Multi-Router Capabilities
One of its strengths is that it uses a stylus to trace an aluminum template. The templates come in many shapes and forms. There's one for box joints, for instance, some for round tenons (for chair making, for example), and regular tenons. If I'm not mistaken, there are templates for dovetails (I don't have any of those). Plus, you can make your own templates if you want. This template bolts on below the table, and the stylus tracks the pattern of the template. All the operator does is move the x-y handles, which allows a plunge, as well as lateral motion.
If you're going to make two mortises and two tenons for a project, I'm sure a lot of other tools can compare. But set up a Multi-Router with the air clamp kit, and you can cut a tenon (including slapping it on the table, clamping it down, cutting it, and removing it) in 10-12 seconds, and it cuts every one the same with no variation. Like I said before, it's a versatile machine for all kinds of operations, but it excels when you've got -- say... 50 identical M&T joints to cut. In that scenario, it's a real workhorse.
The box joints I cut on my MR are the tightest -- and not tight in the sense that you have to force-fit them, just that they fit perfectly -- I've ever seen. The M&Ts are the same. I've never cut dovetails on my machine -- so I can't say.
You can also angle the table, which allows for some more versatility.
Hey... the MR's not for everyone -- it's pricey. I didn't "need" one... just wanted it and had the money at the time. I don't doubt that there are other options (shop-built things, the Leight FMT) that will do many of the same tasks. But the MR's a lifetime machine that does one heck of a job, and does it safely.
It's way more than a slot-cutting/tenon making machine, and I guess it's up to the individual to decide what their intended use for such a gizmo would be.
Didn't mean to be so long-winded...
Jeff Smith
Athens, AL