What "Router" Should I Take?

Into each life, a little rain must fall. I got a "dud" deal on Craigslist. Well....actually, a partially-dud-deal. When I met the guy in the parking lot of Sears, I figured that there could  possibly be an issue. 

1. He was young. Young guys are generally NOT power tool guys.
2. He had it loose in his trunk. Old tool guys don't carry tools loose in the trunk.
3. There was rust on the bit. Tool guys aren't going to leave a bit (much less one that's rusted) in a tool they are trying to sell.

 So, you might ask yourself, why didn't I just not buy this tool? Well, it's a Sears Craftsman router that was selling for $20, and as I would find out, it works. Then, what's the problem? Uh, the shaft wouldn't lock, which precludes the removal and insertion of bits in the collett. Actually, the problem is that there's an interlock that only allows the shaft to lock when the router is off. Apparently there's a problem with the interlock, which is completely mechanical. But it's not something I could test for in a parking lot! So, I'm probably going to need to open it up and do a little work on the said interlock. I'm pretty OK with that, especially since this will be the second router.

Here's the other Craftsman router I have. You might now be asking yourself why I would need/want another router very similar to the one I already own. Well, actually after talking to my buddy Pat, we concluded that the correct number to have is actually 4. FOUR!?! Yup, 4. Let me explain. In the power tool world, a router is kind of like a file in hand tools. It may take lots of work, but you can do darn near everything with a router from cutting, to shaping, even artistic carving. Although you can do most anything with the traditional "fixed-based" router, there is also other types which speed up what you are doing.

There's the "plunge" router, that allows you to start right where you want to without having to slide into a cut.

There's also the "trim" router that's small enough to make it much easier to control when doing small jobs such as cutting off small amounts of laminent material. 

Plus, there is also attaching a router to a plate so that it can fit in a table semi-permanenantly such as this router extension which forms a section of my "new" Ryobi table saw. This makes it much easier to work with smaller pieces by moving the work-piece vs. the entire tool. However, it's a pain to attach them to the plate and remove them for use in other places. So, what most woodworkers do is to have 2 fixed base routers so they can just leave one attached to a table, whether that's a stand-alone table or one attached to something else, like table saw. 

What about the "broken" Craigslist router? It still works, after a fashion....I guess I'll just have to take it apart and fix the interlock. Is there some possibility that I can't fix it? Sure! It was $20 though and I'll take that risk. Hey, if I DO get it fixed, I'll be halfway up my route to the ultimate router Nirvanha.