The dark side beckons....

[admin]

Since day one I've dreaded this day, but it is here, and I might as well embrace it for what it is.

I'm going to end up with a router... For the longest time I've held a few personal opinions against the blasted things, and due to that I don't intend to allow it to take over the more basic stuff, but there are a few things I'm looking to do for which there aint many other ways to do. So, I have questions. Several of them as a matter of fact. Lucky for y'all, this is the only wood forum I belong to know, so here goes.

Ok, I'm on a really tight budget. Don't mind a smaller power-plant/less power since I'm not too worried about hustling through the tasks. I just need to get it done. I don't really mind if it takes a little while. Also, my knowledge and experience with routers is minimal, so I don't want some honkin' bigun I'll be afraid to turn on, LOL. (On a side note, it would make my shop a lot quieter if I turned it on once and wasn't brave enough to do it again, LMAO)

I need to do a simple plunge into the material, then cut out a simple shape then pull straight back up and call it done. No key hole stuff or anything like that. I'm thinking it'd be simplest to do so in multiple plunge depths with a small bit and just outline it then go across the waste, plunge deeper, repeat.

So, my questions are pretty basic. 1, what basic attributes should the router have to do this? I'm asking primarily so I don't buy features that I'll not use much.

2. How do I go about making the pattern by which to make the cut? I'm thinking drill it and cut it out with a coping saw, then rasp it to perfect shape. Then rout it.

You fellas have any advice for me?

[Stretch]

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the Porter Cable 690 routers. I have three of them, and will probably buy more in the future. Nearly all router accessories are made to be compatible a 690 router. In my workshop the router might just be the most important tool. I could live without my tablesaw, but don't you dare take my router. For what you want to do, a basic router with a guide bushing and straight bit will do it easily. I really don't have much use for a plunge base. I've done tons of work with a router and never needed one. There are alternative ways to do plunge cuts that are usually faster for me than digging out my plunge base. As far as making your pattern, the method you came up with is pretty much how I do it except I'd probably use a jig saw.

[dcarter636]

As some of you know I am likely the second most fanatical (after Sonny Edmunds) Porter Cable tout. I rarely use anything but PC690s, but the plunge base for the 690 is not so hot, mine's far from smooth in plunging action.

If plunge cuts are highly important to you maybe you should look at a less durable more vibration prone router with a satin smooth plunging action and Porter Cable guide collar compatibility.

If plunge cuts are a sometime thing (few of us plunge as often as we originally expected) then I would go with the PC 690 kit that has a plunge base and the "D" handle trigger switch base. Probably the last hand held router you will need to buy.

[imahic]

I've got a porter cable as well. What ever you get be sure to get one where the base plate will accept the porter cable guide bushinngs.

Mike

[dcarter636]

I didn't really reply to your fundamental questions TJ, I was more concerned that you not spend good money on a router that vibrates so much that your hands go numb or dies on you after a year or two. I've thought a little more about plunging too; the only time I really need to plunge is for pattern inlay work. Otherwise I just tip the spinning fixed depth router down into the cut.
Most straight slotting is best accomplished on a router table with a fence. A practical router table can be as simple as a piece of plywood with a router hung underneath with it's bit poking up though a hole and a straight 2x4 clamped on top for a fence.


So here's how I do pattern routing:

First off I make router templates out of what ever is handy and appropriate, mostly MDF, baltic birch ply, or pine.

To cut out the inside of a frame:

1. Draw the full size cutout.

2. Determine the size of the router bit and guide collar that you plan to use. The bit is always smaller in diameter than the guide collar therefore the template must be cut out a mite larger than the finished piece. Let's say we use a 1/2" bit inside of a 3/4" guide collar.

3. Draw the larger offset pattern, in this case 1/8" outside of the full size pattern.

4. Transfer/trace the pattern to the template material if you didn't draw it on the template to begin with.

5. Drill a hole and saw, or rout, out the pattern, I often use a sanding drum in my drill press, rasps, and sand paper to smooth contours, but any way that eliminates all the steps, waves, and notches is fair.

6. Clamp the template onto the work piece and rout (of course you did make the template large enough to accommodate the full base of the router plus some clamps didn't you?). I usually just tip a spinning fixed depth router into an open template, no plunge mechanism needed.

Outside templates are made the same way except that they are made smaller than the finished piece because the bit-collar offset produces a contour that is larger than the template.

[Joe Lyddon]

TJ,

How large or small is this Pattern you wish to cut?

How deep of a cut is required?

Do you have a picture of what you're talking about?

The Router is a very powerful tool, not in Amps & Watts but in usefulness.

[sawduster]

Routers have the potential to become one of the most used power tools in a shop, and becoming such for some folks. Like mentioned previously, I am also of the opinion that the ability to plunge is over emphasized. I bought a PC690 kit several years ago which included a plunge base as well as the standard two handle base. Other than the fact that the standard base lived in the router table extension of my table saw for most of those years, the plunge base would have not gotten used at all and of the times I did install the motor in the plunge base, I can only recall once or twice that I used it to actually do plunge work.

I will recommend that, if you go with the PC 690, you spend the extra bucks to get the one with variable speed. You may never need it, but then again you may also some day want to spin a larger diameter bit, and need to reduce the speed.

[triplefreak]

Just a heads up. Amazon has PC690 routers for $130.
I bought myself a Bosch 1617EVSPK for ~$200 from Amazon a few months back. I went with Bosch because they were very highly rated from Consumer's Reports & the 2010 Tool Guide.

[Ruffnek]

+1 For the PC 690 router. Like Sonny always wrote, why get something that is "PC compatible" instead of just getting a PC?

I will be the odd-man-out so far and say that I use the plunge base way more often than the fixed base when doing hand-held work. That may be because I try to do all of the routing that I can at the router table and usually when I do hand-held routing, I need the plunge feature.

As for your questions:

1. what basic attributes should the router have to do this? I'm asking primarily so I don't buy features that I'll not use much.

There aren't a lot. The aforementioned fixed and plunge bases are the way to go, IMHO. In a hand-held, you don't need more than 1.5 hp ( I think the new PC 690's are 1.75 hp) The D-handle fixed base with the trigger grip is very handy and safer than the toggle switch. You can also get the base(s) with a DC port if you want to attach a shop vac to it. Then, there's variable speed and soft start features which I don't think are necessary in a hand-held router.

That one at Amazon is fine. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it will outlast you, probably. www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-690LR-Fixed-Horsepower-Router/dp/B00005QEVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1263241305&sr=8-1


2. How do I go about making the pattern by which to make the cut? I'm thinking drill it and cut it out with a coping saw, then rasp it to perfect shape. Then rout it.

I'm with Stretch here. I'd probably use the jig saw vs a coping saw. I'd also use MDF because it is easy to fair the curves after cutting out the pattern.

[admin]

The task I have in mind is the routed 'pool' for the pickups on an electric guitar, it's a fairly simple hole, and perfect sides aren't critical as it'll be hidden from view by the pick guard. Just need a recess for the pickups and bridge to sit in. Also I have an idea for mild recess for the pick guard, but that's a back burner idea at best. And the final task for it would be mild roundover work on the edges.

The 690 looks like one that'll do the job without costing me an arm and a leg. Reviews for it are good too.

As for the jigsaw, I don't have one, so I'm thinking I could make it work with the coping saw if I needed to.

Thanks guys!

[Joe Lyddon]

Sounds like it's a very light-duty job for the router...
Doesn't need HP, etc.... Mainly an easy to handle router for small intricate work.

The Bosch Colt sounds like a very good router for the job(s).

[Ruffnek]

Jan 11, 2010 18:00:08 GMT -6 admin said:

The task I have in mind is the routed 'pool' for the pickups on an electric guitar, it's a fairly simple hole, and perfect sides aren't critical as it'll be hidden from view by the pick guard. Just need a recess for the pickups and bridge to sit in. Also I have an idea for mild recess for the pick guard, but that's a back burner idea at best. And the final task for it would be mild roundover work on the edges.

The 690 looks like one that'll do the job without costing me an arm and a leg. Reviews for it are good too.

As for the jigsaw, I don't have one, so I'm thinking I could make it work with the coping saw if I needed to.

Thanks guys!

I remember reading an article in a mag a long time back about how Eddie Van Halen used a chisel and hammer to chisel out the recess for the pickups in the first guitar he made. He was getting the reject bodies from Fender I think. He also showed how he did his trademark red and black paint job.

By the time the story was written, he did say that he had progressed to using a router for making the recess. I'm surprised the dood could stay sober long enough to use a router. ;D

[TDHofstetter]

Yaknow... for making pickup pockets, a teeny tiny trim router (with a template bushing) would do a fine job. Even a RotoZip would do a decent job, given the right-sized bushing.

BUT... a PC690 will ALSO do the job, AND lead you on into a myriad of other things.

Lessee. I've got two PC690s, one PC trim router, one old Stanley R2D2 router, a Freud biggun, a Craftsman biggun, a Craftsman trash router that'll get thrown away when the dovetail bit mounted in it gets dull, a Skil plunge I probably should never have bought for $30... seems like I've got one or two more out there, but I can't remember what they might be. Yeah - buy a decent one. You'll find lots of uses for it.

[fredbelknap]

If you use it very much you will end up with more money in bits than in the router. Many advise getting top of the line bits but I have a set of HF bits that I find I use a lot. Might try to get a router with both 1/2" &1/4" collets.

[lexrex]

I too use my plunge base almost all of the time. It's just too convenient to sneak up on things, etc. Very easy to change bit depth and you can set a depth stop for your final dimension.

I second Fred's advice to buy nice quality bits. I try to stick with 1/2" shanks unless it's a very small bit that only comes in 1/4".

[dejure]

Looks like, myself included, there are a lot of fans for the PC 690. While a Colt is well worth having around, once you see what you can do, you’ll kill it pretty quickly. You’re going to need stability anyway, so a heavier unit shouldn’t complicate matters overly much.

I have 1/4" and 1/2" collets for my 690 and I swap them all the time (I try to always go for “1/2" bits). PC was the first, to my knowledge, to make a collet that will free the bit when you loosen it. Once free, keep turning until the keeper pushes the bit up. That’s what sold me on my first one about a quarter of a century ago.

I got lucky and got my 690 on sale. It came with a standard base, a plunge base and a D handle, the latter which I use the most.

I used to burn up a Craftsman set of “bearings” every few months. My first 690 is still going and about twenty year old.

Today I have a Hitachi 3-1/4 horse, PC 7518 (on my router table), a PC VS 8529 2hp, my PC 690, a PC laminate trimmer (gotta love garage sales) and a Colt with all the trimmings. These are just for decoration. What do the average wood worker would if he actually figured out these things have some use?