Second best built plunge router?

[Daniel Hillmer]

I was considering buying the Festool OF 1400, but after seeing the extremely high price for accessories for this router, and especially the replacement collets for this router are 40 bucks and for my big PC router - collet I can get for about 8 bucks, I'm thinking about buying second best.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what is almost as good as the Festool?

[pat warner]

DW 621 and, in my view: better in many ways.

[John Thompson]

I sold a Bosch plunge and a DW 621 and took a chance on the Milwaukee combo kit that has the plunge and fix base. I run a Milwaukee 3 1/2 HP under my table and absolutely love the power and ease of use. After selling those two and having previously owned a PC.. Dewalt.. it was the best move I ever made in the router department.

The 2 1/4 HP has the muscle.. depth of cut.. ease of bit change and the feel and balance that is perfect for me. You will get many suggestions of what everyone likes as it is a personal thing but.. I will most likely never have a need for another router again with the 3 HP fixed under my table and the 2 1/4 HP plunge and body-grop fixed above.

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Daniel Hillmer]

Thanks Pat and John.

Do either of your above routers have a good line of accessories?

Festool has a neat jig, but I find the price obscene as are all of their accessories - its here:

http://www.festoolusa.com/products/r...id-495246.html

They charge 250 bucks for it, and all it is, is three pieces of machined Plexiglas. I was wondering if anyone makes such a jig that would fit your above two routers?

I think why they charge 250 bucks for it, is not because it is actually worth that either in materials or development costs, but because it allows one to convert any festool 1400 router into a domino joiner (similar to biscuit joiner). And big surprise, the price of the router with this accessory is 700 bucks and the price of the domino is 700 bucks.

Another question Pat, in what way do you find the DW 621 better than the OF1400?

[Jim Becker]

Well, the OF1400 is a wonderful machine and if you break a collet in the first three years, it's not really your problem, more or less. It also comes with nearly everything you'll ever need outside of the adapter for use with the rails. It's operation is downright slinky-smooth and comfortable. And the dust collection is outstanding.

The DW621, which has been around for a LONG time, is also an excellent plunger. It's known for very smooth operation. It was the first one to have good dust collection, too.

[glenn bradley]

I sold a Bosch plunge and a DW 621 and took a chance on the Milwaukee combo kit that has the plunge and fix base. I run a Milwaukee 3 1/2 HP under my table and absolutely love the power and ease of use. After selling those two and having previously owned a PC.. Dewalt.. it was the best move I ever made in the router department.

The 2 1/4 HP has the muscle.. depth of cut.. ease of bit change and the feel and balance that is perfect for me. You will get many suggestions of what everyone likes as it is a personal thing but.. I will most likely never have a need for another router again with the 3 HP fixed under my table and the 2 1/4 HP plunge and body-grop fixed above.

Good luck...

Sarge..

+1 on the 5616-24 combo. The plunge base is much better than some plunge only routers I have used.

[Daniel Hillmer]

Well, the OF1400 is a wonderful machine and if you break a collet in the first three years, it's not really your problem, more or less...

You mean Festool replaces it at no charge?

[Jim Becker]

Please check out the Festool warranty: http://www.festoolusa.com/support/warranty.html You'll also find that the great Festool dealers take pretty good care of their customers, too. SMC member Bob Marino is a good example...I could buy Festool from so many places, but only he will get my business.

[John Lucas]

You mean Festool replaces it at no charge?

Yes! It does. The collets are extremely well made.

[Daniel Hillmer]

OK what about third party add ons, for example if I wanted a Hinge Router Mortising Kit, or an edge guide, something like that, Are there any third party suppliers for such for the OF1400?

[Chris Padilla]

Daniel,

I'm a Festool junkie no doubt as I own just about everything but I have yet to plunk down my green on any of their routers for one good reason: I already have plenty of routers!

As you probably well know, Festool RULES for dust collection and so someday, I might plunk down for their routers but so far, I've managed to avoid it.

Click on the link in Pat Warner's post and check out his homepage. You may find some interesting stuff there to help drive your decision.

I'm happily using a PC690 kit, a PC890, a Bosch Colt, and finally, a PC7518 motor driving my router table. I simply can't justify plunging into Festool's routers just yet....

[Daniel Hillmer]

Thanks Chris,

I only have one router at present, the PC 7518 3.25 hp, I have that mounted in my router table. I am looking for one more, a hand held, so I don't have to keep taking the 7518 out of the table.

Are you happy with your Bosch routers? I noticed you so far are the only one who mentioned them.

[Doug Shepard]

DW 621 and, in my view: better in many ways.

I've got both. Depth stop adjuster mechanism is better on the 621 no question. The OF1400 is almost cheesy in comparison IMHO. The plunge smoothness is pretty equal - maybe just a slight edge to the OF1400. The OF1400 is better on everything else, especially the dust collection.

[Noel Hegan]

Thanks Pat and John.

Do either of your above routers have a good line of accessories?

Festool has a neat jig, but I find the price obscene as are all of their accessories - its here:

http://www.festoolusa.com/products/r...id-495246.html

They charge 250 bucks for it, and all it is, is three pieces of machined Plexiglas. I was wondering if anyone makes such a jig that would fit your above two routers?

I think why they charge 250 bucks for it, is not because it is actually worth that either in materials or development costs, but because it allows one to convert any festool 1400 router into a domino joiner (similar to biscuit joiner). And big surprise, the price of the router with this accessory is 700 bucks and the price of the domino is 700 bucks.

Another question Pat, in what way do you find the DW 621 better than the OF1400?

Couldn't you build a shopmade version for less than a tenth of the price? Doesn't look too complex or am I missing something as I'm totally Festool-less?

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks Chris,

I only have one router at present, the PC 7518 3.25 hp, I have that mounted in my router table. I am looking for one more, a hand held, so I don't have to keep taking the 7518 out of the table.

Are you happy with your Bosch routers? I noticed you so far are the only one who mentioned them.

The Bosch Colt kicks butt! I should've gotten a little one like this a long time ago. It is almost a laminate trimmer but slightly bigger but not so big that one can't handle it very comfortable and very safely with one hand. That is a big plus for edge-routing. The larger Bosch routers seem to get good ratings all the time but I have no experience with them.