Overhead pin routers anyone? Big Ones!

[Larry Edgerton]

I watch auctions, and I have noticed that there are a lot of big iron pin routers going for low prices so.....

If any of you own one or use one at work I would like to know more. I have never had the opportunity to use one so my questions are.....

What should I look for in a used one, and which brands are the best?

How useful are they?

What materials will they cut at what thicknesses

General knowledge of any sort woud be appreciated.

Thanks, Larry

[Chris Fournier]

An overhead or over arm pin router is a somewhat specialized tool that has pretty much been replaced in industrial settings with CNC machines. The big ones take up a lot of space and they are really most suited to repetitive work which is guided by templates. You can of course treat the over arm router as an inverted router table and with a fence make mouldings etc. Cutting capacity is limited to the available cutters, spindle speed, table size as well as the Z axis (table up and down range). Be carefull to match your cutters to the spindle speed!

I have had a small/medium sized pin router in my shop for years and it has been a real workhorse. It has been invaluable for making electric guitars and some other products which I make. This is not to say that many shops would really get much value out of one as it really shines when it comes to making multiples based on a template.

I would seriously think about what you do in your shop and whether one of these machines would help you in your efforts or not; in most cases the answer would be no.

I have an Italian machine which is now manufactured by SCM. I have used others but couldn't make any recommendations. If you have your heart set on owning an over arm pin router I would strongly suggest that you look for one that raises and lowers the cutter via pneumatics. The mechanical foot lever style lacks a bit of finesse in my experience.

[Andrew Kertesz]

I have a friend that owns an acrylic fabrication shop that has a big overhead router. It is a monster, a big Onsrud, with pneumatic controls. While the table is pretty big it is still smaller than a CNC. He does some pretty amazing things with his but he has been in the fabrication business for about 35 years. When he purchased this new, (I don't remember how many years ago) it was 15K. I would think that would buy a pretty decent sized CNC machine but can't say for sure. This machine is definitely something that is NOT going down the basement stairs...

[J.R. Rutter]

I used to have an old Porter that moved the table via foot pedal. I second the recommendation for moving the head instead.

[johnny means]

Pin routers really aren't too useful unless one generally makes lots of multiples on a regular basis and tends to do the same job over and over. Doing complex patterns with them can be a real beast due to not being able to see your pattern. They're great for irregular shaped mortises and slots that require a plunge cut and a template. I thought about one for a long time because I do a lot of repetitive work with templates. In the end I figured I could get more mileage out of a good router table and several routers. They do pop up quite often at low prices which made them really tempting, kind of the way RASs do. I suppose that could be because they're going the way of the RAS.

[Larry Edgerton]

Thanks for the responses so far......

Just to clarify, I am a pro, do a lot of restoration pieces, so limited runs of parts up to 150 max. Use jigs and 3 1/4hp PC's for most of it. I have been thinking about doing more reproduction parts and less site work, so a pin router would speed it up it seems.

I am not at all interested in learning CNC, mostly because computers and I are not "one". I know where there are a couple of 4x8 Shopbots that I will be able to pick up cheap, but I don't click with computers so I am sure they would just sit in the corner.

[McKay Sleight]

My friend has one at the high school that he teaches at and he uses it for one off projects nearly every period. We will be making the razee plane that was described in Pop. Wood. and the it is the very best tool for insetting the handle of the plane.

['Jacques Malan']

We've got a large cast iron Wadkin in the workshop, it has largely been replaced now by the CNC router, but we are keeping it. It makes a fantastic router table, even if the bit do come from the top. We still make rebates on it and I do occasional sort of free hand work on it. The big difficulty is making templates, but once the template is made production can go fast, except when some overpaid underbrained employee force a template through the cutter.

Like all tools it takes a while to get used to, but can be very useful.

[Peter Quinn]

We have a Grizzly in the shop where I work, so I can't comment on the things to look out for on the big old iron models. The Griz has a moving head, I can't imagine a moving table being much fun. I like to site the bit moving to the work for starts and stops when plunging, and with a fixed table, you can rig in and out feed tables easily. We make cabs with prefinished plywood using dados, so with the over arm router you don't have to drag the finished surface over a table. The over arm router works well for pattern work of course, but its also good for stop dados, fluted columns, anything you want to start and stop without having to lift the work off a cutter, or take a hand off the work. Its like a plunge router with a foot actuator. You could easily use it for pattern routing 8/4 material. Ours has a 5HP induction motor, so power is not an issue, and the bearings are stout, so chatter is minimal. We made some HVAC return air grilles a while back that would have been a real PIA with a plunge router hand held, pretty straight forward with the over arm router.

[John Coloccia]

To me, the pin router really earns it's keep when you have to make routes on a workpiece that is curved. Anyone who has done this with a regular plunge router knows how incredibly frustrating, and sometimes dangerous, this is. At best, you will make a jig that is suspended over the workpiece, and will just live with whatever flexing you get. Alignment to the workpiece is always an issue. With the pin router, you simply secure the workpiece to a flat pattern, the router plunges from the top and machines the piece to perfection (or rather to however well you've aligned it).

There are other uses of course, but to me it's this specific use that really separates the pin router from all other power tool other than a CNC machine.

[ian maybury]

I've never used one, but have also encountered them in the plastics fabrication business where they seem to be very common usage for profiling sheet material - which suggests that they probably offer some advantages there at least. It might be interesting to search out a few people in that space and talk to them John..