Router Bushings????

larry merlau

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Delton, Michigan
ok here is a question for you router wizards.. why are there differnt sets of these out there? i mistakenly got a set from leevalley that was to big for the router in which i needed to use it. so i know have some purty brass things that i dont see any use for..they were 1.75" dia .. then i wake up and measure the router..1.1875 is what i need..:huh: but i go to rockler and they have two different sets.. one is chrome looking and the other is brass looking.. cost is different as well.. so to the root of my jabbering.. what is the most recommended set. i am going to be doing some template routing soon and need a set to do that. thanks for the replys and any batter i get for my denseness:D
 
Hey Larry,

I picked up the boxed set from Woodcraft to fit my PC 690. They work fine and were not too expensive. They're brass so, should the ever slip, or you use the wrong bit, they won't do damage to the bit. Well, at least that's my understanding. The 'chrome' looking ones might be aluminum for the same reason.
 
i was leaning towards the brass for that reason rennie.. and the other ones were steel.. ..jay its a PC router and i also will be using these on a bosch colt that has PC bushing plate.. but why do they have the bigger ones? one would think that the companys would have some kind of standards to maintain
 
Some genius thought it was smart to go against the PC style ... sometimes plowing your own road is worthwhile, but on something like this it just seems silly not to stick with the standard.
 
Your 1.1875 is 1-3/16" which is the standard PC collar size. Most that fit this size actually call them "PC" bushings even if they are made by someone else ;-)

These definitely have varying quality and I found out the hard way that "average" quality machining on these can cause you real grief. I have some "precision" ones from Whiteside (I get them from Holbren) that I use with certain jigs but for general use I have this set. I prefer the short collar length as I use 1/4" MDF for templates. Long ones like these are a problem for me.
 
ok glenn you make alot of sense ,THANKS:thumb:,see i am still tryun to wake up here.. :) the one i have for my DT jig is a precison one but thats from many moons ago and i had forgot the wisdom you just reminded me of:thumb: ok last question,, whats the reasoning for longer one rather than your short ones?
 
I have a Bosch 1617 EVSPK which spends a lot of time in the table, unless I need it for plunge routing. I also have a PC 691 for the dovetail jig. Bosch makes a set of bushings that snap into their base; handy, but they don't seem very sturdy. They also make an adapter that snaps into the base and accepts the standard PC bushings. That's what I normally use. I always use a centering pin.

As for brass vs steel, I think the conventional wisdom is that you can snug the brass ones tight enough by hand, but steel rings sometimes vibrate loose unless you snug them down with pliers.

Tony
 
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ok glenn you make alot of sense ,THANKS:thumb:,see i am still tryun to wake up here.. :) the one i have for my DT jig is a precison one but thats from many moons ago and i had forgot the wisdom you just reminded me of:thumb: ok last question,, whats the reasoning for longer one rather than your short ones?

I assume the longer ones provide a more stable surface for that type of use although I don't know what that is. Someone will hopefully chime in who does this. My templates are almost exclusively 1/4" material so the short ones (.24") work best for me.

I have a Bosch 1617 EVSPK which spends a lot of time in the table, unless I need it for plunge routing. I also have a PC 691 for the dovetail jig. Bosch makes a set of bushings that snap into their base; handy, but they don't seem very sturdy. They also make an adapter that snaps into the base and accepts the standard PC bushings. That's what I normally use. I always use a centering pin.

As for brass vs steel, I think the conventional wisdom is that you can snug the brass ones tight enough by hand, but steel rings sometimes vibrate loose unless you snug them down with pliers.

Tony

I got Pat Warner bases for my Bosch routers (including my Colt) that accept "standard" collars. Item 2903 here can help with loosening collars although a small pair of channel locks with rubber dipped jaws work fine for me :thumb:.
 
ok here is a question for you router wizards.. why are there differnt sets of these out there? i mistakenly got a set from leevalley that was to big for the router in which i needed to use it. so i know have some purty brass things that i dont see any use for..they were 1.75" dia .. then i wake up and measure the router..1.1875 is what i need...

Not sure where they came from, but I have a set of those bigger ones, too. They've been laying in a drawer, unused, for probably seven or eight years now. Some day...

As for the 'standard' sized ones, I have an iron set, and a brass set. I end up using the brass ones most of the time. Not sure why - just do.

Somebody - I think it was Jesada (now defunct) used to offer a brass set that were all cut to the same depth - quarter inch, I think - so that any of them could be used with thin template material. I never bought one of those, but I did chuck a couple of mine into the metal lathe and trim them to quarter inch depth. I also trimmed a couple to the same depth as the template thickness on my Leigh jig - somewhere around 7~8 mm, I guess. Makes them handier to use.
 
The obvious difference between the 1 3/16 and 1 3/4 sets is the max dia of router bit that can be used. Lee Valley has both sizes.

Those "MAY" be the same size that fit in the "Router Workshop guys" table insert plates and Special purpose router base plates, since they are made in Canada, (IIRC). I have one of their tables & plates my daughters gave me one xmas and the brass bushings are very high quality but a larger exterior diameter than the PC standard bushings, so I have another set to use in my hand held routers, which all use the PC size bushings.

Longer bushings are just to give More Contact when using thicker material for templates & jigs. I have had occasion to use one or two, but rarely, and like others, I have cut some down to about 1/4", which I use more often. I did find that I liked the longer ones, (used in thicker template material) for drilling shelf pin holes because they ASSURE that the holes are drilled exactly perpendicular, (even if you are in a hurry).:D DAMHIKT:rolleyes::rofl::rofl:
 
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If you want to use the 1.75" ones, you could make a new subbase for your router to fit them. If you don't want to, Lee Valley would probably let you swap them for standard P-C ones. The Bosch ones seem to be less well held if you just let the spring catch lock them in. If you push the catch tighter they lock down well.
 
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