Routers, great yokes or the spawn of Satan?

Fingalian

I have two 1/2 hp jobs, one for freehand and the other in a table. I avoid using them 'cos the friggin noise of them would wake the dead and the amount of dust they produce is unreal. I heard of a shipwright who would chase his grandson around the shop with a broom if he fired up his router instead of using his saw and chisels. I could see GrandPa's point.
However, I was reading in some of the mags recently about the new small routers available, basically laminate trimmers and figured that one would be handy. Small, light, easy to use.The price though ( especially in these recessionary , lets be frugal times) put me off. So anyhow I was down in Capel Street the other day and picked this one up in Toolz for 14.99, yes 14.99. Comes with 6mm and 8mm collets, 5 bits ,(most commonly needed types). a fence and a tramell point for circles. It's no Trend ,but it is not too noisy and it cleans out the bottom of a lap nicely. By the way , saw it in B&Q today for 39.99.

SpitfireIV

Honestly, what workshop could be without a router now!! :P I'm all for the traditional methods myself and enjoy working with razor sharp chisels and almost antique tenon saws etc etc, but think of all the things the router does. Sure, they're noisy, they make a mess, but they make life easier . All those joints, recess, grooves, moldings, long live the router I say! :pac:

That Router you have, I got one the exact same as it a few years back, a Power Devil, from Argos, with the same bits and bobs, unfortunately after a short while it kicked the bucket, brought it back, changed it for another PD router and I've used that one ever since. Must be a good 9/10 years now and its served me well!

aerosol

Its one of my favourite tools.

I've also the same power devil,got it from a guy in Fairyhouse market,he sells all re-con and catolouge returned stuff, 10 punts it cost,still going after 5yrs( the same guy is still there selling stuff too)
Its the only one I have now after some scallywag robbed my dewalt.I "lost" a phone,transformer,2 halogen spots,a 4 way spliter,steps,bevel and a couple of tapemeasures on the same site:mad: More stuff than I've had robbed in my whole life!

bigstar

fantastic tool, i love my chisels and planes etc., but you need a router. dadoes, grooves, rebates are so much easier, not to mention mouldings. get some ear muffs and a dust extractor, you wont notice the dust/noise so much

ennisa

Fingalian,
I got mine from woodies, (16 or 17 euro in some clearance sale about 8 months ago) it's their own brand that they sell but the must be all rebadged from the same manufacturer as mine is exactly the same as yours, even down to the power switch that you can't lock on! I ended up leaving mine in the router table and I bought one from aldi which has exactly the same base plate as the woodies one and your power devil but the handles etc are more like the more expensive ones with a locable switch and also a less aggresive plunge spring mine was almost impossible to adjust by hand with any finesse as it was so tight. I put a car scissor jack underneath it in the router table to move it with some precision, rough and ready but does the job.
I do use them both quite a bit. I prefer to use it on the router table than by hand when I can but usually end up using them by hand for cutting dado's for book cases and putting nice consistent 45 degree chamfers. On the router table I most use it for rebating. The noise is a pain and the dust from MDF is awful but a decent set of ear defenders makes it a much more enjoyable(!) experience.

If I had the money to buy a good rebate or moving fillister plane and some hollows and rounds planes then I would much prefer that but the fun money just isn't there

Take care fingalian.

Oh.. to answer your question, I think they may fall into the category of 'neccessary evil'.

--
Alan
Ireland/Dublin

gsxr1

Say you have 30 doors to hang. If all I had was my hammer and chisels I would just go home

Ye just cant beat the finish ans speed of a sharp router bit.

DublinDilbert

Fingalian wrote: »

the new small routers available, basically laminate trimmers and figured that one would be handy.

does anyone know where to get a small palm router or laminate trimmer, for a decent price?

I'm looking for a spindle for my cnc controlled router, one of these would be ideal.

doozerie

DublinDilbert wrote: »

does anyone know where to get a small palm router or laminate trimmer, for a decent price?

I'm looking for a spindle for my cnc controlled router, one of these would be ideal.

I've not used one, but I've read some good things about the Bosch GKF 600 Palm Router. At UK£115 it's not cheap, but you might find a better price elsewhere.