router bit

[crazycanuck]

now it's your turn!
as you all know I'm quite handy with tools and things ,as Iv'e built many things but now I want to buy a router to ugrade my skills.
My question is ,should I buy with 1/4 or 1/2 collet ?
most of the bigger cutters have 1/2 .
do they have a sleeve to use both sizes?
should I buy a table to go with it ,they seem so small if I want to route 8ft.
boards with 15 or 16" cuts for shelf insertion and the like, I could make my own after I buy the router.
Which is better Square or round face on router.

serious guys I can use your help

 

[big-all]

the size depends on what you plan to router
in general the bigger the router the more you can remove in one pass [within the router cutters cappacity]

1/2 inch nearly always come with a 1/4 inch insert or collet

home made router tables can be expensive
[this one must have cost me £2 ]

router out 2 grooves to recive the fence rods in 12mm mdf or ply to line the face of the router with the board[not the full depth of the rods]
the blocks are the width of the jaws of my workmate and clamp the rods in place and secure the table in the workmate

the main restriction of this method is the body or base of the router must be less than the jaw opening

 

[crazycanuck]

Thanks Big Al was out checking pawn shops this morning saw several different makes, some good some I wouldn't touch most 1/4 , prices are good around 50-60 pounds, no pound sign on my keyboard.
last time I built wall unit I used small angle brackets to support shelves although it turned out pretty good this time I would like to improve my handywork in making a stand up wordrobe 12 shelf 6 door and fancy trimwork roughly 78" high 82w x16d finish in medium light stain two coat varethane satin coat.
measure 6 times cut 1 time
I'll start with basic cutters and work up

 

[JohnArnoldBrown]

I'm no expert, but I think you'd be better off holding the router and following a straight edge to rout slots for shelves.
As far as the round or square face plate goes - I have a Hitachi M12V, it has a mainly round face plate - one edge is straight. I also have a Bosch POF 1100 AE, it's a toy!! The supplied face plate is not concentric to the cutter, and the guide bush is not only eccentric, it has about 1.5 mm of play! I fitted a Trend universal sub base (had to stretch a couple of holes to make it fit) which makes it just about usable.

 

[Trazor]

big-all....Noticed the Power Devil router.....

In the same picture as Dewalt...

Seriously is it any good...?

 

[Deluks]

...not forgetting his prototype dust collecting system from Festool...

 

[big-all]

big-all....Noticed the Power Devil router.....

In the same picture as Dewalt...

Seriously is it any good...?

i bought my first router in 1986 a black and decker

some years later bought my hitch mv12

i then dropped the bxd it still worked but minus one handle[still workes now 20 years on ]

so i needed a small router quick and at the time money was tight and there was no routers under around £100 except the powerdevil at £44.99 from argos

now the origional lasted less than a year but i realise now it was because i was using it in an inverted state because when the replacement under g tee router packed up a couple of years later because the switch was arking and sparking and kept turning off!!!!!!!

had to laugh though took the switch to bits absolutly solid with sawdust no space at all
removed switch and fitted a kill swich at the side problem solved
still going strong 5 years on

i have since bought several cheap routers with varying sucsess i leave them permenently set up for specific tasks [grooving roundover stop chamfer for example]

i think all routers and cheaper power tools are now made to a price and not a standard so you pays your money and takes your choice

if i was going for a reliable router on a budget and couldnt stretch to dewalt or simmilar i would go for somthing like a ryobi

 

[crazycanuck]

hi big-al funny you should mention ryobi router I was looking at a new one yesterday about 35 pounds, looks good boy cutters are expensive.

 

[big-all]

buy cheap sets from s/f contains all the usual cutters you get in normal sets but with more variety of sizes
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=A338073&ts=61030&id=12890

you will hardly use half of them the ones you use the most you can buy a decent one