How long to live without a router?

[Ashley Johnson]

(New member, first post.)

After almost 3 decades away from woodworking, I'm slowly building a garage shop as projects require new tools. I've never owned a router, but the temptation is growing. I have a Rigid R4512 table saw but no dado blade yet, a shopvac, circular saw, drill, random orbit sander, basic hand tools, etc.

Current project involves lengthwise rabbets in 6' lengths of 2x material... and dados that I'll make with repeated cuts on the sled on my table saw.
Next project to complete is face frames and drawers for three low cabinets that are 15" high, 60" wide, and 20" deep.

The drawers I haven't built yet are begging for box joints with either a dado blade or router table. Is it necessary or tool envy.
The current project would benefit from either tool, though neither is absolutely essential.
The face frames I haven't built yet are begging for a router and round over bit.
And I keep seeing jigs with routed slots.

I'm tempted to buy a router and build a router table extension wing for the R4512.
But a dado blade is cheaper. But a router is more versatile. But the dado blade doesn't launch a whole new area of spending on router bits.
I have the money for either. I simply have way too options to spend it on!

How long could you live without a router? Would you buy a dado blade first?
Does the choice of which router alter this decision?
(No, I can't justify festool budget.)

Thanks in advance!
Ashley

[Mike McGrath]

Ashley, you don't need to spend a ton of money to get a good router. Combo kits give you a fixed base for table mounted routing and a plunge base for free hand work. You can do a lot more with a router than with a dado blade. You can expand your routing by building your own table for less than $100. You can make a simple but highly effective dust collection fence like the one shown to keep the mess to a minimum. Storing your bits and accessories right where you need them makes life easier.
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[Jim German]

You can do alot with a router that there really isn't any other way to do. (ignoring very specialty hand tools like a molding plane)

Dados can be made easily enough on a table saw just by moving the fence.

I've got 4 different routers, and still wouldn't mind another couple.

[Ashley Johnson]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?

[Brian Holcombe]

I've used a router twice this past year, you can do without it, in fact most joinery planes do a much nicer job than corresponding router bits.

[Matt Day]

I have 4 routers too. 2 Bosch 1617's with plunge and fixed based, one 3hp hitachi for the table, and a Bosch colt trim router. Many have more routers than me, as it very nice to have a router setup for a specialized bit.

A router opens you up to many more ways of performing certain tasks. I think a router with plunge is essential for any woodshop, except Neanderthals of course.

[Randy Red Bemont]

You ask how long to live without a router. I say less than a day. I use a router on most if not all my furniture projects. It's just one of those great little power tools to have in the shop. So I would say yes, get one. I have one of the bigger DeWalts and love it.

Red

[Von Bickley]

I would get a router combo set first, and then start saving for a dado set.

[glenn bradley]

The router is my preferred method of cutting dados. Especially for any sheet goods. They are rarely flat and trying to get them to ride over a table saw surface and result in a consistent depth dado is nearly impossible. For short, crosscut dados, a stack is great but for greater value and versatility I'll take a router any day.

Sage words of advice I didn't pay attention to until my third router; "if you're only going to get one, make it a plunge". With the improvement in combos I would modify this saying to end with "make it a combo".

As to numbers in the stable; a half dozen or so. I lean toward Milwaukees since the motors and bases are interchangeable. I have fixed and plunge babses for different functions. If I am doing something awkward or a lot of it, I pop in a small motor. If I need more oomph or variable speed, I pop in a larger motor. The exception is the 5625 of which one is in the table and one is on a large plate for surfacing.

[Frederick Skelly]

It depends on what you want to build. I don't do fancy profiles on my table tops - I bevel or chamfer them. So I very seldom use my electric router.

But if you're interested in using the router for grooves and dados, you can kill two birds with one stone and buy the router.

[Eric Schmid]

I would not be without a router. I use at least 2 on most of my projects. The dado set sits sadly on the shelf most days. A router is so much more versatile than a dado set, so I'd part with that before any of my routers.

A kit with a plunge and fixed base is a good way to start. Bosch 1617EVS is a good router. It is nice to be able to swap the motor between a table and plunge when you have only one. An edge guide and template bushing set are indispensable accessories to start with.

[Dave Cav]

I think I have at least 12 routers, and I don't particularly like routers. They're noisy, the last jig you built is lost or doesn't work any more, and you never seem to have the right two wrenches you need.

Four of my routers are set up for dovetail work exclusively (two old Craftsman 1/4" models and 2 PC 690s), a couple are trim routers, I have an older PC 7519 in the router table, and it's retired uncle on the shelf as a backup, and a few odds and ends. I really like PC 690s because they are simple and pretty bullet proof, and you can get a number of different bases for them. I don't know about the quality of the newer ones, though. It seems like I usually use the router table on just about every project for something or other, but I don't go crazy with panel raising or door making. That's what shapers are for.

As far as dado stacks are concerned, well, every shop needs at least one set, but an either/or thing (dado vs router) is apples and oranges. Really no comparison. But then again, I think every shop needs a big old cast iron RAS, too.

[George Werner]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?


One in the table, one fixed base freehand, one plunge base freehand, and a small "laminate trimmer" style. Very easy to justify 4 routers.

[Ian Moone]

Live dangerously!

Buy both!

He who dies with the most tools wins!

[Curt Harms]

One in the table, one fixed base freehand, one plunge base freehand, and a small "laminate trimmer" style. Very easy to justify 4 routers.

That's what I have too. Start with a combo kit (fixed base/plunge).

[Rod Sheridan]

Ashley, welcome to Sawmill Creek.

How long without a router, well 40 years for me and counting.

I would get much more use out of a dado blade than a router.

I owned a box joint blade set from Freud if I remember correctly, it was great as it made flat bottomed cuts with no "bat ears" when making box joints............Rod.

[Bill Ryall]

How long? Hmmm..... I have 9 (?) in the stable currently, and will be getting another one to dedicate to a slab flattening jig this weekend. Personally I hate the **** things, but they are often the quickest, easiest way to get an operation done.

I do a lot of production work, so I often have them pre-set for various operations- 2 router tables, one with nothing but laminate trimming, the one that will be a slab flattening jig, etc.

[roger wiegand]

Many folks go decades or their entire lives without one and do way better work than I do. I have two bigger ones and a micro-router for inlay work and use them with moderate regularity, much less now that I have a shaper, a really good dado set, and mortising machine.

[Peter Quinn]

My dado set cost more than my first router, and I use the router a lot more.

[Mike Schuch]

Why not buy a decent used router off of Craigslist? I have routers that sell for over $300... but my favorites are my ancient Stanley routers which I paid around $20 each.

Router manufactures spend a lot of money trying to convince woodworkers that all the little add on bells and whistles are necessities to get the job done but in reality any good basic used router will do what you need. When it comes to choosing a used router there are some really good solid Craftsman routers and some Craftsman routers that are junk. Be careful when choosing a Craftsman router and do a little research on the good vs bad models. Most other brands I have seen are pretty solid routers that do a good job. IF you stick with one of the major brands; Porter Cable, Bosch, Dewalt, Makita, etc. it is hard to go wrong. Just run the router for a few seconds, if it sounds bad it probably has bad bearings what would need to be replaced.

When it comes to dado blades I have a nice Freud 8" set and a really nice Amana 12" set. When my gf wanted to make some planters out of the cedar we pulled off her deck there was no way I was going to use my pricey dados! I bought a cheap Harbor Freight 8" dado set to use on her table saw (my fathers old rockwell contractors table saw) and I was amazed with the results the cheap HF set produced! I love fine precision tools... but some times cheap ones will be just as effective at getting the job done.

[pat warner]

Have used routers. Wrote a couple of books about them.
Advocate their use, even in the face of the hard ads ridiculousness.
Like: Make anything with one, drill holes, plane large surfaces, make frame and panel doors with 3.75" D cutters, make windows, and other architectural apps (hand rails, entry doors, crown molding, roundover bar tops etc.).
But, in my view, they're way over sold. When the router makes good economic and practical sense use it don't shun it.
It has its place. Short run, cutters <1.5" long or wide, modest joinery, decoration, some light milling, trimming. Anything bigger consider the Shaper, the tool for safe big cutter applications for medium to long runs.
How long can you go without one? As long as possible.
They have their place, however, and it's hard to find out where that is.

[Rich Engelhardt]

How long eh?

Well, I bought a Craftsman 1.5 HP and it sat on the shelf unused for a good 15 years.
I also bought a Coleman 3 HP compressor on sale for $99 that sat for a dozen years before I used it & also a Craftsman 18 ga brad nailer that I didn't use for a decade or longer.

Now I have four or five routers, a combo set, a few Dremels, a RotoZip - along with 4 compressors and a bunch of nail guns.

I'd be lost w/out any of them since they all get used very often.

[Erik Christensen]

I have 3 routers and 2 dado sets. I can't remember the last time I used a dado set but one or more routers are used on pretty much every project.

[Mark Blatter]

There was a thread a year or two back that asked how many routes people had. Many that responded had 3-5, but 8-10 was not uncommon. I can easily justify 5 or 6, though I have more than that.

Routers are simply useful tools, but you can find ways to do the same work with other tools for the most part.

[Jim Dwight]

How long to live without a router - not one more day! Actually I often buy off Amazon and get 2 day delivery so maybe a couple more days. There is no reason to avoid routers. They are noisy but otherwise are fine to use. I made a kitchen full of oak raised panel doors with mine. I've also made lots of flat panel doors. In the house I built a kitchen for, I made crown moulding for the living room and dining room with my routers. I wouldn't do that again - I have enough money to buy the moulding and it took a ton of time to make it - but it's fully possible. But I would do kitchen doors again, they're pretty easy. Lots of furniture needs a cove cut or an edge on the top. A plunge router will make nice mortises. They are a very versatile tool that is an important part of my shop.

I have the motor from an old Ryobi R-500 in my router table. I have another router table setup in the extension wing of my table saw with a fixed base attached for one of my PC690s (I have two with 4 bases). I also use a Bosch Colt some. I have a couple junk routers too and I don't use them unless it's for an operation I don't want to use one of my good routers for. So I have 6 but I really use 4 the vast majority of the time. A combo kit with a mid-sized router is a very good way to start. Ending there is no crime but many of us didn't. The Bosch 1617s seem to be low in price to me right now. Many of my tools where rebuilts. I've had good luck with them. Last I looked you could get the Bosch kit for a little over $200 in a rebuilt. That seems like a great deal to me. When I bought my PC690s they were the better deal.

[John Donhowe]

Ashley- I'll jump on the bandwagon with other posters, and suggest you get a router before getting a dado blade. I'd also recommend getting a combo kit (fixed and plunge bases). Definitely get a router with both 1/4" and 1/2" collets. Other features to consider include soft start and variable speed (esp. nice with larger bits), bit depth adjustment mechanism, dust collection capability, and "nice touches", such as a built in light. Personally, for bit depth adjustment, I prefer a vertical screw (e.g. Bosch) over traditional twisting the motor body within the base (e.g. Porter Cable, old Craftsman).

I've not found Craigslist to be a good source for routers- most listed in my area seem to be either old hobbyist (1/4" collet only) routers (mostly C'man), with no additional features, or else bigger routers that have seen a lot of hard use. I don't think the price differential against new justifies going with a used router. Instead, I'd consider a refurbished router from someplace like CPO Outlets.

I think the best value these days is the Craftsman 27683 combination kit, which on sale can be found for close to $100. It seems to be either made by the same mfr. as Bosch (without wood handles!), or a close knock-off). It has both fixed and plunge bases, variable speed, and soft start. Pricing at Sears is often quirky, so the similar, but more powerful 27680 is frequently cheaper!?

For a step up in name brand and quality, a lot of people like Porter Cable, but I don't see anything particularly special about PC routers. I have a Milwaukee 5615 combo kit. I particularly like the hand grip, which gives great control, and terrific depth control adjustment. It's not soft start or

[Brian Holcombe]

I'll make another argument. When you use a joinery plane you would normally clamp the piece to a flat reference table, so when you are cutting the groove the joinery will be made flat. It's likely a good shaper does this automatically, but most hobby-shop level router tables are not capable of doing so.

[Julie Moriarty]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?

I have four, one table mounted, one plunge hand-held, one mini-router (Bosch Colt) and one that sits in a drawer collecting dust. There's my justification for 4 routers. :rolleyes:

[Mike McGrath]

There are always alternative methods for most woodworking and no wrong way to go about it as long as you keep safety in mind. Routers can do so much more than cut a decorative edge or make a dado cut. When combined with jigs they allow you to do just about anything. Need to surface or joint a board? Box joints, dovetails, bowls & trays, boxes? Cut spirals on a shaft, wavy rounded edges, round tenons, wheels, etc.. Most people do not take full advantage of their routers capabilities. Like any tool there is a learning curve with routers but most people can pick up the basics with just a couple short lessons.

[Ellery Becnel]

Personally, I try to incorporate using a router into every project that I make. As I add to my collection of tools, I try to use as many of them to constantly improve my woodworking skills. But my favorite is the router.

Ellery Becnel

[johnny means]

I find it impossible to get through a days work without several. IMO, the router is, for most, the tool that creates the most options for a woodworker. A router can take you from buiiding 1x12 cubes to building furniture. My quiver has grown since this picture was taken, but if the shop was on fire. I'd grab a combo kit on the way out the door and be ready to work the next day. The dado set could burn.

[Martin Wasner]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?


I've got probably close to twenty. Why? Because changing bits when you want/need a different profile takes time. My time is more valuable than the cost of another router.

[David Tolsky]

I have two routers, my beefy DeWalt Plunge pretty much stays as a router table router and my smaller Porter Cable gets used on my dovetail jig and everything else. I also have dados so I think it depends on the project. I'm just a hobby woodworker but I think if you're going to pursue the craft you should start experimenting with a router.

[Jim German]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?

One big one in the table, one little one for detail work, one usually stays setup with a roundover bit, and then my Festool one which I use for everything else.

I'd like another couple mostly because as others have said, changing bits takes time. Being able to leave a router setup and always ready to go is great. Lots of jobs take more than one router bit and its nice to have both routers setup in case you need to go back and do another piece.

[Pat Barry]

In my opinion, the router is best tool for profiling an edge. It is lesser importance for general purpose cabinet / furniture work but it is indispensable for some things such as template routing to make identical pieces with curved features. For you box joint problem I would go with what you got (tablesaw) and spend some time to make a jig. If you absolutely need square bottoms in cutouts then invest in a nice blade for your table saw that will cut a square bottom

[scott spencer]

A router would be my 2nd purchase behind a TS. YMMV.

[Brian Jarnell]

Worth a look in the 2nd hand market, I have bought two at give away price.

That seems a painless way to find out for yourself.