Impressed with FWW Talent

Al Launier

Member
Messages
1,683
Location
Bedford, NH
As I continue to monitor and enjoy this forum I find you guys to be very impressive with your deeply in"grained" woodworking talents, your equipment, shop & creativity. I sometimes wonder if I had chosen a woodworking career if that would have been more enjoyable and satisfying.

As for me, I continue to plod along on a bird house that I promised my wife when she bought me a band saw for Christmas. I've had surprising little time to enjoy my limited shop, despite being retired, yet a little bit every day or two moves me forward on the BH project. I finding that I'm "occasionally" absent minded, getting ahead of myself, doing work-arounds to cover some lack of tools (like using the drill press as a substitute router which is broken & replacement parts no longer available), and spending time fixing mistakes. One of these days it'll get done, hopefully in a week. Then I can work on my wife for a new router & table and start taking on more challenging projects. Wonder what she'll want for that??? ;)

By the way, what's a good mid-level router & table? I'm thinking a plunge router might be good vs. a fixed base.
 
+1 on your thoughts Al. There are an amazing group of people that frequent this site. Depth of talent in many areas not just woodworking. Its a place of sanity for me in a crazy world. :thumb:
 
"I'm thinking a plunge router might be good vs. a fixed base."

Think combination package instead. In other words, one router motor and two bases. If you wanna foot the shipping I have a Porter Cable 690 combo kit in the plastic box you can have. Includes 1/4" collet and 1/2" collet, fixed base, plunge base, and wrenches. Gotta wait until I dig it out of storage, hopefully before the end of March.

Older machine, not variable speed, but a tank of a machine. You won't break it.

I have way too many routers as it is.
 
As I continue to monitor and enjoy this forum I find you guys to be very impressive with your deeply in"grained" woodworking talents, your equipment, shop & creativity. I sometimes wonder if I had chosen a woodworking career if that would have been more enjoyable and satisfying.

I've had the same wondering (not just about ww'ing but several other possible career paths that I passed by along the way) and in at least two of them (ww'ing is one) I think that making it a career risks making it not fun anymore. Sometimes it seems that if you make your hobbies your job because you don't like your job you find yourself without your hobbies and you still don't like your job.

Carol's offer is pretty generous $free + shipping is a darn good deal!
 
Now Carol, how could I possible refuse an offer like that! I'd be honored to have a router that belonged to you. Just thinking of all the good work it must have done in your hands will have more value than the router(s) themselves. Whatever it would cost I'd be happy to pay!!!!! Just let me know & a check will be on its way to you. If you prefer an alternate means of payment, please let me know.

It's not free, it's Carol! I can't ever recall experiencing such generosity! What a gal!
 
. I sometimes wonder if I had chosen a woodworking career if that would have been more enjoyable and satisfying.

.

My guess from seeing 90% of the custom woodworking shops go out of business the past 10 years here on long island is that only one in 10 make enough money to actually support themselves.
I dont care how much someone loves woodworking, if they had to depend on it to feed their families, and that wasnt happenning, woodworking would become one of the most hated things in their lives.
nothing wrong with doing it as a hobby and getting a few paid jobs now and then.
if its more about pride and self ego than it is about money, woodworking can bring one alot of joy.
 
Last edited:
Carol, by all means, please sign the router in a location that would always remain. To have such a nice gift signed by a lovely lady known as
Carol Reed
"The Router Lady"
would be outstanding!
 
... I dont care how much someone loves woodworking, if they had to depend on it to feed their families, and that wasnt happenning, woodworking would become one of the most hated things in their lives.
nothing wrong with doing it as a hobby and getting a few paid jobs now and then.
if its more about pride and self ego than it is about money, woodworking can bring one alot of joy.

Amen!

After learning how to build nice pieces and seeing what some people get for custom work, I considered doing some advertising and taking some commissions. The thing about that is that I got so busy building pieces for our home I didn't really have much time for extra stuff. The only commission I agreed to take was a special-purpose end-table/computer-cabinet our doctor requested. Made some nice coin on it! But that one project showed me something about myself: I enjoyed woodworking as a hobby and didn't want to have deadlines. I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it! :thumb:

I always seem to have a large project in the works, then get side-tracked on other 'quick-hit' things around home. But, that goes with the territory. Over the years, I've drawn up a series of treasure boxes and jewelry boxes that I'd like to build and place in local shops that have expressed an interest. If I can help fund the 'hobby' with the sale of a few items, so be it. One thing we've considered as far as the cost of materials for items I've built for our home is that we now have furniture of a quality we couldn't afford to buy, so that in itself is quite a savings! ;)
 
By all means, take Carol's offer. In addition, I suggest that you keep in mind the Bosch 1617 EVSPK. I have had mine for almost five years, most of that time in a router table. It's done yeoman work, all that you'll probably need as a hobbyist. And don't kid yourself; two or three routers are not too many.

Have fun,

Tony
 
By all means, take Carol's offer. In addition, I suggest that you keep in mind the Bosch 1617 EVSPK. I have had mine for almost five years, most of that time in a router table. It's done yeoman work, all that you'll probably need as a hobbyist. And don't kid yourself; two or three routers are not too many.

Have fun,

Tony
2 or 3 Tony that's just getting started:thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
2 or 3 Tony that's just getting started:thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:

No kidding. I very seldom even use a router, but I've got at least 5. Granted, one of them is such a piece of Chinese junk that I won't use it. I'd even feel guilty giving it away. The others are all old standards like the PC690 or M12V.
 
By the end of this you'll have at least three maybe four routers :rofl:

So this is very likely putting the cart ahead of the horse (while I'm quite positive that at least one person has made a cart that is pushed by the horse the comic below is the best I can find) and I'm not suggesting you shouldn't start out with a router and some sort of not-to-expensive router table... Buuut before you drop big bucks on a router table setup (which is distressingly easy to do) I wanted to throw out some thoughts for the future.

cart-before-the-horse.jpg

For the router table I'd suggest making one, or getting some not to expensive parts and putting them together. Rockler has a moderately unbiased overview of the details (of course pitching some rockler product, so use the standard grain of salt): http://www.rockler.com/articles/choosing-a-router-table.cfm

There are a number of builds here, search "router table" and Carols book has a nice set of plans in it (as well as lots of other good stuff).

One you start adding up the parts for a top end (or even pre-made midrange) table setup from all commercial parts you can quickly get choked up and start crying at the price. Many of the shopmade ones are nicer anyway :D

Another alternative if you want a dedicated table router is something like:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/3-4-HP-Shaper/G0510Z

or even one step up
http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-1-2-HP-Shaper-Polar-Bear-Series-/G1035P
plus
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Bit-Spindle-for-G1035/G1705

Once you add up all of the cost for a router + inserts + table top + ... you're darn close or (in many cases) more than that if you don't make a lot of it yourself.

The upside to the router is that you can take it out of the table and use it as a router, the downside is that you have to take it out to use it as a router.. and its less powerful/stable/capable than most of the shapers are (the 3/4HP is about on par with most router tables (the router HP is peak hp... its complicated.. yaah marketing) the 1.5 is substantially more juicy. The other downside to the shapers with router bits is that the top RPM is a bit small for smaller router bits, so you may not get quite as clean of a cut - this is of course a tradeoff with their ability to run larger bits.

Used and local to you:

First the big iron (not the really big iron, there is some sweet really big iron near you... good thing I don't live around there or I'd be broke)
http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/3593024357.html - probably needs + $60 for router spindles
http://providence.craigslist.org/tls/3556234807.html - fine looking old iron

This is probably not to bad of a deal if its not super beat up: http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/3642577162.html they're ~$500 new (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=65289&cat=1,43000,65316&ap=1). Kreg also has a table top setup for $200 (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=65287&cat=1,43000,65316&ap=1) that may well be more reasonable for a starting setup.

This guy has a homemade one for $75 http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/3590714059.html probably worth close to that for the parts.

What you DO NOT want is something like this: http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/3638479703.html please please please don't get something like that.
 
Thanks Ryan, for your detailed response and your efforts to check out what's available on craigslist. And my thanks to others whose comments re: work vs. hobby are right on.

I have seen quite a few of these Craftsman router table on sale & have concluded that they are problematic for so many people to be selling them. So, no worries there, they're not on my list. As an aside I had sent a query to the home-made a couple days ago, but no response yet.

Frankly, the upper end tables noted in Ryan's post are more $$$ than I was planning on spending. I'm not the wood worker you pros are, and don't expect to ever have your level of equipment. I'm just a casual woodworker, doing simple projects and repair jobs, plus I don't have the talent you folks do, and do not sell my goods, so I can't justify expensive equipment. My "shop" is very limited in size, ventilation and dust management which limits what I can do.

However, I do like the Kreg bench-top router table that Ryan suggested. It looks like it is of good quality. I currently am using a Workmate portable folding work bench with a clamped board as my router table, so having a "legitimate" router table will be nice. The Kreg should fit nicely on it & both could be stored well when not in use.

Once again, thanks to all for your interest & comments and especially to Carol "The Router Lady".
 
Al before you go buy anything for your "new router" i would seriously consider buying a copy of Carols book. You can pick up a second hand one on Amazon for around $15 and it will be the best $15 you have spent on any woodworking item in my opinion. It will not only provide advise a result of years of experience but change the way you think about this tool/machine. In addition Carol shows you in step by step fashion how to make a suitable router table and many many other jigs which on their own are fun projects to make. Its been one of my best woodworking books and i refer to it constantly. Really wish i had got hold of it before i started out on routers.

Like Vaughn said i have my first router that when i saw your post the thought cross my mind to offer to you. Then i thought again and said i would not wish it on my worst enemy why even think of passing on to a friend. I think its gonna head for the junk yard this year when spring comes. It will be happy there. :)
 
I am not particularly shy about coughing up the dough for a tool that meets a need for me. Despite that . . . I still use a Rockler table top bought on clearance when they changed styles a few styles ago. I did pick up a new-to-me version of the fence when they clearance'd those after absorbing Bench Dog. I built a cabinet for it, dropped a lift and a big Milwaukee into it and it has done nothing but go to work for years. It is a very basic setup with slots for t-bolts carrying the milled aluminum fence that supports a couple of replaceable, movable faces.

There are a lot of very nice router tables, fences, lifts, etc. and more appearing all the time. What you need will vary with what you do. No doubt, my setup would fall short for someone else's methods of work just as a plain piece of plywood with a strip of wood clamped to it as a fence would fall short for me after not too much fussing about.

I have had my fair share of buying something I thought I had to have only to watch it collect dust until I sold it at a loss. Don't get me wrong, you have to have a router table IMHO. I'm just saying that until you know better what you really need, it may pay off to start simple. I realize this is the opposite of "buy the best you can afford" which is my usual rule. I guess there always have to be exceptions to make the rule . . . and to keep us on our toes.
 
Last edited:
Top