Synopsis: Fine Woodworking’s Tom Begnal identifies with woodworkers who use a router just a couple times a week. He evaluates eight 2-hp models to see how fussy the machines are to turn on and off, change router bits and set the plunge depth. He looked at what it takes to set switch locks and plunge-lock mechanisms and checked how multiple-stop systems work. He checked handles for comfort and judged each router for noise, vibration, and runout. And then he tested them on how they ran through a sheet of plywood.

Some woodworkers run a router every day, using bits nearly as big as a fist and hogging out enough material in a morning to cover a shop floor in thick sawdust. Others rarely use a router, perhaps once a month or less, and use it only to do light-duty work. Then there are those many woodworkers, me included, whose needs fall somewhere between those extremes.

We middle-of-the-road woodworkers are likely to use a router once or twice a week. Our routers are used for a little of everything—from shaping profiles to cutting joinery. So choosing from among the many machines on the market can be daunting.

A router on the low end of the horsepower scale isn’t an answer, because it’s going to struggle when called on to make occasional heavy cuts. Granted, you can solve that by making a series of lighter cuts, but that can quickly become a nuisance, especially when there’s a lot of machining to do.

On the other hand, one of the big hp routers can handle almost any task. But those wide-bodies are a bit awkward to use when you’re simply cutting a in.-radius roundover on a small tabletop. Plus, your wallet usually has to open a lot wider when it comes time to buy one.

That’s why midsized plunge routers, those in the 2-hp class, appeal to me. They have enough muscle to tackle most tasks, yet they’re relatively easy to handle. Unlike a fixed-base router, a plunge router lets you lower the spinning bit straight down into a workpiece. That makes it a good choice for those who cut a lot of stopped grooves, dadoes and mortises.

So with that in mind, I gathered all eight of the midsized plunge routers currently available: the Black & Decker RP400, Bosch 1613AEVS, DeWalt DW621, Festool (formerly Festo) OF 2000 EPlus, Makita RP1101, Porter-Cable 7529, Craftsman 27510 and Skil 1845-02. And with the routers side by side in the Fine Woodworking shop, I was able to give each one a close look and a test drive.

Several of these routers are new in one form or another. For example, the Makita is new to the plunge-router market. Another, the Bosch 1613AEVS, is just now replacing an earlier model, the 1613EVS.

From Fine Woodworking #149

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