I picked up my 7518 last year on eBay and got an unusually low price for it from someone who said it had been used in a church workshop. Sure enough, it was in pristine shape and has really upped my table's clout from the 690 I've used for years. I'd keep looking for used. Maybe there's a woodworker's club near you? People retire all the time...
I just viewed a video from Woodpeckers showing their new router which is similar to the 7518; same diameter as the PC unit with variable speed and precision machined collets and interchangeable adapters for various size shank bits. Looks promising.
I have a Bosch 2.25HP and I like it. I recently bought the Festool OF 2200. In both cases, the added cost is in all the attachments I have for plung, fixed, edge, etc. Thats why I'm looking for something that was more or less just a motor, and If I'm going to just by a motor, I might as well go with the 3+ HP.
I looked at that Bora quiet a bit but the bad reviews had the same issues, and I didn't want to deal with problems down the road. Same reason I didn't want to go with a no-name Chinese brand. The Bora was more expensive than the Milwaukee too. Seems like there may be some quality issues.
"Installed this router in a Woodpecker table. Within 30 minutes of use, it started dropping power for a second or so, then start back up. Under load, it would do that every 5 to 30 seconds. I contacted support and they suggested that I take it apart and look for loose wires. There were no loose wires. Then they asked for a video of the router when it was failing. Having already removed it from the table, I set it up and let it run. With no load, it took about 80 seconds before it started failing. It did it three times in 2.5 minutes. I sent the video to them and 12 days later, no response. I wish I had read all the negative reviews before ordering this junk. I have owned it too long for Amazon to take it back. I'm going to replace it with a Milwaukee router and, if I ever get a PortAMate replacement, I'll sell it on eBay."
"What a P-O-S! I should’ve known better to
take the cheap route. This unit is extremely loud, it vibrates my entire cast iron table, and it has so much runout. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m so disappointed in my decision. I’m most likely going to throw it in the garbage. I already bought a Bosch 1617 and it rocks! No comparison! It’s really crappy that a company like this is putting inferior product on the market. There’s a reason why it’s cheap! Stay away like grim death!"
"I had a lot of issues with this router. had it mounted on a table. cable inside of it kept going loose because it vibrates quite a bit, and I had to open the top and tighten the connection. finally something shattered inside of the housing and plastic pieces went flying out of the housing."
"This router motor is complete, garbage, stay away. I used it for about 2 months without issues, then was using a patterning bit to shape a piece of (very soft) redwood. The bit grabbed, as happens occasionally when using a router, and took a chunk out of the redwood. Shouldn't be a big deal, this is normal operation for a table router. However, it spun the main bearing, destroying the router in the process. If a minor incident like that can destroy a router, I don't know how anyone could safely use something like a large panel raising bit."
"I purchased this router motor on another site; it stopped running after just one hour of light use. I assumed that was a one-off fluke, and was ready to order a new on from Amazon. However, I first read the reviews and came to the conclusion that it is simply an unreliable product. I've ordered the Porter-Cable router motor from Amazon instead; hopefully I'll have better luck than I did with the Portamate."
I'm thinking about switching to a spindle driven by a VFD. So much quieter and the speed control can be moved (VFD) can be easy to reach. The ER style collets offer more flexibility.
Brian Holcomb was looking at doing that. You'll want air cooled for this application, however, because of the inverted position as compared to a CNC machine where you can also opt for water cooled if you want. These spindles do generally use an ER collet which is a benefit, IMHO. Likely either ER-20 or ER-25, depending on the particular spindle, unless you opt for a "monster".
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Interesting, the SpinRight 3.25HP spindle seems like a much better deal if the quality is good. Same HP and $120 cheaper. Any thoughts?
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....er-table-motor
https://www.woodpeck.com/spinrite-router-motor.html
Derek, even though they use the "spindle" word for the Woodpecker's SpinRight, it's just a router motor with soft start. It just happens to use a standard collet system (ER-20) which is quite desirable, IMHO.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Yes, very new, but there's a "likelihood" that it's sourced from the same place(s) as other similar products based on the design of the plastic cover on the top, including name brand, similar motors. The one uniqueness seems to be the adoption of the standard collet system.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Triton 2.25HP Plunge Router. Removed spring before installing. Been using it for 14 years now, no problems.
Norman
Couldn't find the PC as they went out of production and ended up with the Milwaukee 5625 in my new Incra/Jessem lift. Absolutely no complaints, works like a champ.