 You can't buy more powerful routers than the eleven models we put through their paces for this article. These machines have the ponies to plow large-diameter bits through hardwoods without flinching. Of course, such bits should never be used in a handheld tool. That's why you'll often find these units hanging around the shop inside a router table.
To give these extreme tools a real-world workout, we made raised-panel doors in red oak. This allowed us to compare power, cut quality, coarse- and fine-depth adjustments, and ease of bit-changing with each router mounted in a table. For handheld use, we evaluated each tool while routing progressively deeper mortises, such as you might find where a table apron meets a leg. Except for the Milwaukee 5625-20 and the Porter-Cable 7518, all of the models are plunge routers, so during this test we also observed plunge smoothness and the ease of using locks, depth stops, etc.
The big five wish list for monster routers:
- Power. This is why you spend the extra money for a router in this class: Less-powerful routers just won't hold up under the strain of muscling a big bit through hardwood. So, to test the mettle of these tools, we used 3 1/2"-diameter Freud raised-panel bits with back cutters (which machine a rabbet on the back of the panel at the same time) and routed a near-full-depth cut with each machine running at its lowest speed (8,000--12,000 rpm, depending on the tool).
- Firm-gripping collet. If a router bit's shank slips in the collet, the bit can creep up or down causing inaccurate cuts. At worst, the bit can come out of the collet and pose a hazard. After installing the raised-panel bit, but before making any cuts, we marked index lines on both the bit shank and router collet to detect any vertical or rotational slippage.
- Clean cuts. With the first pass complete on all of our panels, we reset the fence to remove another 1/32" and made our final cleanup cuts with the raised-panel bits. We next measured collet runout (wobble) 2" above each collet using a precision-ground steel rod, and a dial indicator.
- Easy bit changes. To machine the rails and stiles of our raised-panel doors, we installed one half of a CMT rail-and-stile set in each router. Some of the tested routers require two wrenches for changing bits; others use a spindle lock (a push button or sliding plate) and one wrench.
- Easy height adjustments. We found it easy to adjust the bit height on three tested routers when table-mounted. The rest require lots of tedious turns of a smallish knob to make large cutting-height changes.
Find out which routers earned Top Tool and Top Value honors, and learn the results of our testing of the Bosch 1619EVS, Dewalt DW625, Fein RT-1800, Festool OF2000E-Plus, Freud FT2000EPK, Hitachi M12V, Makita 3612C, Milwaukee 5625-20, Porter-Cable 7518 and 7539, and the Triton TRC001 when you pick up the September 2005 issue of WOOD magazine and turn to page 74. Or you can download the review for only $4.95.
For the complete review including performance ratings click here.
Editor's Choice Top Tools: DeWalt DW625, Milwaukee 5625-20
Editor's Choice Top Values: Freud Ft2000EPK, Hitachi M12V
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