Woodworking machine tools and methods

Jimbro66

My old Bosch plunge router needs replacing due to general wear and a creeping plunge mechanism. I use a router from time-to-time for things like pickup, control and trem cavities in guitars in addition to general joinery work. I was thinking in terms of maybe a fixed/plunge type that can be used either for cavity routing using templates or with a router table for other work.

Do any regular router users here have any suggestions or recommendations please? I'm thinking in terms of maybe £200 - £300ish budget but I'm flexible on that.

octatonic

I have a Trend T11EK in the router table- it is very good for that job, I've never used it outside the table so I can't comment on how it does as a plunge.

My main router is a Festool OF2200 but that is a bit spendy.
Very, very nice though- wasted in a router table.

Sporky

I was thinking Trend at that sort of budget. Very decent.

Jimbro66

Thanks for the suggestions @octatonic and @Sporky. I'll look up the Trend routers. Yes, I've heard of Festool but I think probably way beyond my needs and budget. Maybe one day

Danielsguitars

I'd go with the dewalt 625, its cheaper it's based on the trend and i even think its made in the same factory

I do find these ones heavy for hand held routing, one of the reasons I went small pin router

Jimbro66

customkits said:

I'd go with the dewalt 625, its cheaper it's based on the trend and i even think its made in the same factory

I do find these ones heavy for hand held routing, one of the reasons I went small pin router

Small pin router?

Sporky

The Trend has better above-table adjustment than the Dewalt.

Danielsguitars

Jimbro66 said:

customkits said:

I'd go with the dewalt 625, its cheaper it's based on the trend and i even think its made in the same factory

I do find these ones heavy for hand held routing, one of the reasons I went small pin router

Small pin router?

yeah the small overhead pin routers

It does depend on what you want it for though and how often you use it

You have the templates on the bottom that ride on a pin with the cutter above, much better to see where you're going

Danielsguitars

Sporky said:

The Trend has better above-table adjustment than the Dewalt.

Oh ok thanks

Jimbro66

customkits said:

Jimbro66 said:

customkits said:

I'd go with the dewalt 625, its cheaper it's based on the trend and i even think its made in the same factory

I do find these ones heavy for hand held routing, one of the reasons I went small pin router

Small pin router?

yeah the small overhead pin routers

It does depend on what you want it for though and how often you use it

You have the templates on the bottom that ride on a pin with the cutter above, much better to see where you're going

Thanks, I'll have a look at those.

Danielsguitars

They don't come up that often

I wanted 240v not 3 phase 

They get too big for my needs

GSPBASSES

I would definitely go for the trend T11EK, they are in my opinion the best industrial router you can buy. I might be a bit biased on this subject, as I own 4 them, that might sound a bit over the top, but when you do as much routing as I do, it is so much easier to have several router setup to do specific jobs, then to keep changing cutters and resetting the router up. I have two router setup for hand routing, one with a 6mm cutter, for routed truss rod channels, and one with a 9.5mm cutter use for pickup cavity routing that cannot be done under the pin router. I have one set up in my overhead pin router that doesn't nearly all my routing work. The fourth one I've only just purchased will be going in the overhead router. I do have a DeWalt equivalent to Trent, but to be honest with you, it's not very good. Although everyone says it's identical. It really does lack the power of the Trend, it is now only used fixed under a bench (acting as a router table) to rout binding channels in necks and head stock's. 

octatonic

Very interesting @GSPBASSES.
Did you build the overhead router yourself?

Jimbro66

Thank you so much for that post @GSPBASSES it is really very helpful. I have never used a pin router although I had seen them in use but not realised what they were. Thanks to you and to @customkits, plus a little research online, for educating me. Nice setup in the video. I can see how that is preferable to manoeuvring a heavy-ish hand-held - but no doubt after a lot of practice.

Trend T11EK has the majority recommendation here, thanks all, so that's the way I'll go.

Jimbro66

Jimbro66 said:

Thank you so much for that post @GSPBASSES it is really very helpful. I have never used a pin router although I had seen them in use but not realised what they were. Thanks to you and to @customkits, plus a little research online, for educating me. Nice setup in the video. I can see how that is preferable to manoeuvring a heavy-ish hand-held - but no doubt after a lot of practice.

Trend T11EK has the majority recommendation here, thanks all, so that's the way I'll go.

I've noticed that the T11EK is supplied with a 1/2" collett and that a 1/4" collett is an optional extra. Any comments on what I should get? My old Bosch is 1/4" only.

Danielsguitars

I have 2 small pin routers one is old with big motors and more industrial 
I have another and i can't remember who made it, it came with a big elu motor but what's good is you can take the motor off and mount another router on an adapter plate that comes with it, we use a trend tk11 on that
Another thing is you can mount the router underneath and take the pin out

It does take a bit of practice to get the hang of it

Also I cut all my pickup cavities with the pin router, it's so I can angle cavities to go with neck angles, I like seeing where I'm cutting

Danielsguitars

Jimbro66 said:

Jimbro66 said:

Thank you so much for that post @GSPBASSES it is really very helpful. I have never used a pin router although I had seen them in use but not realised what they were. Thanks to you and to @customkits, plus a little research online, for educating me. Nice setup in the video. I can see how that is preferable to manoeuvring a heavy-ish hand-held - but no doubt after a lot of practice.

Trend T11EK has the majority recommendation here, thanks all, so that's the way I'll go.

I've noticed that the T11EK is supplied with a 1/2" collett and that a 1/4" collett is an optional extra. Any comments on what I should get? My old Bosch is 1/4" only.

I use 1/2"   1/4" and 3/8in 
It depends on what your doing

Jimbro66

customkits said:

Jimbro66 said:

Jimbro66 said:

Thank you so much for that post @GSPBASSES it is really very helpful. I have never used a pin router although I had seen them in use but not realised what they were. Thanks to you and to @customkits, plus a little research online, for educating me. Nice setup in the video. I can see how that is preferable to manoeuvring a heavy-ish hand-held - but no doubt after a lot of practice.

Trend T11EK has the majority recommendation here, thanks all, so that's the way I'll go.

I've noticed that the T11EK is supplied with a 1/2" collett and that a 1/4" collett is an optional extra. Any comments on what I should get? My old Bosch is 1/4" only.

I use 1/2"   1/4" and 3/8in 
It depends on what your doing

OK, thanks for your advice.

martinw

For occasional use, I would have thought the Trend T4 might be enough?

I've had one for a few years now, and I would classify my usage of it as 'light trade'. It's had a lot of use and is still performing faultlessly.

Trend have good parts back up (not that I've needed it), and I added a fine height adjuster to it.

It's nice and light, so it's easy to handle, and its 850W is more than enough for what I do.

Jimbro66

Thanks for your input Martin. Was the fine height adjuster a Trend accessory or something you fabricated?

WezV

At the lower, less industrial, end of the market I really like the Bosch palm router... GFK600 or something like that.

its the smallest router I own but powerful for its size.  I bought it for small jobs, but it handles most guitar routing without issues.  

before I got that I was mainly using Axminster white ones.  Okay for the price, still have one in the router thicknesser