Router and Router Bit Selection

[Michael Moscicki]

I will be making a radiator cover out of wood, most likely pine as it's cheap and I can get some nice flat ready to go pieces without the need to plane or join the wood.

Ok so I have 2 routers. A Ryobi R160, which has 1.5 HP motor and is made in the USA. I also have a Rockwell 5372. It is all metal with a really short cable and weighs a lot more than the Ryobi. Which one would you prefer to use?
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Now I need a router bit. I'm willing to go Whiteside and just buy 1 or 2 bits as opposed to buying a cheap set with way more bits. Is that a good choice or should I just buy a cheap set to see which bits I'd actually use?If I do go whiteside, this is what I need the bit to do. There are so many router bits, I'm lost.:eek:

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[Matt Day]

I'd probably stick with the Ryobi. The old Rockwell probably doesn't have soft start and is probably a little harder to control. If you don't have any bits, I'd suggest buying a set though some may disagree. I bought a cheap set from HF which has worked great.

Regarding your design, remember that when you cut the mortise it will leave rounded corners. Are you planning on rounding the legs to match?

Also, by just inserting the leg in the mortise without a shoulder to the tenon, the cut will be visible (and any tearout, overcut, mistake, etc) if that matters to you. Having a true tenon is a good way cover up some of that.

[pat warner]

Neither!
The Rockwell/PC is a D-handled tool without the handle, impossible to handle safely. The Ryobi is just as unwieldly.
I think you would be wise to talk this over with somebody.
Your cuts are demanding, probably best done with a plunger and collar guide-bushes. And WMC has a million cutters that will work with guide bushes.

[Peter Kuhlman]

As Pat says - you really need a plunge router to make boring type holes. Trying to tip a fixed base router with a running bit into the wood is really REALLY asking for trouble. Only way I would attempt it would be if you drilled a starter hole larger than the bit but you would really need to be careful. That old Rockwell router is missing the handle as Pat says. Please be careful.

[Michael Moscicki]

I can swap it for a dowel joint and just use a regular old drill. It is cheaper, so I guess that's a plus. Or I can go neander and chisel out the mortise, but that would be messy.

So, I'll put the router work on hold till I can get a decent plunge base router.

[Craig Michael]

I can swap it for a dowel joint and just use a regular old drill. It is cheaper, so I guess that's a plus. Or I can go neander and chisel out the mortise, but that would be messy.

So, I'll put the router work on hold till I can get a decent plunge base router.

I'd go with a few dowels in each. I have the jessem but that's about $200. The rockler one looks pretty decent and I think it's $20. Someone else can correct me but isn't pine a high expansion wood? For painted work I would go with poplar. It's a nice tight grained wood, machines well, pretty hard (quite a bit harder than pine), sands and paints well. It's inexpensive too. I have not priced pine anytime in the past few years but I would guess poplar would be quite a bit cheaper than clear pine. Pine has lot's of branches so lots of knots. So it's harder to get clear pine and thus more expensive than you'd think.

[Joe Angrisani]

Michael.... Perhaps you can drill the mortises with a Forstner bit, then clean them up with a chisel. I would tenon the end of the legs; the shoulders will provide quite a bit of ridgidity. And I'm with Craig on the poplar.

[Michael Moscicki]

It's going to be most likely stained a nice coat of black walnut stain(don't like the look of painted wood) that I have and then sealed and finished with a few coats of hand wiped Poly.

The thing is I don't have a planer nor a jointer so it's going to have to be whatever has the correct width from the get go. I still have to go to a few stores and see what stock they have.

[Craig Michael]

It's going to be most likely stained a nice coat of black walnut stain(don't like the look of painted wood) that I have and then sealed and finished with a few coats of hand wiped Poly.

The thing is I don't have a planer nor a jointer so it's going to have to be whatever has the correct width from the get go. I still have to go to a few stores and see what stock they have.

If you are staining it, look at maple. Nice tight grain and it's consistent. Pine is ok if you seal it before the stain but nothing compared to Maple in consistency.