How long to live without a router?

[Ashley Johnson]

(New member, first post.)

After almost 3 decades away from woodworking, I'm slowly building a garage shop as projects require new tools. I've never owned a router, but the temptation is growing. I have a Rigid R4512 table saw but no dado blade yet, a shopvac, circular saw, drill, random orbit sander, basic hand tools, etc.

Current project involves lengthwise rabbets in 6' lengths of 2x material... and dados that I'll make with repeated cuts on the sled on my table saw.
Next project to complete is face frames and drawers for three low cabinets that are 15" high, 60" wide, and 20" deep.

The drawers I haven't built yet are begging for box joints with either a dado blade or router table. Is it necessary or tool envy.
The current project would benefit from either tool, though neither is absolutely essential.
The face frames I haven't built yet are begging for a router and round over bit.
And I keep seeing jigs with routed slots.

I'm tempted to buy a router and build a router table extension wing for the R4512.
But a dado blade is cheaper. But a router is more versatile. But the dado blade doesn't launch a whole new area of spending on router bits.
I have the money for either. I simply have way too options to spend it on!

How long could you live without a router? Would you buy a dado blade first?
Does the choice of which router alter this decision?
(No, I can't justify festool budget.)

Thanks in advance!
Ashley

[Mike McGrath]

Ashley, you don't need to spend a ton of money to get a good router. Combo kits give you a fixed base for table mounted routing and a plunge base for free hand work. You can do a lot more with a router than with a dado blade. You can expand your routing by building your own table for less than $100. You can make a simple but highly effective dust collection fence like the one shown to keep the mess to a minimum. Storing your bits and accessories right where you need them makes life easier.
Fence 002.JPGFence 001.JPGFence bottom.JPGTable Trays.JPG

[Jim German]

You can do alot with a router that there really isn't any other way to do. (ignoring very specialty hand tools like a molding plane)

Dados can be made easily enough on a table saw just by moving the fence.

I've got 4 different routers, and still wouldn't mind another couple.

[Ashley Johnson]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?

[Brian Holcombe]

I've used a router twice this past year, you can do without it, in fact most joinery planes do a much nicer job than corresponding router bits.

[Matt Day]

I have 4 routers too. 2 Bosch 1617's with plunge and fixed based, one 3hp hitachi for the table, and a Bosch colt trim router. Many have more routers than me, as it very nice to have a router setup for a specialized bit.

A router opens you up to many more ways of performing certain tasks. I think a router with plunge is essential for any woodshop, except Neanderthals of course.

[Randy Red Bemont]

You ask how long to live without a router. I say less than a day. I use a router on most if not all my furniture projects. It's just one of those great little power tools to have in the shop. So I would say yes, get one. I have one of the bigger DeWalts and love it.

Red

[Von Bickley]

I would get a router combo set first, and then start saving for a dado set.

[glenn bradley]

The router is my preferred method of cutting dados. Especially for any sheet goods. They are rarely flat and trying to get them to ride over a table saw surface and result in a consistent depth dado is nearly impossible. For short, crosscut dados, a stack is great but for greater value and versatility I'll take a router any day.

Sage words of advice I didn't pay attention to until my third router; "if you're only going to get one, make it a plunge". With the improvement in combos I would modify this saying to end with "make it a combo".

As to numbers in the stable; a half dozen or so. I lean toward Milwaukees since the motors and bases are interchangeable. I have fixed and plunge babses for different functions. If I am doing something awkward or a lot of it, I pop in a small motor. If I need more oomph or variable speed, I pop in a larger motor. The exception is the 5625 of which one is in the table and one is on a large plate for surfacing.

[Frederick Skelly]

It depends on what you want to build. I don't do fancy profiles on my table tops - I bevel or chamfer them. So I very seldom use my electric router.

But if you're interested in using the router for grooves and dados, you can kill two birds with one stone and buy the router.

[Eric Schmid]

I would not be without a router. I use at least 2 on most of my projects. The dado set sits sadly on the shelf most days. A router is so much more versatile than a dado set, so I'd part with that before any of my routers.

A kit with a plunge and fixed base is a good way to start. Bosch 1617EVS is a good router. It is nice to be able to swap the motor between a table and plunge when you have only one. An edge guide and template bushing set are indispensable accessories to start with.

[Dave Cav]

I think I have at least 12 routers, and I don't particularly like routers. They're noisy, the last jig you built is lost or doesn't work any more, and you never seem to have the right two wrenches you need.

Four of my routers are set up for dovetail work exclusively (two old Craftsman 1/4" models and 2 PC 690s), a couple are trim routers, I have an older PC 7519 in the router table, and it's retired uncle on the shelf as a backup, and a few odds and ends. I really like PC 690s because they are simple and pretty bullet proof, and you can get a number of different bases for them. I don't know about the quality of the newer ones, though. It seems like I usually use the router table on just about every project for something or other, but I don't go crazy with panel raising or door making. That's what shapers are for.

As far as dado stacks are concerned, well, every shop needs at least one set, but an either/or thing (dado vs router) is apples and oranges. Really no comparison. But then again, I think every shop needs a big old cast iron RAS, too.

[George Werner]

Ok, Jim, I'll bite. What do you do with 4 routers? I can see one mounted in a table, and another when I want the work fixed and the machine moving. Perhaps if the second one doesn't have a plunge base then that's a third purchase. But I'm really stretching to understand 4 and interested in a couple more. Open my eyes, please?

One in the table, one fixed base freehand, one plunge base freehand, and a small "laminate trimmer" style. Very easy to justify 4 routers.

[Ian Moone]

Live dangerously!

Buy both!

He who dies with the most tools wins!

[Curt Harms]

One in the table, one fixed base freehand, one plunge base freehand, and a small "laminate trimmer" style. Very easy to justify 4 routers.

That's what I have too. Start with a combo kit (fixed base/plunge).