Router recommendations

The 1 3/4 HP single speed is not reccommended. The 2 1/4 HP unit VS is. I had several Milwaukees and always liked them. The single speed

I have since bought the Ridgid kit and really like it. Certainly good value. The plunge base is smooth and the dust collection is pretty good....for a router that is. A silly as it may seem, the LED lighting built in to the Ridgid is actually quite useful.

Still hard to beat that 2. 1/4HP Milwaukee though...... the extra money might be worth it, depending on your wallet.

As a beginner myself, the only advice I can give is to make sure the model you end with has a depth-stop lock. Mine hasn't (Bosch POF500A - or if it has, I can't bloody find it!), which makes it a bit of a bugger to use on more precise work.

If it doesn't have a way of fixing the depth rod you can easily fix it - just add another nut on the depth rod and jamb them together to lock the depth.

Here's some expert advice from Pat Warner:

Bob S.

Freud units (in the old days) always took a different, nonsymetrical bolt pattern, base plate. Sears tools were Freud also, then. This can be a pain in the arse trying to buy the "odd" base plate for a router table.

Nice soft-start unit I have but plates were harder to get.

thanks for any and all input.

Cheers for the suggestion, but there isn't a way to do this. I have in the mean time, however, figured out a way of making a depth lock by using some threaded rod and extending it through the plunge-handle holes. It'll be a bit Heath-Robinson, but then again, all the best things are!

I, of course, had to Google Heath-Robinson and found myself, nose-deep in a wonderful world of fantastic silliness. I was not aware of the man and his work ( although some prints look familiar) and I have no idea how that ever escaped me. Thanks for that!

I have the 2-1/2 HP Milwaukee *and* the same size Bosch. If you're inclined toward the Milwaukee, get it. You won't be disappointed. I have the *big* Milwaukee in a router table and it's terrific but it's too heavy and too strong for hand held use......IMHO.

Max (of RORT)

Oops. read 2-1/4 instead of 2-1/2.

Max

Funny that no one has yet mentioned the Triton TRC001. Plunge routing, powerful, built in above table height adjustment, essentially all the options anyone would want in a first time router purchase including decent price point.

Tritons , they are brilliant . The TRA001 is an older model and dosent have the above table winder ,It's mounted permanently in the router table and is a real workhorse.No big deal to reach under to use the hieght adjuster and crank it up . The smaller one is used for hand held stuff and with the D4R-Pro dovetail jig. I also have a very old Makita BR3200 , its a damn fine machine and has never given any trouble at all.

LOL! A staple of school-boy daydreaming in science lessons!