Recomendations on what router to buy
James - 17/12/13 at 05:22 PM
Greetings all!
Help me choose my Xmas present! 
Have wanted a wood router for years but never bitten the bullet. Now my parents want an Xmas present idea for me!
I'm an experienced DIY'er and have an entire large house to refurbish so hope it'll come in handy.
I believe I want the 1/2" collet type but that's all I know.
Love Makita stuff generally so would prefer to go that direction but I've no idea what power/size I should be aiming for.
What sort of thing should I be looking at?
Blimey! These things are about twice the price I was expecting! Might have to be contributing towards this myself!
Cheers,
James
[Edited on 17/12/13 by James]
rgrs - 17/12/13 at 05:33 PM
I recently picked up a Dewalt dw625 with all the accessories for £115.00 on Ebay, the only reason it was cheap was it was a 110v version.
If you are going to do things like work surfaces etc then buy a 2000w unit my previous b&q own brand didnt have enough power.
Check what accessories you need, and factor in the price of bases and bushes.
However bear in mind that both the 625 and the makita equivalent are really too big to cut hinges etc.
Roger
nick205 - 17/12/13 at 05:44 PM
Definitely get a 1/2" collett type, much more flexible on cutters.
2000W should be ample for DIY tasks, including kitchen worktop (with a good quality cutter).
One of the best accessories for a router is a router table, makes a useful power tool really useful IMHO.
Smoking Frog - 17/12/13 at 05:59 PM
I've had a Elu 120v router for the past 20 years cost £350. Still going strong today. Trend seem popular now and seem compatible with
elu's accessories. Which ever you go for 1/2 collet, speed control and soft start are a must, but no doubt they all have that now.
JoelP - 17/12/13 at 06:06 PM
Another vote for the dewalt dw625. It's about £230 last time I checked but a great tool, very popular with kitchen fitters. Elu became dewalt,
and trend parts are compatible.
John P - 17/12/13 at 06:18 PM
I've not got one of these but it does seem to get very good reviews on the Screwfix site:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb210c-2100w-router-230v/95675
John.
mookaloid - 17/12/13 at 06:57 PM
From the title of the tread I was going to suggest a Netgear or something but that would have been a bit of a mistake 
Barkalarr - 17/12/13 at 07:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
From the title of the tread I was going to suggest a Netgear or something but that would have been a bit of a mistake
+1 - I was going to suggest just get bt infinity - the router comes free.. Lol
nick205 - 17/12/13 at 07:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by John P
I've not got one of these but it does seem to get very good reviews on the Screwfix site:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb210c-2100w-router-230v/95675
John.
Not used that specific tool, but have been less than impressed with other Erbauer kit. It's a Screwfix own brand and IMHO their power specs and
performance claims are optimistic at best.
trextr7monkey - 17/12/13 at 08:41 PM
We use routers at work most days we have all sorts Trend, bosch a couple of B n Q jobbies for use with a dove tail jig and recently we bought 4 from
Aldi along 0with their router tables. We have a trend router table but tbh the Aldi ones do the same job but are more cheaplyy madeN ifyou have a lot
of0 time o your hands you could easily knock your oiwn up.The Bosch is 1/2" and preferred fr heavier jobs but the others are fine for rounding
off corners, bevels etc 1e did have a. Trolley with 4 routers mounted to it but it was a fag getting adapter plates etc for a load of different
machines. As you might have guessed we don't have a lot of time for changing cutters and mucking about with collets during the day and work on
the idea tht if the machine is all set up and ready to go it is more likely to bé used. As far as possible we use routers wih jigs and tables rather
than free handN best tyo buy carbide cutters if you are using them a lot hth
Mike
Alan B - 17/12/13 at 10:14 PM
James,
Buy one off my company.....the commission would be nice....
linky
Alan
mangogrooveworkshop - 17/12/13 at 10:33 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Alan B
James,
Buy one off my company.....the commission would be nice....
linky
Alan
Noted
nick205 - 17/12/13 at 11:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Alan B
James,
Buy one off my company.....the commission would be nice....
linky
Alan
How much fun could you have with one of those! 
dhutch - 18/12/13 at 09:29 AM
Ive only used two.
My dads which is a little hobbie bosch (green) which is a bit cheaply made, overly flexable, fairly low power, dust extrantion provision is crap, etc.
However it is light and can actaully do most things you want to do with it.
And one at school. Forget the brand but I doubt it was expensive. Used it less, but it was stiffer in build which was nice, and had no issue plowing a
dosen 20mm wide 10mm deep slots into oak to make a bookshelf. I think dads would have struggled with that, but done it eventually. It was however,
three times the weight.
Horses for coarses?
Also; netgear make nice kit, and d-link are often cheap second hand on ebay!
Daniel
hughpinder - 18/12/13 at 09:41 AM
I have a large 1/2" Bosch GOF2300 and a lightweight/cheap 1/4"/900W job. The 1/4 gets most use as it is much lighter and easier to handle.
The 1/2" is much more clumsy to use in hand, and a couple of times over the many years I've owned them I have tried to make too heavy a cut
with the 1/2" job, and can tell you it has a ferocious kickback if you manange to jam it! I have a homemade table which I mount the big one in
and it is fantastic for if you are doing hundreds of meters of tongue and groove or whatever. As long as the blades are sharp, the 900W job can remove
the wood as fast as a non pro would ever want.
Regards
Hugh
ETA the chap one has horrible cheap locking screws/handles and I have pretty much replaced them all over the years, if I bought another I'd
source decent ones straight away.
[Edited on 18/12/13 by hughpinder]
Slimy38 - 18/12/13 at 10:34 AM
The only thing I might add is that if you have a limited budget, put a bit more towards the cutters than you might have originally planned. I've
found the power of the router only dictates how fast it can work, even low powered ones get through big jobs eventually. But if you scrimp on the
cutters, you'll end up with burn marks, tears on the wood, and even potentially cause yourself some injury when they jam.
Don't be tempted to do what I did and buy a 'set' for what seems to be a decent price. You won't use most of them, and you'll
regret using the ones that you do.
nick205 - 18/12/13 at 11:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
The only thing I might add is that if you have a limited budget, put a bit more towards the cutters than you might have originally planned. I've
found the power of the router only dictates how fast it can work, even low powered ones get through big jobs eventually. But if you scrimp on the
cutters, you'll end up with burn marks, tears on the wood, and even potentially cause yourself some injury when they jam.
Don't be tempted to do what I did and buy a 'set' for what seems to be a decent price. You won't use most of them, and you'll
regret using the ones that you do.
Excellent point on the cutters.
I bought a cheap set and they were hard to work with.