After reading reviews, watching YouTube, and lurking a bit here, I'm about to buy my first router, bits, and accessories. I appreciate y'all sharing your expertise, and as I'll be learning for a long time, it's time to join the forum and leave the shadows.
I have a few years woodworking experience, horribly spoiled by access to incredible equipment, most recently at the Dallas makerspace. In moving away, I also sold most of my tools, taking only a box or two of small stuff. Now I get the adventure of rebuilding a garage shop mostly from scratch. After its functional, my wife will appreciate me finishing the trim on the bed I built us two years ago :smile:... and my daughter wants me to help her build shelves, and, and, and...
Here's what I'm about to buy as my first router ever...
1. Bosch 1617, kit with fixed & plunge. (I'm fairly sure of this decision, but always open to input)
2. A 1/2" shank 3/4" bit for routing miter slots in plywood and/or mdf for a couple immediate shop projects. (Specific bit not yet chosen. Looking at MLCS and Rockler, but very open to suggestions.)
3. A template guide set, probably PC style, probably the $15 set at HF.
4. An adapter so the Bosch will use that PC set... just gotta figure out which Bosch par number is currently the right one!
5. A small diameter spiral upcut bit, perhaps 1/4" for use with above 5/16" or 3/8" guide, for cutting duplicate pieces from plywood while building a Ron Paulk style bench. (I'd love input here as I've never used a router for cutouts before and the bit choices are bewildering... and I suspect I may need a few of them for that much cutout work.)
6. And soon after those, a t-slot bit... but that's getting ahead...
I reviewed the excellent tutorials in the sticky threads in the template routing forum, and besides developing a sudden need for coin trays that I've never needed before, it opened my eyes to yet another template/guide size... though I think my PC + Bosch adapter plans will work fine for what I'm building now.
Why Bosch 1617? I looked at dewalt 618, Milwaukee, and wondered if I could get by for a bit with harbor freight. HF is no... 2.5 hp unit is horribly clunky in my hands and the 1.5 says it take phl 1/4" and 3/8" collets. Bosch and DeWalt both feel great in my hands, but Dewalt plunge lock lever operates backwards from both Bosch and my intuition. I rejected the Hitachi after picking it up because the plunge wasn't anywhere near as smooth, though I suspect that's just a store display issue. I like the dewalt fixed base better as Bosch knobs are small, but I expect to be mostly using the plunge base by hand and mount the fixed base in a table. Milwaukee looks good, but why pay more for it as Bosch has great holiday prices right now.
That might be a record long into, so let's leave it there.
I have a few years woodworking experience, horribly spoiled by access to incredible equipment, most recently at the Dallas makerspace. In moving away, I also sold most of my tools, taking only a box or two of small stuff. Now I get the adventure of rebuilding a garage shop mostly from scratch. After its functional, my wife will appreciate me finishing the trim on the bed I built us two years ago :smile:... and my daughter wants me to help her build shelves, and, and, and...
Here's what I'm about to buy as my first router ever...
1. Bosch 1617, kit with fixed & plunge. (I'm fairly sure of this decision, but always open to input)
2. A 1/2" shank 3/4" bit for routing miter slots in plywood and/or mdf for a couple immediate shop projects. (Specific bit not yet chosen. Looking at MLCS and Rockler, but very open to suggestions.)
3. A template guide set, probably PC style, probably the $15 set at HF.
4. An adapter so the Bosch will use that PC set... just gotta figure out which Bosch par number is currently the right one!
5. A small diameter spiral upcut bit, perhaps 1/4" for use with above 5/16" or 3/8" guide, for cutting duplicate pieces from plywood while building a Ron Paulk style bench. (I'd love input here as I've never used a router for cutouts before and the bit choices are bewildering... and I suspect I may need a few of them for that much cutout work.)
6. And soon after those, a t-slot bit... but that's getting ahead...
I reviewed the excellent tutorials in the sticky threads in the template routing forum, and besides developing a sudden need for coin trays that I've never needed before, it opened my eyes to yet another template/guide size... though I think my PC + Bosch adapter plans will work fine for what I'm building now.
Why Bosch 1617? I looked at dewalt 618, Milwaukee, and wondered if I could get by for a bit with harbor freight. HF is no... 2.5 hp unit is horribly clunky in my hands and the 1.5 says it take phl 1/4" and 3/8" collets. Bosch and DeWalt both feel great in my hands, but Dewalt plunge lock lever operates backwards from both Bosch and my intuition. I rejected the Hitachi after picking it up because the plunge wasn't anywhere near as smooth, though I suspect that's just a store display issue. I like the dewalt fixed base better as Bosch knobs are small, but I expect to be mostly using the plunge base by hand and mount the fixed base in a table. Milwaukee looks good, but why pay more for it as Bosch has great holiday prices right now.
That might be a record long into, so let's leave it there.