[DesertRatTom]

Welcome, glad you decided to join the fun. That's a nice router, good choice. It will be interesting to see some of the projects you make using it.

Since you introduced yourself as new to this addiction (hobby) I thought I'd send along a pdf of the 17 things that helped me accelerate the learning curve. It's long, but has pictures and covers a lot of different areas. As you accumulate tools, it may help you avoid an expensive lesson or two. If you don't have dust collection yet, hope you're wearing a good mask, that sawdust is nasty to your lungs. There's a section in the pdf about that.

Stick has a number of really good pdfs on safe and best use of routers and should be along soon with a post. Those are well worth reading.

I think you've already found out that people here are pretty friendly and love to answer questions and make suggestions. They have lots of years of experience behind their advice.

 

[DesertRatTom]

@Michel82 Forgot to attach the pdf. Here 'tis.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Hi Mitch. That pdf covers a lot of expensive lessons. Do check out the 2hp unit by Harbor Freight. If you don't get their print ads, sign up for them. Then look for a holiday issue, July 4 is likely, when they have the DC unit on sale, and often have a discount coupon on top of that. Makes an unbeatable combination. The bag filter on top is only adequate if it is outdoors. Too many find dust particles get through for it to be inside your shop or garage. It is on casters.

It works best with some kind of chip collector between the tool and DC intake. Rockler has the chip collector fittings you see in the picture below. I also put up a picture of the DC unit (with a Wynn canister filter on it. It comes with a bag. The chip collector is on a 30 gallon fiber drum I ordered from ULine. Rockler has the flexible tubing. I got the 27 ft. hose plus another 10 footer to connect everything up. Meanwhile, get a couple of simple dust masks. 3M makes a pretty good cheapie with a valve. For minor work, I just wear the medical type masks, which HF sells in boxes of 50.

The pix of the hand unit is an optional connector that fits on the end of the hose and will fit most 4 inch dust ports on tools. You can buy this with a 3 ft tube and a vacuum end for use on the floor. I really like being able to reach anywhere in the shop and clear out the random sawdust. The fourth pix is a Y connector that can be used under the router table. The 4 inh opening hold the hose and a box under the router, the smaller port goes up to a 2.5 port just behind the center of your router table fence. Stick with Rockler (or any other brand) for your connectors. 4 inches isn't 4 inches in all brands. HF has connectors, but not much variety, can't vouch for their quality or fit.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Hi, your public profile is blank so I don't know whether you have other tools at this time. So I'm going to make a few suggestions for upcoming tool purchases assuming you don't have any of these tools.

First and foremost, a table saw. Once you have one, it becomes the center of your shop. There are many kinds of joints that require a table saw and a good blade or two. I was wathing seasons one through 3 of Woodsmith Shop on DVDs and realized they have simplified and focus on four tools. Router, of course, table saw, drill press and a band saw.

You'll always get this advice, always buy the best tool you can afford, even if it requires a little credit to move up. However, being real about budgets, give the Bosch 4100 - 10 inch jobsite saw. It gets top rating around here for a budget saw. Around $600 new. Add to that a Wixey digital angle finder to set the blade to a precise angle (90, 45, 22.5 degrees commonly. See pix.


I have and really like the bench model WEN 4214 12-Inch Variable Speed drill press. About $240 (less from some dealers), it is taller than the cheapo models in the big box stores, and you don't have to fiddle with changing belts around, it has a variable speed lever, and plenty of power. Interesting that it has exactly the same casting marks as the JET, which is far more expensive.

Rikon and WEN both sell the same small, 12 inch band saw. It is a bench model and comes with roller bearing blade guides. Very nice little saw. 72.5 inch blades are not expensive and you can resaw using the half inch blade if you feed the piece slowly. (Resaw means cutting thin strips from a wider piece.) I have a bigger band saw, but use the smaller Rikon far more often. I can't see any difference between the Rikon and WEN. They are identical. Cost is about $237 for the WEN, (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=WEN+band+saw&ref=nb_sb_noss_2) and about $300 for the Rikon. The WEN comes with a stand, the Rikon doesn't. Get half inch, quarter inch and 3/16th inch plades to cover all uses. 3 or 4 teeth per inch for the half inch, finer for the smaller. Take your time making cuts in thick pieces.

If you are using decent (many layers) of plywood or dimensional lumber from big box stores, you will be able to make a lot of things with these basic tools. You'll want to be very careful to avoid pieces with twists, bows or other distortions. I often use pine 1x4s I get from Home Depot. I pick each piece after carefully looking for the straightest, most know free pieces, that lay flat on the concrete floor when laid on both edges. Chech for twists by sighting down the length to see if the closest end is more or less parallel, if not, no thanks. Sometimes I'll buy a piece that lots of clear length, but maybe a foot or two that isn't.

A great first project is making your own router table, using a sheet of very flat ply. Lots of discussion of this on the Forums, just search and you'll find them.

Personally, I'd add a couple of additional items in my starter kit. A GOOD QUALITY set of four chisels and a course, medium and fine sharpening "stone", I now use a fine diamond stone. Watch some videos on preparing and sharpening your chisels. If budget is tight, you can use 150, 220, 400, 800 and even 1200 grit sandpaper to sharpen instead of the stone. But you'l need something very flat to mount them on, such as a really flat chunk of plate glass or even a large, smooth piece of floor tile. Check for flatness with a good straight edge (ruler).

Another tool is a small block plane. You want one with a low angle blade. Sharpening is similar to sharpening a chisel. It is a fast way to ease a sharp, easily damaged, edge. As you build projects such as boxes or drawers, you'll find yourself reaching for your block plane. see pix.

Get a good combination square. see pix. Mine is 70 years old, so it will outlive you, so don't go for a cheapie. Get one with engraved markings. There is often a level and hidden in the "handle" is a small spike for making scribe marks. You can get 6, 12 and 18 inches. A 12 is most common, but I like having the 6 inch to tuck into my apron. About $50 for both in decent quality.

Last on my list is a Grripper, a plastic safety device for use on the router or table saw. Keeps your hands safe, and allows you to apply pressure down, forward and toward the fence. Best basic safety device there is. See pix. About $60.

Pictures are in whatever order they appear. Pretty obvious.

 

[DesertRatTom]

...

Thank you for all the advice. I wish you all the best.

Regards,
Mitch

You're welcome. You are really pretty far along in your knowledge and tool collection. Sounds like retirement will really liberate you for moving ahead with your skills. Looking forward to seeing your projects. You might take and post some pictures of your shop area.

A large band saw lets you resaw thick stock and liberates you from big box (warped) lumber. The small band saw is very handy for little cuts, rounding a corner, makng a small band saw box. Not a must though.

Only one more suggestion. I stopped using narrow kerf blades when I discovered they flex when making mitered corners for picture frames. Went to full kerf blades, specifically the Freud industrial glue line blade, which gives a perfectly smooth cut with a flat bottom. It also allows making dados and rabbet cuts easy without having to use a dado set.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from you.

 

[DesertRatTom]

If you want more air flow in the HF DC unit, you can order the Rikon impeller, which is metal and dramatically increases air flow and costs about $90. Several people have done testing and modification on this machine and most of the users here seem happy with it. If you buy a canister filter ($180 or so from Wynn, and change impellers, you're still no where near the cost of a high end unit with the same performance. If you have a commercial shop, you will need one of the $2,000Plus units, but for a home hobby shop, that just seems over the top.

If money is no object, you can go for a high end DC unit with a funnel shaped cyclone separator. On sale, my two HF units were about $162 each. That's less than the cost of a good quality replacement motor. If the motor goes out, I'll buy another unit.

I have two shop areas, one is a 12x24 wired and insulated shed in the back yard. The other is half the two car garage where I have the Laguna band saw, Powermatic jointer and DeWalt planer. I prep wood there and make stuff in the shop shed. Each has a HF unit, mounted outside the shed/shop with a Wynn canister filter. The one in the garage uses a bag, but I roll it outside for use. Each has a chip collector.

I've been looking at the Super Dust Deputy, a 4 inch cyclone, which I think will reduce dust getting into the filter even further. It runs around $170, but as a throat cancer survivor, I don't want to be breathing any sawdust, some of which is carcinogenic, and I don't want COPD either, thank you.

NickP said it best, some dust collection is better than none.

FYI the Wixey now uses aaa batteries so they don't go dead the way the old model did.

Re: The fence. When setting up the fence, you don't want it perfectly parallel to the miter slots. You want to have the far end of the fence flare out very slightly 4 thousdths is about right. This allows you to avoid pinching the workpiece and causing a kickback. When I first got a table saw, I got hit by a kickback and the pain and bruise took a very long time to go away. You can use your combination square to set the fence. You want it to be flush to the fence on the near end, and just a smidge of opens space on the far end. If you have a dial indicator you can measure this precisely, but that degree of precision isn't really necessary. BTW, the gap will be about as thick as a crisp dollar bill, so the gap will be small A US dollar bill is 0.0043 inches thick.

Lots of little details to consider with woodworking.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Just a little feedback.

My DC setup is now set up in a closed chamber so virtually all the filtered air returns to the shop. I have a Wynn filter I got before the ones with the internal mechanism to knock dust off the filter was offered. I always recommend the newer type filter, Grizzly makes one.

I have shortened all hoses, but for practical reasons, still have the 27 foot flex hose, however, all my tools are within 10 feet of the DC so the hose is rarely fully extended except for shop cleanup There are no longer any sharp turns in the hoses and connectors. The space is too tight to use pipes or tubes. I take the point about other brand DC units, but have yet to have any need to upgrade from the basic HF unit. It works fine for me, and for lots of us. I have a split shop, my (Laguna) band saw, jointer, planer and track saw are in the garage, where I have the second HF unit with the Rockler chip collection setup. This rolls outside for use. So for me, buying two brand name units, such as the Jet, is prohibitive given my present (lower) income.

I have not made any modifications to either DC unit. They both work well for me as is. I mention the possibility of a different impeller only because it is available and some members have made that modification. I suggest the HF to anyone for whom cost is an issue. I believe, as a throat cancer survivor, that any dust collection is better than none, and that it should be an early addition to every shop. I also know that given a choice between an expensive DC unit an another important tool, that the DC usually loses to the tool.

Please note that I suggest placing the basic bag filter unit outside (in a dry area). In my shop shed, it is in an enclosed space next to the shed, with a 4 inch Rockler through the wall tube going through the wall. And yet, I still wear a simple dust mask even though the return air is filtered twice.

I recently added a Super Dust Deputy to my shop shed system, which has further enhancet the DC efficiency. The hoses are all shortened and straightened. The picture I post still shows the longer hose. I lost my camera so haven't taken a new picture yet.

FYI, the Wixey now uses two AAA batteries, has very long battery life (still on my first set after 2 years) and shuts off just fine, although I routinely turn it off manually. It also now has a rear illuminated readout, which makes it easier to read. I don't know the other brand but assume Stick's recommendation is good. Wixey changed the battery source in most of their digital tools several years ago because button batteries go dead so fast. I also use my Wixey to tune up my sliding miter. And the Wixey unit for planers also uses the AAA batteries now.

In addition to my small Rikon band saw (which I use all the time), I have a Laguna 14/12 in the garage, which is mainly for resawing. The jointer is a 6 inch Powermatic, the planer is a DeWalt 735. I also have a Laguna 10 inch hybrid table saw in the shop. Great tool maker. Each tool puts out lots of sawdust and a DC unit is a must.

I'm posting this because I felt a bit attacked a few posts back. My shop, tools and skills have evolved over time and I've done my best to get the best performance I can given my budget.

I like the Jet 650, about $560, which has the 1 micron filter and the crank to clean it. It also has a smaller footprint than the HF. With a chip collector it is a fine unit. The 1100 model is very similar to the HF unit and has a 5 micron bag (same as HF). I think it has a little more hp than the 650. You can get the 1200, 1100 but with a canister filter for about $800.

On sale, the HF was $162, the canister filter is about $180 or so for a total of $342. My two HF units, one with canister filter the other without, added up to $504, and they work just fine.

No one is making anyone buy anything, it's completely each member's choice. Most of us are posting about gear we actually have and use.