How to pick out the router with the best bearings

[george wilson]

Aside from other features you might like in a router,you can determine which router,even among the same other routers has the best bearings,if you are allowed to start them in the store.

Turn the router on and turn it off. Listen carefully just as the router is coming to a stop. The better router will have the smoothest stop,with less,or no little rattling noise in the bearings as it comes to a stop. In picking out the best router for a carving duplicator,I noticed a difference even between 2 1619 Bosch routers. By comparison,Porter Cable routers were very rattly when stopping.

Now,as a machinist,I must warn you that a high speed motor,such as the motor on a tool post grinder,similar to a router,but with higher quality bearings,should be run for 1/2 hour before grinding with it,to reduce,or eliminate harmonic undulations in the surface you are grinding. It gets everything up to operating temperature,and those SLIGHT differences in bearing tolerances do matter in precision surfacing of metal. But,for wood working,the simple test I described is o.k.. You don't need to be so picky for woodworking.

OOPS: wrong forum. Can this be moved to the power tool section? Sorry.

[Andrew Joiner]

Thanks George,
I did a similar test when I bought a circular saw for the panel saw I built. I did not go by sound,but felt for play by shaking the blade with my fingertips. The cheaper saws have a lot of wobble when you shake the blade sideways. At the time the Porter Cable saw had the least play of the saws I tested.

[Paul Grothouse]

We brutalize routers in our shop, we buy a new router at least every few months. Here is our list of Toughest routers, toughest to least tough:

Festool OF2200 (stand behind product, will rebuild for up to 5 years)
Milwaukee 5625-20 (awesome router, tough as nails, no plunge though, stand behind routers very well)
Dewalt DW625 (Great router, easy to use, bearings fail within 4 months, warranty rebuilds are terrible, better to redo on your own)
Porter Cable, even the big one are the worst.
Haven't tested Bosch yet.

my 2 cents.

[george wilson]

I haven't tested a Mlwaukee yet,but my journeyman Jon bought a very expensive gunstock carving duplicator. It came with a Milwaukee router,so they must be good. However,Milwaukee has now gone Asian,so I HOPE the are still the same quality. IF they are paying the manufacturer PROPERLY,I don't see why it couldn't be as good. If they are milking the product for profits,then it's lost.

I wanted a router that was reasonably light for my duplicator(which still isn't finished). I have found that if I adjust the speed control just a little below top speed,it makes a LOT less noise,and I like that,too. I don't see why routers need to run as fast as they do,unless using teeny bits.

P.S.,the blade in my old Delta Unisaw from the 50's was easy to shake sideways. I changed the bearings,and it did NO good at all. The design,with the 2 bearings quite close together,was the problem. Wonder if they ever changed that? I don't have that problem with my 1964 Dewalt/Clausing table saw I bought new. A much better made saw. It couldn't compete with Delta's advertising money.

[Jeff Duncan]

First off, I was a little amused at using the term 'precision' alongside router. I find a router to be a great and handy tool for many things, I just would never consider it a precision tool. Having said that I don't worry about the bearings too much, I buy mostly Porter Cable 690's. I find them to be simple sturdy machines that get the job done all day long. I also like having multiples of the same router so I can swap motors in and out during a job. I'm working on wood top for a curved cabinet right now that has several profiles that need to be routed. Without breaking down my setup I simply swap routers with different bits in and out as I go.

I have one Milwaukee router in the arsenal and although it doesn't get much play, it's a good solid unit.

I wouldn't worry too much about slowing the speed down either, that whole topic is way over blown IMHO. I run larger router bits on one of my shapers all the time, and contrary to a lot of what you read on forums they work just fine. Sure running a 1/8" round over would be a bit much, but for say 1/2" and bigger profiles they work fine even below 10k rpm's. Heck the shaper I'm using them on is probably only around 6-8k!

good luck,
JeffD

[george wilson]

Jeff,I did not use the word precision about the router,did I ? I mentioned the toolpost grinder in conjunction with precision surfaces on metal,but mentioned that they have better bearings. Better balanced,too.What's your beef? Actually,I also mentioned that you don't need to be so picky for woodworking. But,I'm not using the inferior-to-Bosch Porter Cables any more.

For use in a carving duplicator,you might be surprised at the tolerances that can be achieved with a good router guided by the pantograph arms. With his Dakota gunstock duplicator,my journeyman Jon gets about .001"-.002" inletting tolerances. I think that is reasonable precision.

And,I do find that not quite running the Bosch at top speed does help the screaming by a good noticeable amount.

It is well to read the postings correctly before finding fault with what was not written,don't you think?

[Jeff Duncan]

Wow, didn't mean to get you all riled up, jeez, a little sensitive aren't we? I was simply replying to your thread, I mean I didn't kick your dog or anything???

Anyway I apologize if my thread seamed to be a "beef???" but it's just another reply, nothing more. And I was simply commenting on how you had router bearings and precision grinding in the same thread, yes I did read it. Had I know you would be so thin skinned I guess I would have moved right along without commenting. That's how these forums go so please accept my apology for this one. Having said that if your going to keep posting online, you may want to start growing a little thicker skin?

good luck,
JeffD

[george wilson]

Jeff,I appreciate your apology. But,you might want to choose your words more carefully,before you insinuate that a person's post is so silly that it amuses you. And I don't mean that to sound harsh. There was nothing untrue in my statements.

A router is a tool that can be used freehand,but it can also be template guided,or pantograph guided,and can be as accurate as any other tool.

Besides the fact that I did not use the term precision in reference to the router,anyway.

My response to your post was not meant to sound harsh either. I guess I meed a "spoken in a moderate voice" symbol,or something. With over 6000 posts,I suppose I will continue to post.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have over twenty PC 690's and 100's, and I was told that there is a Bosch router motor that will fit in the PC 3 1/2" base. I too have noticed the quality of PC's going down hill, but I have a zillion parts, jigs, chucks and so forth for PC's and don't want to change the base. Motor I don't care.

Has anyone tried to fit a Bosch router in a 690 base?

Larry

[Larry Edgerton]

Now I know when I go to buy a new router and the boxes are all pawed through that George was there ahead of me....

Larry

[george wilson]

Do't worry Larry,I bought the Bosch some time ago!!

[Jeff Duncan]

Hey George no problem, I was tired last night and your post did come off really harsh. I never meant to imply your post was silly or untrue. Frankly I don't have time to reply to silly posts, I usually only post when I feel I can offer something useful. I simply found the conversation going back and forth between high precision in a grinders bearings and a routers bearings to be funny, not the actual post.....if that makes sense.

Anyway I'm just wrapping up a job doing a circular cabinet complete with profiled wood shelves with a drip edge, (don't ask), a segmented and profiled solid mahogany circular top, and a significant pile of templates.....all to say I'm pretty familiar with using routers with guides, templates, etc and they are indeed quite handy when a project is too big for the shaper....wow, that seems a bit ironic Though as much as I use them I can't truthfully call them precise. Just my opinion though YMMV.

good luck,

JeffD

[phil harold]

when testing the routers do we consider the brushes?
Brushes that are new vs brushes that have worn to fit of the armature.

[george wilson]

You need to be sure you are listening to the bearings. I have considered the brushes,though. Bearings sound different. Hope this makes sense.

Jeff,I am so full of pain meds I don't know what I sound like anyway.