Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all,
I am considering picking up a palm router for binding. I've seen a few in peoples posts, but wonder what are your favorites? Bosch, Dewalt, Rigid? Which brand and model you you all like? It seems some of the various jigs are designed for the Bosch colt, but I am open. BTW, fixed or variable speed, plunge base or not?

I replaced the Porter Cable router on my binding jig with the Rigid. MUCH easier to make micro height adjustments. Great router.

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It will probably be alright.

I use a Bosch Colt as my smaller router for the same reasons I use a Porter Cable 690 as my larger router: it is a reasonably good router, and most aftermarket stuff fits it.

I replaced my Bosch Colt with a Dewalt 611. Deep bit socket. Lighted too, and easy to adjust height.

I hate changing bits between operations! My solution is to have sereral routers. This way I can set it and forget, at least until the bit gets dull. My current favorite is the little makita. It's just nicely made. The fine adjustment is lacking, but if I'm setting it up once in a while, who cares?! The colts were once considered the units to have and many of my jigs are based on their bases so they will remain in the collection.

I have the Dewalt, myself. Nice to have around, but I mostly keep it on my binding routing jig.

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Tony Thatcher
Bozeman, Montana

I have a Colt. Fine tuning the cutting depth is crazy difficult.
The micro-adjust wheel does not work for me, and unclamping and re-clamping the base can cause the bit to not be perpendicular to the base. I do like the variable speed, switch placement, and long power cord, and I have not noticed any runout.

I bought a Makita to replace it, but I have not used it yet.
It is lacking a fine adjustment too, but it came with a fixture that should work for binding channels.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I have the Bishop Cochran router base for the Bosch Colt, so the shortcomings in the Colt's stock base don't matter to me. The Colt also fits my LMI binding jig.

Like I said, it is a good enough router for most things. If I were to switch, I would have to change a lot of stuff that I don't want to change.

Unless you are attaching BC Router Base to LMI Binding Jig, won't you still have depth adjustment problem on the binding jig?

I also use the colt for my binding w the stewmac router jig


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I.m lazy I have abt 12 small rtrs 3 hf 3 ryobi 3 porter cable ridgid, and a few others , they all work . Find one you like . Visit homeless depot Lowes or wherever you have a hardware store and check the product . If u can return it ? then you can try it ? if you don/t like it can it be returned for a better one.

Mike--

I don't use the Bishop Cochran in the LMI binding jig; I just use the regular Colt base. It is not a problem, because all I need from the Colt base is a ballpark depth adjustment. The fine tuning is done with the screw in/out plastic donut on the LMI base, which works great for getting the vertical depth of cut perfect.

I have a Colt and l agree that the depth adjustment mechanism is a PITA to use. I still use it because it fits my Bishop Cochran base and my binding jig. I've learned how to incorporate fudge factors into the depth adjustment process to make it work, but I don't like it. Otherwise it's a fine router. Once the depth is dialed in, it cuts very accurately.

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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

Has anyone tried the new Bosch plunge base for the Colt? How accurate is it?

I have a couple of the Rigid laminate trimmers. Micro adjust works great. I'll keep buying them when they go on sale for $99.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I didn't know about that. Cool. I built my jig. Had a colt on it for a long while, but then got tired of the adjustment.

Just so you know, precisebits.com has collets etc for the Dewalt 611 and others. The PG grade is good enough (according to them). They used to sell for Colt, but they hated how the quality went downhill. They especially hated the shallow depth of the collet (among other things). Anyways, collets for the the dewalt run ~$25. Not bad. I only wish Bishop Cocharan would step up and build a base for the dewalt.

+1 for the Rigid.

Steve

I have one, and I like it. Haven't found any slop in any direction. I wish they'd have made it a bit smaller, because for the size of the router it seems like they could have. It's nearly the size of the base for my PC 690.

I have three Colts, one Ridgid, and one PC7310. After using the depth adjustment on the PC, NO other manufacturers' depth adjustment seems hard to use. That one is for my 1/8" roundover bit.
I don't mind the Colt's adjustment, but the Ridgid is better. Like Alex, I plan to keep buying Ridgids when I can get them for $100 or so.

I would stay away from the Harbor Freight routers. I purchased a couple of their trimmers several years ago and they were total junk. The spindle not only wobbled, but also went up and down. One lit off in my hand like a flare.
I have at least a dozen trimmers of various makes. They all have idiosyncrasies,but once you become familiar with them they all work reasonably well.
I would suggest you find one that fits your hand and that the base is easy to adjust. There are a lot of new models on the market, and some that people extolled the virtues of and flocked to, are now no longer the "go to" tools.

I've got one of the colt plunge bases. I think it's well machined but find the plunge counter spring to be a little too strong for guitar work. I find I have to use too much downforce for some operations. I prefer the plunge base for the Makita.

Has anyone but me noticed the shallow depth of the Bosch colt collet chamber? Scary. Probably ok for 1/8” shank. Heck, I use one in my Bishop Cochran base. But I no longer am comfortable using a 1/4” shank bit in it. I had one shake itself to pieces on a 1/4” bit.

If bosch was interested in producing a quality palm router, they would follow Rigid and Dewalts lead. They have been more interested in satisfying big box store price points.

"If bosch was interested in producing a quality palm router, they would follow Rigid and Dewalts lead. They have been more interested in satisfying big box store price points."

That is a common ailment of all tool makers these days. They can make more money producing throw away tools for the mass market than making quality tools that would last a professional a lifetime. Most consumers look at the price rather than the quality. And for many this makes sense. Joe homeowner that is going to whack a few 2X4's doesn't need a worm drive to do it. The homeowner market is much larger than the professional one.
The older 1608 &1609 Bosch trimmers were decent little machines.They worked fine for trimming laminates. The first Ridgid trimmers I used were cheesy little things with plastic bases. They didn't stand up to daily use. Early DeWalt trimmers looked like the were PC7310's with cosmetic surgery.
For most of us and the limited use we make of them, any decent trimmer will last as long as we will be making guitars.

With the retirement of the last Bosch Colt in the shop (this is another term for 'I can't find it - has anyone seen Colt #2?'), we have just the Ridgid R2401's in service for guitar work - six at last count. The two R2400's that were in service when I started here both need top bearings after about 10 years each of moderate use - as neither was registered with Ridgid for the lifetime warranty, it's cheaper to toss them and replace with the R2401. Metal base, electronic control, superior micro-adjust, and a deep, well machined collet. The only complaint is the lack of a stock bushing base, and the fact that the R2400 bushing base fits, but is not properly centered for consistent offsets when used with a bushing set for things like the 42 style instruments we have been working on.

Before I hurt my ankle (and ended up taking an unplanned vacation from the shop), we were looking at trialing the DeWalt 611 for jobs where the larger, heavier body would be less of an issue, but I am not certain of the status of that effort...they do look like capable machines, despite what appears to be a much coarser height adjustment scheme than the Ridgid, and - like the Makita - all that metal is good to see.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower