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I am considering the Milwaukee 5615-24. It has 1.75HP / 11 amps. Of course I am not a production shop, just an amateur. This router has all the features of it's 2.25HP model and costs $70 less....
I definetley will be working with hardwoods such as maple. I am wondering if I will be wanting something more powerful or will this really suffice. I know no one can predict the type of work I will do in the future.
Thanks
I am in the same boat. what I do know is this "buy the absolute most you can" then six months from now you wont be saying I wished i had waited and bought the bigger one. I am a porter cable fan and was looking at a triton and was told the bearing in the pc are much harder, looked at a freud and it is tempting and is cheaper than the pc but I have to say that the porter cable tools i have now have held up great so I am going to go with at least a porter cable 892 but am going to try and see if i can round up the money for a 3 hp + model.
Enough for what? If you intend to raise panels, no, but some will say that the other one isn't either. But for 80-90% of hobby shop routing tasks, it's probably plenty. It sounds like, at this point, you don't have a router. If that's the case, this one is a good start. As you progress, you'll find that they multiply :eek:. I have seven now, and don't really use routers all that much. Got big ones, little ones, blue ones, gray ones.
Keep this in mind-for hand held routing tasks, lighter is often better. A 3+ hp router weighs a lot more than a 1-3/4 hp router. Balance and fatigue can be issues. The big PC works fine mounted in a table. I wouldn't want to hand hold one for any great length of time though.
Note the 1.75hp is not variable speed. Perhaps I'm spoiled but the router is one tool where I insist on VS. Without it I feel like I'm being forced to work at the tool's speed rather than the other way 'round.
Anthony,
The 2-1/4hp model has variable speed, this is more meaningful (to me) than any 'advertised' hp difference.
An 11 amp router is pretty powerful, but I like to slow certain bits down in maple, cherry.
Pete
*Wow, Tom beat me to it, just what he said.
Call me crazy, but I have three routers (more to come...) and each is for a specific purpose. I have a PC 1.75 HP for hand held round overs and such, a Dewalt 618 (2.25hp I think) for mortises and other similar jobs, and a Bosch 3.25 for in table use only. I have and always will purchase tools at the highest power rating possible depending on my budget. This is why I bought the 5HP Jet Deluxe Xacta table saw (instead of 3hp). If you can afford it, IMHO, it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. However, you have to be sure to weigh the weight and cost factor in. If it weighs 10 more pounds and you are most likely to hand route, get the lower HP one or look for a lighter one. If it weighs a pound more, then hey, get it!
2.25 HP seems to me to be the middle of the road, able to do most operations. Milwaukee is one of those router lines that you can almost always find on sale. Perhaps if you do not need it now you can wait for a sale.
J
I have just the 5615 fixed base version. It will do anything you want except spin the large bits. As others have stated it wont raise panels, but you could use it for rails and styles, and profile cuts on the router table. Any other type of hand held rounting it really shines. I have a 2.25 bosch router kit and use that just for table use. I haven't taken it out of the table in the past year since I bought the milwaukee. I do raise panels with my bosch but it is hard on it. You really should have a 3hp router for that, but since I only raise a dozen or so a year I haven't bought the big router yet. Personally if you want to do a LITTLE of everything a 2.25 kit would serve you well, as it has in my case. If you dont plan on raising any panels or spinning any large bits any time soon that the 1.75 hp kit would serve you just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Willard
lol i forgot and assumed it was for a router table... we know what assume means right...lol
How well does the self-releasing collet work on that router? Any issues getting bits out?Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Ryan
Thanks
State of the art in collets; probably the best there is for 110VAC routers.
I will be using it in a table. Budget permits only one router for now.
Thanks
I'm no router expert. But I think the strength of this router is in handheld work. I'm sure you could use it in a table, but 1.75 is a little undergunned for most table work.
That having been said, I like mine and use it handheld all the time. Keep an eye on amazon as their price for it goes up and down. I see that it's currently at $130ish and that's a good $30 higher than I paid. But you never can tell with Amazon prices. Sometimes they never drop back down again.