast moulded in white rather than blue plastic. Silverline also sell the exact same thing in orange (at 59.57+vat)

Plus points : Depth stop scale & multi step turret are quite nice. Fine height adjuster. Switch locks "on" for table use (check though, recent changes possible)

Neg points : Very sticky plunge Dust collector channel in base clogs very easily Fine height adjuster I'm not convinced of the quality/accuracy of the 1/2" collet.

The plunge is very sticky sometimes. E.G the other day the beast had been on my router table, i.e. hanging upside-down. I released the plunge lock & it didn't move at all. Required a fair whack to shift it.

I wouldn't buy another.

Am in same position as OP.

toolstation.com have something similar to the silverline for £60 inc vat.

I wonder if it is possible to "clean up" a sticky plunge?

This one has come up numerous times in the woodworking mags, both here and in the U.S.

The general conclusion is not, because this class of machine is not manufactured to good tolerances and does not use quality components in the slide mechanisms. People have tried cleaning, application of wet and dry paper, the lot, to no avail..

Even the quality manufacturers emphasise the need to maintain cleanliness of the slides, clean off resins and crud and to lightly lubricate. That works when the basic mechanism is good but one can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear....

.andy

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Lightly lubricating a slide mechanism like this can be troublesome, as the whole idea of the plunge lock is to prevent the plunge from moving.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't guaranteed to reach me.

Thanks, good tip. Sorry I don't do "serious" carpentry so don't read the mags. I'll stick with my 1/4 Hitachi until I feel rich....