PC690 vs. Milwaukee 5616

[Mike Rees]

PC690 Vs. MILWAUKEE 5615.

Hey Gang,

Okay, I'm on the final leg of my journey. I've been looking at some plans for building built-ins and have come to the following conclusion:

A. Dados and Rabbets are common in built-ins
B. I have no table saw to make the above
C. I planned on getting a router anyway, and a router can make the above
D. I'm going to need to be precise with the router to accomplish this
E. So I'm probably going to want to mount it in a table

This is my first router purchase, and the price just went up b/c I'm considering a table.

So I was pretty much set on the 5615-24 combo kit from Mil. Does the 5615 adjust easily when table mounted? Does the PC do better in this department? Toss up?

Considering buying the Bench Dog table ... 40-001.

Gosh, I'm on this crusade to build my own stuff to save money and enjoy the process. Now I think I'll be happy if I just enjoy the process !

Mike

[glenn bradley]

IMHO; different animals, no contest. Get each one in your hands and you'll understand. The Mil combo will give you more versatility with the plunge. It does adjust above the table in the fixed base so you could leave that attached to your table although both routers you mention are a bit small for table use. The 690 motor rotates where the Mil uses an adjustment knob to move up and down.

[Mike Rees]

I've held the PC690 w/ the rotating base. I was able to play around with that rig at both HD and Lowes. I cannot find anybody who stocks the Milwaukee - so its a leap of faith with that one.

I know most would mount a 2.25 hp motor in a table, and ideally I would too. However I'm now at the point where the dollars are starting to squeeze/hurt so I'm looking for a good setup that gets me into the door. Routers apparently breed, so I expect this won't be my last purchase.

FWIW, I don't plan on doing raised panels or anything 'big' like that in the near future. Or far future. Maybe at all.

[scott spencer]

Which feels best in your hands is pretty important for hand use. I've owned both and have always preferred the Milwaukee. Both are good routers, and I suspect the PC690 will be a sentimental favorite due to it's popularity, but I've always thought the new 5615s are better built than the new 690s. The 5615 also has the BodyGrip feature and an excellent plunger. It also has a very stout USA made 11 amp motor. Both accept standard bushings. You'll want variable speed for table use...

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

Which feels best in your hands is pretty important. I've owned both and have always preferred the Milwaukee. Both are good routers, and I suspect the PC690 will be a sentimental favorite due to it's popularity, but I've always thought the new 5615s are better built than the new 690s. The 5615 also has the BodyGrip feature and an excellent plunger. It also has a very stout USA made 11 amp motor. Both accept standard bushings. You'll want variable speed for table use...

Are they still made in the US? The last time I looked at the 5615, I think it said: "made in China".

[Jim Terrill]

Might be worth shelling out another $60 to get the Milwaukee 5616 which has a little bit more power as well as variable speed control. I was going to get the 5615, but I figured for just a little bit more I should get the variable speed so I can use it in a router table until I get the funds to buy a dedicated router for the table.

[scott spencer]

Are they still made in the US? The last time I looked at the 5615, I think it said: "made in China".

The motor says made in the USA, other parts like the plunger (IIRC) says China.

[pat warner]

Some notes (http://patwarner.com/5616pk.html)on the milwaukee.

[Paul Ryan]

I've held the PC690 w/ the rotating base. I was able to play around with that rig at both HD and Lowes. I cannot find anybody who stocks the Milwaukee - so its a leap of faith with that one.

I know most would mount a 2.25 hp motor in a table, and ideally I would too. However I'm now at the point where the dollars are starting to squeeze/hurt so I'm looking for a good setup that gets me into the door. Routers apparently breed, so I expect this won't be my last purchase.

FWIW, I don't plan on doing raised panels or anything 'big' like that in the near future. Or far future. Maybe at all.

You are going to get sick of pulling the motor out of the table in a hurry with only one router. As I stated earlier my bosch was my 1st router. Purchased to do everything. I even bought the extra router table base for it. But I still got sick and tired of taking the motor out of the table every time I needed to do hand routing. I never have used the plung base though. So I think you are right in assuming you will soon be buying another router. I now do have of my routing with my milwaukee (hand routing) and the other half in the table with the bosch. The bosch is dying though, probably from doing raised panels with it. When I 1st started doing raised panels I was dumber than I am now. I didn't know any better and spun large raised panel bit with an under cutter at full speed. I also made panels with one pass on stock that was about 15/16 instead of 3/4 occasionally . So the router worked its butt off until I leaned better. So that has taken its toll on the bosch. But when the time comes I will buy the large 3 hp milwaukee.

IMHO of the 2 router kits you are talking about the milwaukee it my favorite bacause of how it adjusts and the body grip design. The routers like the bosch and milwaukee are easy to adjust from under the table. All you need to do it unlock them and turn a screw. The milwaukee is even easier than the bosch because it doesn't use the macro, and micro adjustments. You will like the milwaukee.

[Bobby Nicks]

Are they still made in the US? The last time I looked at the 5615, I think it said: "made in China".


I have 2 5615 routers. there was about 18 months between the purchase of the first one and the second one.

The one I got first is mark "Made in the USA", the second one is "Make in China". They are very good routers, but most of the time I still reach for my D-handle 690.

Bob

[Paul Greathouse]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46406

Mike take a look at the jigs in the above link. Glenn has a great design, I copied it and have used my jig to do all the dado's for the kitchen cabinets I'm currently building. I just happen to be cutting the dados with a Milwaukee 5615 with a 3/8" bit. I have 3 PC 690's but really like the Milwaukee 5615. You don't need a router table for rabbets and dado's if you build the jig in Glenn's thread.