Router Horse Power

[Dave Richards]

Or maybe that should be horse-powered router. Lewis Stepp of the Craftsman Gallery and WoodRat seller posted a thread on his forum with some pictures from an Amish fellow's WoodRat and the modification he made to his DW625 router so that it can be driven by a couple of horses instead of using electricity. Very ingenious setup.

Unfortunately, due to the SMC TOS, I can't post a link to the thread so you're on your own to find it.

[Eric Mims]

ha, thats great! thanks for the heads up.
I wonder how quiet it is?

[Randal Stevenson]

ha, thats great! thanks for the heads up.
I wonder how quiet it is?

Probably depends on what you fed the horse, LOL

[Mike Henderson]

The Amish are a curious mixture of traditionalism and modernism. Their woodworking shops have all the modern tools in them, but they’re not powered by electricity. The two approaches I’ve seen that they use are (1) a diesel motor driving a hydraulic pump with hydraulic motors on the tools, or (2) a diesel motor driving a shaft that goes down the center of the shop, usually below floor level, with belts to each tool. The tools are your modern cabinet saws, etc.

There are companies in PA that buy the regular tools and convert them for sale to the Amish.

A lot of the work the Amish do is production of kitchen cabinets for installers/sellers who are not Amish.

I have relatives who live in Amish country. The above is from my experience while visiting, and the relatives stories of their interactions with the Amish - so it may not be the whole story.

Mike

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

All horspower ratings are entirely dependant on the motor achieving it's rated speed. That is unless you are actually using horses in which case all the numbers go out the window and the breed of horse becomes significant.