Table only router. Nice idea. Big $$$

[Greg Muller]

I've been wondering when this idea would spawn.

http://www.amazon.com/Jessem-Router-Powered-Milwaukee-Table/dp/B000II57DY/ref=pd_ys_home_pop_title?ie=UTF8&coliid=I39CATS2NL6IFY&colid=28AV68VUFQQEC&pf_rd_p=258371701&pf_rd_s=top-3&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=home&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1HERK5N46FVNKEPPDZ3V

But it sure seems expensive for being a table-only setup... I imagine if this sells, then a few more manufacturers will start to make them and the prices will get more friendly.

Anyone seen one before?

Greg

[Norman Pyles]

That price is crazy.

[Randal Stevenson]

That went on sale last time on Amazon, and I am not sure if they were the seller, but I have read a few people are still waiting on delivery (bought for quite abit less).

[Brad Shipton]

Jessem makes very good quality items. I have not owned any of their router access, but did have their Mitre Excel and it was very well built and accurate. They were a Canadian company, but have since moved to the US.

Brad

[Lance Norris]

Might as well spend a few bucks more and get a shaper and a router collet. Especially if you buy that table Amazon suggests, just below the router motor.

[Dave Novak]

Priced right, I think selling routers that way is a fantastic idea. My router table router is very different than my handheld, I would never consider using one router for both. When you buy your table mount router, you have to buy stuff you don't need, like the base, and don't have any elegant solution to powering it on and off and adjusting the router speed without getting on your hands and knees. A strong router body with all controls located on a switch board mouted 18 inches or so away on the face of the table is such a good idea it's hard to believe it hasn't been in manufacture for years.

[glenn bradley]

I have the 5625. Got it on sale at Amazon for about $220 IIRC. Use a Steel City paddle switch and the VS adjustment is easily reached as it is on the motor endcap. Oh, and I get the base, wrenches and extra knobs (round or D-ring) as well. That is one expensive VS and power control, eh?

[Greg Muller]

I really, REALLY like this idea!

My current table-dedicated router has never been out of the table in 7 years, but needs to be upgraded soon.

If that price comes down a ways (read: by half), or Porter-Cable decides to join the fray, I will be getting one.

Maybe someone at Freud will get on this bandwagon...They make real nice stuff!!! :D:D

Greg

[Matthew Voss]

Subtle...nice...

[Anthony Whitesell]

Want it local

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=20124

Same price. Sorry, but it's been around for atleast 2 years, that's how long ago I started spec-ing parts for my table.

[Peter Quinn]

Honestly, if I spent $1400 on a router table I would feel like a dufiss. Thats $1400 worth of wood I could not then afford. PC sells just the motor for their 3 1/2hp, no evs, a bit cheaper. I ave been punishing an old pre home cheepo 3 1/4hp Ryobi plunge in a Jessum lift (I was given the router by an older retired cabinetmaker) for 5-6yrs. I am still able to bend over far enough to adjust that speed dial. Guess he retired when he couldn't?

Has anybody ever raised panels or made moldings on a power fed shaper then been tempted to raise another panel on a router? Me and my cheap used old delta will challange any table mounted router to a panel-off any day, and that crazy thing costs more. The best table I have seen was a piece of garden variety Melamine with two poplar stringers screwed under it, an old PC fixed base screwed to it, a jointed 2X4 clamped on as a fence, the whole thing clamped to a 50gal steel drum. Seemed crazy till I realized it was both adequit for most tasks and very accurate. Wish I had a picture.

[Homer Faucett]

Honestly, if I spent $1400 on a router table I would feel like a dufiss. Thats $1400 worth of wood I could not then afford. PC sells just the motor for their 3 1/2hp, no evs, a bit cheaper. I ave been punishing an old pre home cheepo 3 1/4hp Ryobi plunge in a Jessum lift (I was given the router by an older retired cabinetmaker) for 5-6yrs. I am still able to bend over far enough to adjust that speed dial. Guess he retired when he couldn't?

Has anybody ever raised panels or made moldings on a power fed shaper then been tempted to raise another panel on a router? Me and my cheap used old delta will challange any table mounted router to a panel-off any day, and that crazy thing costs more. The best table I have seen was a piece of garden variety Melamine with two poplar stringers screwed under it, an old PC fixed base screwed to it, a jointed 2X4 clamped on as a fence, the whole thing clamped to a 50gal steel drum. Seemed crazy till I realized it was both adequit for most tasks and very accurate. Wish I had a picture.


I'm with you, and I have the same router in my router table (ryobi 3.25 hp . . . no Jessem), and it works just fine. If I need something more, it will be a used 3hp shaper. The cost of my Ryobi , a spare Ryobi, 2 aluminum plates, and a table top and fence was about half what this motor alone runs. It works great, and I've even made rail and style doors on it with no problems.

[John Schreiber]

Nice idea for the tool, but that price is way out of line.

[Peter Quinn]

I'll tell you Homer, I got a new bosch 1619 to replace the ryobi for fathers day last year, but I'm not pulling that ryobi from the table till it stops spinning, and at this rate that may be never! Love the shaper. Used to defend my router table like it was my mother's honor, till the day I used my first shaper. Quite a revelation. Started stalking Craig's list/woodweb/ebay till I found one I could afford (2 years!). Mine was 14yrs old, still had the cosmoline on the table and the plastic wrap on the cabinet! Basically brand new. Still love my router table, just don't take it to bed with me any more.

[Homer Faucett]

That shaper sounds like quite a score! I almost got one this year on craigslist (a NICE PM shaper for a song), but was too slow in checking craigslist that day. Whoever got it, stole it . . . it looked brand new. I love the Ryobi's for a table router . . . cheap to buy, and built like a tank. For me, it's about the result, not necessarily how good the tool looks, and this definitely fits in that category. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't get the fascination with the expensive router lifts and routers. They look impressive, but what do they accomplish that the Ryobi in a router table won't?


I'll tell you Homer, I got a new bosch 1619 to replace the ryobi for fathers day last year, but I'm not pulling that ryobi from the table till it stops spinning, and at this rate that may be never! Love the shaper. Used to defend my router table like it was my mother's honor, till the day I used my first shaper. Quite a revelation. Started stalking Craig's list/woodweb/ebay till I found one I could afford (2 years!). Mine was 14yrs old, still had the cosmoline on the table and the plastic wrap on the cabinet! Basically brand new. Still love my router table, just don't take it to bed with me any more.

[Greg Muller]

Guys, you are preaching to the choir, here.

Like I said, my old Craftsman router (given as a gift to me 7+ years ago) is in need of an upgrade since it only handles 1/4" bits. I have been working it to the point that it has developed a squeal and smells of burning plastic. I haven't removed it from the table in forever. Really. I want/need a decent table router, but don't like to blow money on a tool that doesn't need replacing yet. I'd rather buy wood.

My original point was that this configuration is a great idea if the price would come down a ways. I don't see why this can't be made for less money than a plunge or even a fixed base router since it is just the motor, switch and speed control. In order for that to occur, there has to be demand and competition needs to grow.

Greg

[Peter Quinn]

Hey Greg, I went through a period when first setting up my shop where I was caught up in router table mania. I was like a gambling addict at a casino, ready to bet it all on my router regardless of logic. I had plans to spend big and win! My part time experience in a cabinet shop short circuited that. I guess I feel some of these companies have looked at the market and provided solutions to take as much of your money as possible. $1400 on a router table only setup? And what will it get you?

Reading Mark Dugineski's books was another revalation. This guy makes beautiful things and does precise work using good machines, plywood fences, and paper shims. No acre of gleaming CNC aluminum.

I'm not a shaper snob believe me. The cutter prices are wicked, the learning curve is steep and dangerous, and they are heavy! Routers are versitile highly capable tools. Shapers can't do every thing routers can so I need both. Seems to me though that all the things these expensive 3 1/4hp table top adjusting "highly precise" setups offer are better done on a true shaper. Tough call.

So I kept my router table simple, flexible and precise. I love the big PC and Milwakee routers, but an over grown vacuum cleaner just can't shape wood like a 220V induction motor. And being a cheap cynical Connecticut yankee, when I see a company offering less goods for more money I gotta point it out. Glad someone pointed it out to me. All in good fun.

I understood your point...nice tool a bit over priced. My point is the whole concept is flawed. At some point the hobby becomes about the gear, not what it does. I am a recovering tool junkie trying to keep it simple. That's why I'm saving for a Felder tilting arbor power raised digital shaper! LOL

[Greg Muller]

I understand Peter,

I haven't yet paid full price for a WW tool, and I doubt I ever will. I don't even have a dedicated table, just a hole at the end of my 52" TS fence with the Jessem Router lift in it. I paid $40 for the lift from a guy who decided he wanted one with a digital readout instead.

I'm even thinking about getting a recon router for 1/3rd the price of a new one.

I'm a cheapskate who wants my finished piece of furniture to look expensive, but my tools and shop needn't be.

Here's my big spending so far:

Powermatic 54A jointer -------------------$300
Jet tablesaw w/52" Bies-type fence------- $600
Dewalt 735 planer, used but in great shape-$220
Delta 50-850 dust collector----------------$150

That's about the size of it...I have some planes that cost $100+, but they will outlast anything I have with a tail...


Greg

[Peter Quinn]

Her's my list:

Dewalt GR 14" 24" crosscut RAS.....free plus 200 gallons of WD40 to make it go.

PM66 5' Rails, jessum lift in outboard table (my favorite setup)....traded left kidney.
delta dj20 jointer, dc-380 planer, 3HP HD shaper,...$1500 auction price plus more WD-40
PM 14" bs.....$499
Dust collector...$299
Ryobi router....free
Performax 22 Drum Sander pro package.....traded first born, still a little embarased about it, not sorry, just embarrased.
lie neilson planes....ouch
grampas planes....free, but each one came with a long speech about respect for old tools.

Time in my shop....priceless.

[Greg Muller]

Performax 22 Drum Sander pro package.....traded first born, still a little embarased about it, not sorry, just embarrased.

:D:D:D:D



Seriously, where did you make that trade? Does Performax have a standard rate for first-borns? What is the rate for seconds or thirds???
:rolleyes:


Greg

[Gary Herrmann]

I ordered that Jessem router during the 45% off sale at Amazon. They cancelled the order, so I can't tell you if its worth it, but during the sale it seemed like a good idea.

[Peter Quinn]

Why would they cancel the order? Wonder if teh marketing department was fishing, trying to find the appropriate market price. Did they give you a reason?

[Gary Herrmann]

Ordered it in late Sept. They kept postponing the ship date, then they finally said they could no longer get the item in January. I ordered it through Amazon (not a sub). They told me this all the while the router was being sold by another vendor through Amazon at the same time. Wasn't terribly happy about the whole thing.

[Peter Quinn]

Actually bought the performax in a moment of tool dilerium...big sale on amazon..pushed the button before I knew what happened...thing shows up 5 days later...trying to explain it to my wife. Bill of lading stated 260#, got one friend to come over to move it into my cave (basement shop)...actual weight was over 500#...told my wife "Honey its a great deal at only $4/pound, cheaper than chicken!" That was my first and last impulse tool purchase..the 12 step program is working. I had to quit watching DJ Marks woodworks too cause I was getting ready to bid on a 16" Northfield Jointer!

[Paul Kinneberg]

I was looking at it for a new router table I am just finishing up but the reviews havn't been the best and with that price I decided to stick with my PC 7518 but it sure would be nice to have the speed control out in the open.