Question on routers and router tables

[Steve Turner]

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about the switch; no, the Makita has a toggle switch so you don't have to hold anything down for the motor to stay on. Flip the switch to the off position and the brake kicks in. Don't know how it works, but it's pretty spiffy.

BTW, does your Laguna bandsaw have a brake? My MiniMax does; you step on a pedal which kicks the motor off, then applying downward force to the pedal forces a brake shoe (like what you'd find in a car) against the inner surface of the lower wheel. I *really* like that...

[Leon]

I find that really odd that it has a toggle switch and a brake. IMHO the brake is a safety feature. Most all hand tools with a brake, drills and miter saws, use the "dead man" style switch, if you let go the tool shuts down quickly. Again IMHO that brake is not going to help much if you get into trouble and need to shut the router off quickly. With the spring loaded switch you would simply let to. Anyway I can really see no advantage to the brake if you have to move your hand to shut the router off. I can wait for the bit come to a stop during normal operations.

Am I missing something here?

Yes my Laguna has a foot brake that works the same way and cuts power to the magnetic switch. Additionally if the top and bottom wheel covers open the power is shut off to the switch and there is a large red push button kill switch.

Both my 12" disk sander and Laguna have the manual brakes but I seldom use them unless there is a visitor in the shop.

[Leon]

You are absolutely welcome! I just learned that Makita has an electric brake on at least one of their routers.

[Lew Hodgett]

Yep, as I would tell my mother, July 4&5.

Right after "Blackberry Winter" which is usually mid June.

Can still remember finishing up on the 18th hole at Pleasant Valley around 10:00PM in late June.

Lew

[Steve Turner]

A safety feature, sure, in that you don't have a dangerous bit spinning endlessly after you've finished your cut and you're either waiting to remove the workpiece from harm's way or you're done with the operation. You've shut the router off; now it would be nice to move on with your next operation or train of thought without fear of absentmindedly encountering that spinning bit. In many cases a spinning bit or blade is simply a time waster; you're waiting for the dumb thing to stop so you can set that router down, make a height adjustment, reposition a fence, etc. A stationary cutter is a safer cutter.

[LEGEND65]

I disagree. I generally need to get my eye down level with the bit to set the height and where are my hands then? I do have my router table at a higher height than most people probably do so that may be part of it. I have it about 4" higher than my TS. I would much prefer a router that was designed to have all the controls on one side and easy to read when mounted in the table than the through the table adjustment. I can't see what speed it's set to on mine without sticking my head in there, so I have to move it to one extreme, turn it on and then listen to the speed changes. I used the through the table adjustment a couple times before giving up on it, and having that built into the router was one of the reasons I chose that model so it's not like I didn't expect it to be worthwhile. Just in practice it was easier without it.

-Kevin

[LEGEND65]

I have the smaller Triton, and I have from time to time forgotten to lock it without anything seeming to move, but it falls in the category of why risk it? Does it actually say in the manual you don't need to lock it in table use?

The above the table bit changes with one wrench are definitely awesome. And they give you a "real" wrench, which totally shocked me.

-Kevin

[-MIKE-]

You don't have to wait for the tool to wind down to continue with whatever.

[-MIKE-]

I don't know, Lew, I remember having long winters *and* summers.

[Upscale]

One other question. Did you remove the springs from the plunge mechanism for use in the table?

[Larry Blanchard]

I heard somewhere that a conservative horsepower estimate can be made for

110V equipment by taking the amp rating and moving the decimal point one place left. IOW, 13 amps is 1.3 horse. Remember, I said conservative :-).

[Leon]

I suppose that would be a nice feature if the router came with it but I have no problem waiting 5 or 6 seconds for the bit to spin down to a stop. I had a serious run in with a TS blade about 20 years ago. I have learned to be patient and watch the blade or bit actually stop spinning if I don't walk away. Getting in a too big of a hurry will eventually catch up with you.

[Leon]

Absolutely true and yes it can be annoying but it really only takes about 5 or 6 seconds to come to a stop. I have that kinda time. ;~) All things being equal I would choose the router with that feature if and when I buy another but I really don't put that feature up there as being a deal breaker.

[-MIKE-]

I *really* miss the brake on my former cordless drill. The "jerk" never bothered me, nor effected my accuracy.

To each, his own.

[Leon]

LOL you and I agree on the brake for the router, I absolutely will not buy a cordless drill with out a brake. When driving screws "in or out" I absolutely want the drill to stop turning when I let up on the trigger. The clutch does not always work well when removing a screw. I absolutely do not use it as a safety feature.

[-MIKE-]

Of course it's not a deal breaker, but I equate it with the euphoria you have after buying your first cordless drill or pneumatic nailer. You're like, "How the he!! did I ever get anything done before I had this!?" :-)

[Upscale]

You're only talking about a few seconds which was

[Tom Veatch]

Probably not a bad rule of thumb.

In your example, 13 amps at 120 volts = 1.56 KVA (or KW if you assume a power factor of 1.0) = 2.09 HP (PF = 1.0, Eff = 100%)

2.09 * (PF)*(Eff) = 1.3 or an estimated (PF)*(Eff) = 0.62 which is in the ballpark for the product of the values. 80% efficiency and 0.8 PF would be 0.64..

My 3HP tablesaw has a FLA of 14 amps at 240v. Using that rule of thumb with 28 amps at 120 gives 2.8HP. Not far off, and a little conservative as you suggest. That's assuming the advertised 3HP is correct.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Leon]

No, Steve indicated that it might be a deal breaker in the future. Agreed, if you have it you probably appreciate it more.

[Leon]

When removing screws or nuts quickly you can stop when the screw is out or nut is off. Lettiing up on the trigger stops the momentum and the nut and or screw don't take off.