Recommend a router

[anto]

I have an oak worktop to cut & join as well as forming around a Belfast sink and also cutting drainage channels.
What sort of router do I need to be able to handle a hardwood like oak?
Min power etc

Thanks,
Anton

 

[DanielW]

One with the highest wattage you can afford and a very good cutter,anything below 900watts is a hobby type router.

Pointless giving you a brand as there will be an argument over their quality of use.

My heavy duty router is a Ryobi 1500 and the lesser evils are two old B&D and a newer B&D.

 

[Shedendman]

^^^^^
as he said higher the watts the better,i've an old performance power jobby from B&Q 1200 watts for 6 yrs now been given a load of abuse still going as good as it was brand new,oh make sure its got variable speed to

 

[Gareth0123]

One with the highest wattage you can afford and a very good cutter,anything below 900watts is a hobby type router.

Pointless giving you a brand as there will be an argument over their quality of use.

My heavy duty router is a Ryobi 1500 and the lesser evils are two old B&D and a newer B&D.

I have the single phase 230v monster Ryobi 1/2" collet and bit router and it is unstoppable.

I have also got the 8mm Ryobi router and it has adaptor collets for 1/4" & 5/16" and 4mm, 6mm and 8mm bits and this has turned out to a very useful machine that does a lot of work it was never designed for.

 

[Parm]

I have the half inch collet old school Dewalt. It's an absolute monster.

On the day of cutting your best friend will be patientce, resulting in easy Lowe plough cutting passes, a brand new good quality cutter and a final very light finishing pass.

Should do the trick

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Make sure you cut in the correct direction as well, the cutting edge must be moving in the direction of the cut.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I have an original Makita 3600b 1/2" router and its a beast, no soft start and it kicks like a mule.

 

[ford34/2]

whatever your choice?? will you use it again???? do take very small cuts, use a good straight edge and make sure its well clamped firmly to the top. The router will have a collet or two, run off that, or use the base of the machine along the cutout guide you clamp to the top, Watch for it tipping over when you are only using half the base and they do tend to have a gyroscopic action and can develope a mind of there own. be aware the cutter is sticking out unprotected very sharp and doing 20,000+ RPM. so do try and use the plunge action , start it, plunge in -stop it-- plunge out. you dont need to cut the whole thickness of the top in one go consider multiple passes and finish off with a full depth very light cut.
Surprisingly Aldi and Lidl do powerful and cheap routers when the offer is on. They can be hired as well, avoid hiring the cutters. For this job a 1/2" cutter on a 1/2" shank about 50mm long should do you. If you are not too sure pay a man who is.

Stan

 

[brightspark]

if its a 1 off hire one for a day. the half inch makita is the dogs ****** being 2kw but will cost a fortune to buy

 

[printcom]

I can recommend one of these I have had one for at least 10 years and nothings phased it.

 

[ford34/2]

The last brilliant one the company bought was a rolls royce model, it was a Hilti and the price was rolls royce as well.
But I`ve hammered Makita, Hitachi, Dewalt, some ancient Stanley ones. Hammered a Ryobi and it never burnt out. I`ve probably used almost every make at some time or other. Letterboxes,Staircases and hundreds of fire door vision panels soon sort the men out from the boys. Small light cuts and sharp cutters. Good templates and use the plunge action. (Pity I dont take my own medicine)

Stan

 

[Hitch]

I use the Hitachi M12V. Basic, but a workhorse.

 

[anto]

I ended up buying a 1/2" Hitachi with 2000w so that should hopefully do my job along with any other stuff I may get in the future.

Can you guys recommend somewhere for decent cutting heads?

 

[ford34/2]

Theres loads on E bay heres a few that caught my eye.

Heres a trend one for a tenner
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trend-BR0...tter-Router-/331578834972?hash=item4d33a3801c

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trend-Router-Cutter-BR01x1-2TC-12-7mm-/351470807908?hash=item51d54aeb64
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-1-...2-7mm-75350-/360870493158?hash=item54058ebbe6
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-x-UNIKA...-Trade-Pack-/281760776100?hash=item419a403fa4
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIKA-1-2...50mm-Single-/271943263208?hash=item3f5114e3e8

 

[optima21]

I can recommend one of these I have had one for at least 10 years and nothings phased it.

Ive got one too, but prefer to use a tiny Bosch POF500 if possible as the Freud is a bit of an animal (but very capable)

 

[Bladevane]

Anto - I recently bought a Hitachi router which was fine but the collets were rubbish. Hitachi service were brilliant but it took them 2 attempts to post out collet/but assemblies that extracted the collet and released the cutter correctly.

 

[anto]

Thanks for the headsup @Bladevane there seems to be a few references on the net to the collet problem but it seems to be something to do with the design. Il take a closer look when it arrives. Good to hear that Hitachi customer service is up to scratch, partly why I spent a bit more and went for a brand I was familiar with.

 

[Bladevane]

Anto - when you get it fit a cutter and make sure the collet nut withdraws the collet as you untighten it. The manual is not that clear on this. Essentially when undoing the nut it will loosen then tighten again at which point keep on untightening it and the collet should be ejected along with the cutter. Check this for the 1/4" and 1/2" collets. If the nut over-rides the collet undercut and comes off the shaft leaving the collet and cutter behind you have the same problem as me. As I recall the issue was with the 1/4" collet which was made in China. The Korean made 1/2" set was OK. Details of Hitachi UK service are on their website.