Going to have to reinforce the shop floor, got a new PC 7518

[Bill Huber]

I have been wanting to get a larger router, the Bosch 1617 has done a really good job but when doing raised panels and things like that I just felt that it was a little under powered. It would get very hot when doing raised panels and I would only do one and then let it cool off a bit.

When Rockler came out with the free Freud bits, PC ROS and the 7518 for $349 I said that is it and ordered it. The motor alone is $300, so for $50 I got 3 Freud router bits and a $100 sander.

That thing is big, makes the 1617 look like a trim router, I am going to have to watch that the shop doesn't start to sink on that side. Well maybe its not that big but it is big and heavy.

I will have to say that do to Jessem's design of the Master R Lift II switching the 2 routers was a snap, loosen the collar, remove 4 screws and move them to a new spot and install the 7518, tighten the collar and it was done, 5 min. max. Even with that big of a router it raises and lower just as smooth and easy as with the 1617.

I have not done very much cutting with it but what I have done it did really well, didn't even slow down a bit on some profiles I cut and I could feed the wood much faster then with the 1617.

I think I am going to like it....:D

[Rick Potter]

So, is this a stealth gloat, or what?

Rick Potter

[Bill Huber]

So, is this a stealth gloat, or what?

Rick Potter
No, it can't be a gloat, there is no pictures.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have several of those Bill, and I can't say enough good about them. I use them freehand and love the weight. That weight is like a stabilizer, and the 7" base is solid as a rock with the perfect handle position. If you look at the bottom bearing you can see why they last so long, its huge. The top bearing is about the size of the bottom on many routers.I have a couple of them over twenty years old, still running.

Larry

[Peter Quinn]

They make an out board motor attachment too, you just need a really long cord......:D I agree Bill, big router. I use mine hand held too, and frankly it's my wrists that need reinforcing not the floor. Of course my floor is a 6" thick concrete slab, so conditions will vary. It is amaziingly smooth and agile for such a large tool, and like Larry mentioned, that weight is a real asset when spinning a big cutter freehand.

[Bill Huber]

I have several of those Bill, and I can't say enough good about them. I use them freehand and love the weight. That weight is like a stabilizer, and the 7" base is solid as a rock with the perfect handle position. If you look at the bottom bearing you can see why they last so long, its huge. The top bearing is about the size of the bottom on many routers.I have a couple of them over twenty years old, still running.

Larry

I don't think I will be using it hand held, just to big for me and I don't know what I would be using something that big for hand held. Need an extra base?

[Bill Huber]

They make an out board motor attachment too, you just need a really long cord......:D I agree Bill, big router. I use mine hand held too, and frankly it's my wrists that need reinforcing not the floor. Of course my floor is a 6" thick concrete slab, so conditions will vary. It is amaziingly smooth and agile for such a large tool, and like Larry mentioned, that weight is a real asset when spinning a big cutter freehand.

I guess you could always put a generator in the boat with you......

I can see that the weight would help in using it hand held and I can see it would be very stable but I just don't think there is anything that I couldn't do with the Bosch.
It may be really good for doing those bowls from a template that you have to rout out so much wood.

[Mark Ashmeade]

Congrats, mine is on the way too. Although I didn't do the Rockler deal. It was $309 from Amazon, I get free shipping with Prime, so I went that route (!) and the aluminum Rockler router plate was $29 on special too. So I paid a bit less, got the plate I needed, the free sander (it's a P-C promotion, not Rockler) and didn't get the bits. I'm looking forward to it all arriving. No router lift for me yet, spent too much already recently!

[Phil Thien]

This has been something that interests me. My current router lift won't accomodate one, though. So I'd need a new router lift, and the motor, and I'd have to probably modify the router table, too.

May I ask, how TALL is it compared to the Bosch you had? I'm worried it won't fit in my shop-mad downdraft box.

[Leo Graywacz]

No, it can't be a gloat, there is no pictures.

Come on Bill, one of those many cameras has to be available to take at least a snapshot.

[Don Jarvie]

The 7518 is a great router. Iv'e had one for 17 years and always worked great.

Phil, you may want to see if you can by a kit for your router lift to accomidate the 7518.

[Jim O'Dell]

I've had my 7518 for about 7 or 8 years, don't remember. It is a hoss. Never a problem with it either. I got it on sale from Amazon when they had an extra 25 or 50 bucks off coupon for Father's Day. Seems the coupon brought id down to about 225.00 back then. Couldn't ask for a better router table motor. I've also got a 7529 plunge router. It's nice, but the plunge mechanism doesn't work well, and the electronic speed control bit the dust after about 4 hours of use. I've got it wired full speed, but don't use it much since I have the small Hitachi that came as a rebate with the slider. Jim.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congrats Bill! I will be ordering the motor in the near future. I am sitting at the computer ordering the hardware necessary to make Norm's router table. I want that PC 75-18 motor to add to the Woodpecker PRL-V2 lift I bought at Woodcraft earlier this week.

[Larry Edgerton]

Need an extra base?

Hang on to it Bill. If you need to say do a 1" roundover on an edge you will be amazed how smooth it is once it is in the cut. Seems like a beast until you are doing what it is meant for. Nothing swings a big bit like the big PC's. I have a custom that is 5" and it does just fine.

Its kind of like the pinstriper we had around here call "Shaky Pete". His hands had tremors until the brush touched the truck, then smooth as silk.

Call it the Mell Tillis of routers.......

Larry

[Bill Huber]

This has been something that interests me. My current router lift won't accomodate one, though. So I'd need a new router lift, and the motor, and I'd have to probably modify the router table, too.

May I ask, how TALL is it compared to the Bosch you had? I'm worried it won't fit in my shop-mad downdraft box.

Here are the 2 side by side, the PC and the Bosch.

238896

Here is the PC mounted in the Master R lift II

238897

My table top to the bottom of my cabinet is 15", with the router mounted for above the table bit removal, when I lower the router all the way down (3") I still have 2 3/8" under the router.

[Bill Huber]

Hang on to it Bill. If you need to say do a 1" roundover on an edge you will be amazed how smooth it is once it is in the cut. Seems like a beast until you are doing what it is meant for. Nothing swings a big bit like the big PC's. I have a custom that is 5" and it does just fine.

Its kind of like the pinstriper we had around here call "Shaky Pete". His hands had tremors until the brush touched the truck, then smooth as silk.

Call it the Mell Tillis of routers.......

Larry

We will see, if I don't use it in 6 months I may be sending you a PM.

[Bill Huber]

Congrats Bill! I will be ordering the motor in the near future. I am sitting at the computer ordering the hardware necessary to make Norm's router table. I want that PC 75-18 motor to add to the Woodpecker PRL-V2 lift I bought at Woodcraft earlier this week.

I hope that spring assist is a big spring.....;)

[Phil Thien]

Thanks for the measurements, Bill.

Boy, that thing IS a beast.

[Jim Andrew]

I was going to advise you how to beef up the floor.

[Don Morris]

It may be a beast, but I liken mine to being bullet proof.

[Matt McColley]

After burning out a hand-me-down router atempting to rout large mortices for a timber frame build, I picked up the plunge router version of the PC-7518 (the PC 7538) and is has never let me down in 15+ years.... plenty of power... but the soft start and variable speed harness that power very well.

I've had it mounted in a Rockler router table for that last 10 years.... where the extra weight has only proven to be an asset.

I think you'll be very happy with your choice.