Routers Reviews

Recieved my Router Bit set today and it was 1/4" instead of 1/2". As stated in an earlier review, the stickers were coming off and the hinges on the outside of the box are actually installed backwards so they open a little awkwardly. Just sent an email to Amazon to see if they would refund the difference between the 1/4 and 1/2" shanks and will have to wait to see what they say. I live in Hawaii so cannot afford the extra time for shipping back and forth this mistake has cost me.

Received item, bits are clearly 1/4" bits. Not sure if I was shipped the wrong item by mistake. The bits were all out of their spots, and the sticker that shows the cut each bit makes had already come off. Looks like it may have been returned before...I realize that its cheap, I didn't expect them to last a lifetime, but I did expect it to meet its description.

I cant say enough about the quality and preformance of this set
I used the roman ogee bit to run 63 pcs of 8' birch trim and the bit next smoked or burned once! It still looks like new!
I own a router, Mitersaw and some bits from this maker and I am really impressed.

I was happy with this until I tried to connect my Shop-Vac to it. The dust hood as well as the suppled adapter will not fit either size of standard Shop-Vac brand hose. Unfortunately this renders the entire item useless. I'm currently looking for another adapter or possibly I will have to make one. Maybe this is made to fit European sizes?

I have this dust hood. It does a good job keeping the dust out of the air when doing cuts off the edge of the piece. Don't let the shop-vac issue bother you. An adapter can be found at woodcraft or rockler for less than five bucks, and not breathing harmful dust is certainly work that.

The heavy router was in a cardboard box twice the size of the router with absolutely no packing and shipped via UPS. Needless to say the router arrived smashed into several pieces. I know this was not the fault of Amazon, because after several emails to customer service I was told the router comes directly from Bosch. I would have just exchanged the router but I then read through the other reviews of Bosch reconditioned tools on Amazon and found several people mention identical problems with packaging. There is obviously a pattern of perfunctory packaging with reconditioned Bosch products. Therefore, I got a refund and will probably just purchase a new one. The reconditioned kit is not much of a saving either. My router did not come with any of the kit accessories. I was expecting a � inch Collet Chuck, a � inch Collet, Template Guide, Chip Shield, Dust Extraction Hood, Vacuum Hose Adapter and the Carrying Case. After several more emails to customer service I was told only the collets, a dust hood, the template guides and wrench are included. My main reason for wanting the kit was to get the... Bosch case, which they told me is NOT included with the reconditioned kit. You have to buy a new kit to get the case.

The Bosach 1613 EVS router is a really good machine. The soft start prevents the router from jumping when it starts and possibly ruining a cut. The power switch is a trigger in the handle, more convenient and safer than a toggle switch on top of the unit. The depth setting has a multi-position turret, allowing deep cuts to be made gradually and repeatably. The depth setting itself is a little counter-intuitive, but makes sense once you've played with it for a few minutes. The 2 hp is enough that it has never bogged down on me, even while making 3/4" wide grooves in hardwood. All in all, a very good router, whose only glitch is the depth setting procedure.

I will begin this review by stating that this is my only disapointment with Freud brand Bit's to date and I would rate it a negitive 1 if it was an option . The first issue is that the over all height is short by a minimum of 1" to use with any kind of sled or carriage to safely guide the front and side drawer pieces. Freud warns to collet the bit a minimun of 80%, and I agree. But with a mere two inchs in length and half of that securred in the collet, there is not much height left to work and adjustments or clearences. The remaing height between the top of the collet and the top of the bit will barely allow the use of 1/2" stock. Don't even think about 3/4" material or working with safety jigs such as a sled or a vertical carrage. To use this bit without a sled or a carrage is awkward at best and dangerous just the same.
The second issue is that Freud does not include any set-up min / max suggestions.
Finally, do not....use this with laminated stock such as Baltic Birch or red oak plywood. Any cross grain cutting will ruined the material.
I will eat this experience (time, raw material, purchased price and shipping) and the bit will forever collect dust unless Freud will accept it back. I will go back to using reliable pocket screw and glue methods for now and seek more dove tail education.

Jim Jones,
Rochester NY

Honestly I'd give this 5 stars because of the nice joints it makes, but it loses one for absence of documentation. Normally I would not expect documentation with a router bit but this one is pretty tricky to use and should come with instructions.

First, nowhere in the packaging or on Amazon's site does it tell you that the drawer front MUST be 3/4" and the side can be either 3/4" or 1/2".

Second, it comes with no instructions and the setup is not straightforward. I found good instructions on the web site of a different manufacturer of drawer lock bits.

Third, nowhere is it mentioned that one has to use a sacrificial zero clearance fence when making a drawer lock joint in cabinet grade plywood. I used a spare piece of poplar. My tip: get the height set using one sacrificial fence, then cut a new one for the cleanest joints, because it is crucial to have zero clearance between the top of the bit and the fence. Even 1/16" will result in significant tear-out.

Last, because the setup is so fiddly, I do not recommend you use this bit for just a couple joints. If you are going to do a run of drawers its worth the effort, but not for one or two.

Freud 99-280 Recoverable Bead Glass Door Bit Set, do a beautiful job once you have zeroed in on the right settings. However doing that is a VERY difficult job, and is really frustrating. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Freud mysteriously provides no instructions , diagrams or even any recommendations for their use. I have tons of Freud blades and router bits, and my biggest complaint is they almost never have any instructions. The biggest problem with this bit set is when you remove the glass bead. If you are of a 32nd of an inch the tenons will be either to short or to long, and in the earlier case there is no way to correct it. I will still buy Freud products, but I wish they would spend a few bucks and create an instruction manual. Many of their competitors have already done so.

I just used these bits last night and had a heck of a time setting them up. When I finally did get them set they did a great job. Here is what I did - for the stick cut I lined up the black middle cutter with the center line of my 3/4" stock and made my cut. You can adjust from there if you wish. For the cope cut I had to use trial and error until I had a proper fit. Using a router lift like a JessEm works great for this. 3 stars to Freud for not including any instructions, 5 stars for the way the cutters cut. Don't bother calling Freud, they do not respond. HEY FREUD, HOW ABOUT SOME INSTRUCTIONS!!!!! CAN YOU HERE US NOW!!!!

The joker in India that assembled this thing should be fired (yes, it's made in India). The collet was installed backwards in the nut. I'd hate to think of what would happen if someone actually tried to use it as assembled.

Like another reviewer's, my collet was shipped from the factory assembled improperly, with the collet inserted backwards in the locking nut. Ridiculous. I was quite nervous about reversing the piece without damaging the brand-new parts, but they are basically pressure-fitted, and can be removed and reinstalled with a pair of (strong) bare hands.

Now it works fine, although I find installation of bits more of a nuisance than with my Bosch router.

Gave this item 1 star because a rating of zero was not available. It arrived without intructions for hook-up, there is no enclosure to keep connections shielded or to facilitate attachement to a table and to top it off, one of the connectors was broken off when it arrived so it is completely unusable. Found this to be a waste of $...oh well.

Works great once you wire it in. Comes with no wiring diagram. So,
you need to understand electrical wiring or have someone that knows to help. Other than that switch is well made and works great. It will work with any router or table. I used it with a bench dog router table and a makita router.

I HAVE 7 MILWAUKEE 18V POWER TOOLS. I HAVE GONE THROUGH 12 OR MORE BATTERIES. THEIR BATTERIES SUCK! THE TOOLS WON'T WEAR OUT, BUT THE BATTERIES WILL NOT LAST. IN A NORMAL DAY I WILL USE 5-6 BATTERIES COMPARED TO 2 DEWALTS ON THE SAME TYPE TOOL. I'M SELLING THE MILWAUKEES AND CHANGING TO DEWALT.

Though I did not buy brand new 18v Milwaukee batteries from Amazon (yet) more customers need to be aware their Ni-Cad 18v series has major issues. I bought a multipiece kit, impact wrench, and one extra battery. Not 10 months later, ALL batteried began losing charge in a matter of days to the point the charger would not recharge them they were so dead. No other brand of Ni-Cad's have done this. NOT ONE. And I have 3 other brands, and one generic American Gardner 18v bush trimmer battery.

Milwaukee 18v batteries are complete junk, and not worth a dime.

Look for their 18v lithium series though. Since I have their tools aready, I dont have much choice but to pay (what I'm sure to be) an insanly high price for one.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocoststuff.biz/amazon

Received it as a gift - like most reviewers I agree that the screws are wrong, they don't fit the slot properly and make it difficult to insert the slider into the table guide. I will probably throw it away and not dissapoint my daughter.

Also one of the turn-screw threads was filled with plastic - took me fifteen minutes to clean it out enough to thread it on.

The push stick is rounded slick plastic and I would have to put some rubber or something on the end of it before trying to use it.

The cheap plastic has sharp edges and must be trimmed and cleaned up for any sustained use.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS PRODUCT

Don't bother!! The screws never tightened down into the table saw groove. The product is useless. Just sorry that I wasn't smart enough to send it right back when I got it. Live and learn

The price seems good, but it's still not worth it. Product is flimsy and poorly made. I bought it for use with a Craftsman table saw and it will not fit into the slots in any useful way. The slopy fit probally makes this product dangerous.

I returned this fence. Using the words "Heavy Duty" in the description by Incra?... must be a joke. I would give it zero stars and a Mr. Yuck if that were an option. I am a box maker, using fairly small stock, even so, I found this fence to be very inadequate in it's ability to stay in place ("flat, square, and on 1 plane) when feeding stock against the cutter. This is a serious issue, considering Incra touts the extreme accuracy and incremental measuring capability of this fence to the finest degree.(All of which becomes totally useless if the thing won't stay flat or square under pressure.) You can put a 64th incremental measuring tape sticker on anything...doesn't mean it'll be accurate.
If you need very accurate surfaces, don't waste your time on this fence. If you don't need extreme accuracy, use a jointed 2 x 6 (which , by the way, I have had better results with, than the Incra.) #-(

Ps: I purchased this and returned it the same week in 2002. Perhaps it has been improved since then. Looks the same to me though.

I returned this fence. I would give it zero stars and a Mr. Yuck if that were an option. I am a box maker, using fairly small stock, even so, I found this fence to be very inadequate in it's ability to stay in place when feeding stock against the cutter. This is a serious issue, considering Incra touts the extreme accuracy and incremental measuring capability of this fence to the finest degree.(All of which becomes totally useless if the thing won't stay flat or square under pressure.) You can put a 64th incremental measuring tape sticker on anything...doesn't mean it'll be accurate.
If you need very accurate surfaces, don't waste your time on this fence. If you don't need extreme accuracy, use a jointed 2 x 6 (which , by the way, I have had better results with, than the Incra.) #-(

After using the Bench Dog fence for a while, I felt an urge for something with a bit more precision. Not that the Bench Dog was a bad fence, but I'm a sucker for accuracy, and the Incra Jig Ultra combined with the Wonder Fence offer solid, repeatable adjustments. After looking everything over at the store I decided to spend the admittedly steep price of admission.

I'm not sure where the other reviewer's complaint comes from. Out of the box, without the LS extender, the Wonder Fence uses edge clamps, much like the Bench Dog. And it is ever bit as rigid as that fence as well. In the solo configuration the fence offer the kind of micrometer adjustments that one is used to in metal machining hardware. The two sides of the split fence can be adjusted independently, (depth and gap) which turns the average router table into a jointing and shaping station as well. The hi-rise fence cap works perfectly for panel raising and vertical milling as well.

The real power of this fence becomes apparent when it is used with the Incra Jig Ultra with the LS-positioner. Now you can move the fence in 1/32" increments with 1000th of inch adjustments. This is a spooky level of accuracy in woodwork.

The biggest drawback is the learning curve. Once you want the Incra set up to do more than be a simple fence, you have to learn how to use it, and everywhere you turn there are things to turn. Incra may have a talent for high-end accuracy, but as manual writers they are only so-so. Expect to put in some learning and experiment time. Then expect to go crazy making exotic joints.

[Part VI of 'How to Build a Really Expensive Router Table']