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Help me out, please.

I have the colt router, which i treated rather bad over the years so maybe a replacement is lurking in the near future. it´s the only router i´ve had so far, i think it´s an OK router but i really loath the height adjustment so if i buy a new one i think i´ll try a different one. In the EU i can get the DeWalt D26204K model, which i guess is similar to de 611 so popular around here (it comes with a trimmer and a plunge base). so the questions are:

- would you recommend one over the other?
- will the base of the DeWalt fit my binding jig (its the Garry Hallam jig, an aluminium "architect lamp" arm jig), which is tailored for the colt?


thanks in advance,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I just bought a Ridgid laminate trimmer (our 8th router) because I liked the fine adjustment. The fine adjustment is better than any of the other 7 (2 Makita, 2 Bosch, Skill, Porter Cable, Old Black & Decker ).

I don't know if the Dewalt and Rigid share the same base, but I also have to recommend the Rigid. I've seen a lot of laminate trimmers, and these are quite good for the price. Of course, tomorrow a different Chinese factory will get the contract and they will share little with the current version. But for now I know a lot of carpenters and woodworkers who rely on these.

ridgid plus 1

The DeWalt design seems similar to the PC310, PC309 and the Rockwell 64 (my old favorite) . I like the the way the bases fit to the router and the adjustment ring for precision adjustments. The DeWalt does seem a little large for a trimmer, but I even use the PC 690 one handed on occasion so it is something I'm sure you could get used to.
The DeWalt is about 3/4 lb heavier than the colt so that might be a consideration for the binding jig.
The Ridgid seems to be the new Favorite, but I'm not impressed.

I will answer ur question directly. Buy the Dewalt, deeper collet, easier adjustment, and precisebits.com supports it. Not so much with the colt. They used to love the colt then the quality went downhill. TIR increased, and plastic stuff failed.

We like the Dewalt too and we also specifically evaluated both Laminate trimmers (and others) for our saddle mill. Our goal was the closest thing to the PC 310 which was the standard that all others were judged against.

The Dewalt won for what Mike said. I'll add that the amount of runout on the Dewalt was significantly less than the Colt which was "critical to quality" for us to incorporate it in our Collins Saddle Mill product.

We and our clients have not been sorry we went with Dewalt.

thanks for the input. Can´t seem to find the ridgid brand this side of the pond. weight is a good thing to take into consideration, thanks for that.

I just discovered that a friend of mine has the deWalt router, i think i´ll visit and take my colt base and check the fit.

thanks again,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I've got a DeWalt laminate trimmer that includes the plunge base. I really like it. Seems well made to me. Good for various uses. I use the plunge base for saddle slots... I do use a Porter Cable on my Fleishman binding jig. It doesn't have the best depth adjustment, but I had it when I made the jig and I have always used it...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I'm curious to know what you don't like about the height adjustment on the Colt? I rather like it on mine. You have to release the latch to make it work.

So what is wrong with the colt? Is it a bearings and brushes thing? (about $20) If it is still limping along you could keep it in the binding jig and get another trimmer for everything else.

Is it a particular model of DeWalt that you guys are talking about?

The one available in the UK seems to be : DWE6005...

Dave

On mine, at least, it's totally random whether or not the thumbwheel/screw adjuster mechanism engages or not, and when it does engage, whether it will stay engaged. Also, the height of the bit changes about 4 or 5 thousandths when closing the latch which matters when cutting binding channels.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I have not noticed that on mine but I don't use it for bindings either. It could be that their quality of production varied wildly too IDK. But to be clear you are supposed to undu the latch but keep it in the locked mode when micro adjusting, then close the latch.

Yea, I do keep it in the locked mode with the latch open, but the mechanism doesn't engage reliably. You may be right about quality variation.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

On my (UK equivalent) Bosch, the router body has to be inserted and then turned to engage the height adjuster. Took me a little time to figure it out.
Height adjustment is not the best, but I try to release the clamp only just enough for the adjuster to move for fine adjustments.
If I open it much more, or heavens forbid, fully, things tend to get a bit "wobbly"

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Go to a store and mess with the dewalt. U will see how much easier it is to adjust. It also has LED lighting. There was a time when the Colt could be counted on for quality and low TIR. No more. Plus that shallow collet makes me nervous

this. maybe i abused it in the past, i started using it out of the box without ever using one before or reading the manual. but another friend of mine also has the colt and says his height adjustment is also unreliable, exactly in the same way as with mine and, at least, J de Rocher.

best,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

nothing wrong, but another router is always handy and the height adjustment not working properly makes me want to try another model. i´ll still use it for other tasks, like slotting the peghead.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

this is the one: http://www.axminster.co.uk/dewalt-d2620 ... 1-4-952707

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Depth of collet is important. Besides safety issues, you have bearing issues. Shallow collets (like Colt) can put excessive stress and wear on the top bearing. It’s just a dumb design. Maybe ok for 1/8” shank. But not 1/4”

Exactly! When we did our evaluation of all of the Lam trimmers the Colt did very poorly. We measured nearly .005" runout and one of our apprentices who is opening a shop in California also measured the same amount of runout. He got several of the Colts from a big box store and every one of them he measured had around .005" of runout.

For the Collins Saddle Mill runout was a deal breaker and we needed something that could be tuned with a PreciseBits bit to .001" or less of runout. We found it in the Dewalt and that's what we settled on.

Excessive runout may not be as much of a deal breaker for binding as it is for a saddle slot but OTOH what benefit is there to runout.... none.

Thanks Miguel

Sorry to revive an old topic but I just received the DeWalt router with fixed and plunge base and what a good tool it feels like. So much better than the standard quarter inch router that many people buy in the UK. I won't name names

I shall be rebuilding my binding jig to take it but can see me using it for much more than that.

Thanks for the people who reviewed. Dave

Miguel, Ridgid is the Home Depot house brand.

Steve