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.


 

.....And Outta Left Field......

I know my international readers may not get this reference... Sorry guys! We're going to talk wood-working today. Actually, it's not as "out of left field" as it might seem. This has actually been ongoing for some time. I've always like tools and woodworking to some extent, however, I never lived in one place long enough to literally "set up shop", and learn the hobby. Then about 15 years ago, several things came together. I got married, then moved back to Lubbock, Texas, then bought a house. House should be an obvious indication of some permanence, but when I married my wife, I also married into her family including my father-in-law, "Bob-the-Builder." No....I mean literally, Bob (which is his name) can build pretty much anything since he not only worked construction during part of his life, but built his own house and much of the furniture in it. Being in Lubbock also meant being around my long-time friend, Pat. He's not a builder; he's a craftsman. It takes him forever to build anything, but it's made like an artisan would have done it. During those first few years, I participated mostly as an extra pair of hands and kind of an idea guy (read: not of much use). 

Then this happened. Ten years ago, we moved to Forney, Texas. It's still in Texas, but it's 300 miles or so away from my buddy Pat in Lubbock, and my father-in-law in Midland. As far as being a woodworker was concerned, it was probably the best thing to ever happen to me. Now, if I wanted something done, I pretty much had to do it myself. Yeah, there's been a few weekend projects that Bob help on when he came to visit, but mostly I did what needed to be done. After a year of renting a house, we had our current home built, and included a 3rd car bay in the garage, but without a door. That's because, we have this weird idea that we would want to park our cars IN the garage instead of using it as "attached storage" which is common in this area! Along with sharing that extra bay with the lawn equipment, and actual storage, the rest was mine to do with as I saw fit. 

As a big screen TV and a sectional wasn't going to fit, and having a bar, pole and attendant dancer was out of the question, it's pretty much my "shop". In the heart of that shop, a little $100 Black & Decker table saw came to live. Over the course of the last 6=7 years, this cheap little table saw has done a lot. Other than holding up various boxes of random computer junk, it's built a number of things for my wife's classroom. Although, I can't hold the ugly cubicle style of mailbox against it, since that was done wholly with a circular saw, it's made 2 book cases, a rolling/folding whiteboard, my desk-hutch, my computer monitor stand and numerous other little items. Well, it's time for the "little saw that did" to go. It got posted onto Craigslist last night for a whopping $50. I'm going to say that it's been well worth the $50 difference that it will have costs these last few years of slightly out-of-square cuts. 

Guess what I asked for, for my birthday? Actually no; not a $600-800 table saw. I asked for Lowe's gift cards or money so I can buy a saw and the stuff that I'll need with it. So far, I've accumulated just north of $300. Typically, somewhere in the $300-500 range buys a pretty nice used saw. What? Did you think that the Frugal-propellerhead wouldn't be the Frugal-woodworker? That's right, although I don't know as much about power tools as computer equipment, the same principles apply on buying and selling. In computer terms, I'm trading up from the new "Acer" of table saws to a used "ThinkPad" of table saws. No, I don't know yet what I'm going to get. I've found a nice Jet like the one in the image above for about $400, and a nice Rigid TS3650 for about $200. "No-Brainer" you say? Not so fast, the Rigid's cast-iron top is covered with rust. I'm not going to drive across Dallas unless I've pretty much decided that I'm ready to do the work necessary to deal with that rust!

Where am I going with this project? Here it is. You might not be aware, but all the saws I've been looking at are "contractor" style saws. That means that they are basically pretty compact designs/ed to be mobile or semi-mobile, when detached from a stand or legs. Although, lucky to have a shop at all, I'm not blessed with a big one, therefore I need to maximize what space I have. What the above illustration shows is what can be done with a smaller (non-cabinet) saw where you can attach a router and use the "fence" and top for dual purposes. Of course, then, below it, the space is used for storage. Awesome right!?! Over the course of the next few weeks and months, you'll see a series of "posts" that will chronicle this transformation of my shop area....hopefully for the better!