On April 3, 2017 at 09:42, drewski300 said...
I recently picked up a Porter Cable 690 and like it a lot. As I'm new to the game, I didn't want to drop a crap ton of money on the best router. I picked up a 2nd fixed base as well as the plunge base. I affixed one of the bases to a custom drop-in leaf that fits into my extension on my table saw. The only thing I'm a little disappointed in is the difficulty to get the leaf to sit completely flush on all 4 sides of the table saw but it's still a work in progress. This is mainly due to the table saw not being completely level with the table fully extended. I also created a custom fence that attaches to the table saw fence. It works pretty slick!
If I can't overcome my leaf being perfectly flush, I may be investing in a dedicated router table with an adjustable router plate. When making our showroom bookcases/fireplace, I had some inconsistencies with my face frame because of the slightly tweaked plate. I just don't want to have one more thing/tool that I need to make room for. That's what you'll find with this hobby! There are tools for literally every aspect of woodworking and what guy doesn't like tools???
Even though our office kitchen/living room cabinets took a crap ton of hours, I guessed I saved roughly $30k as I got an estimate for the kitchen at $23k. The total investment with additional clamps/tools/etc. was only $5k. A labor value is not figured in that total.
Honestly, I wouldn't over think it. Pick up the recommended Bosch or the Porter Cable 690. Either way, enjoy the new hobby!
I'm redoing my fireplace and making book cases at my house. I used my dads old router table multi purpose thing but you find it takes far longer to adjust and set up Making face frames take forever to get right. The thing with this hobby is as you get more detailed and experienced the more precision you have to have. It's a very very expensive hobby to get into and a very slippery slope.
For my cabinets I'm doing a beaded face frame which requires a ton of precision and special jigs. I finally bit the bullet and am making a router table cabinet with a real table and router lift. Here is what I ordered. I justified it because I'm going to be making our kitchen cabinets as well and I LOVE the beaded face frame look. I can't wait to finish the setup. I'm looking forward to making my own moldings as well. I can't wait to have a real router set up! :)
Router Lift
[Link: jessem.com]Router Table
[Link: jessemdirect.com]Router Fence
[Link: jessemdirect.com]Router Miter Guage
[Link: jessemdirect.com]Motor
[Link: rockler.com]Beaded Faceframe kit
[Link: kregtool.com]
