inexpensive routers, East European market
Hey Y’all,
I moved to Tallinn, Estonia four years ago, and am just now getting back into furniture making for our household: mostly bookcases, kitchen cabinets, and other storage.
As power tools in this little corner of the world are quite expensive–we Americans don’t realize how lucky we are!–I was wondering, if anyone could advise me on the current state of some of the made-in-China offerings? At the moment, I’m cruising my local big-box Home Depot/Loew’s-like chains (the finnish K-Rauta, the germans Bauhof and Bauhaus, and the russian ABC Ehituse), looking at the plunge router offerings. The following three are currently on sale, in the hundred dollar range:
1) Skil (I forgot to write down the model number, dang it), 1300 watt (I think), with 3 collets–6mm, 8mm, and 1/4″ I can’t remember whether it has a micrometer adjustment. (I may have to go back and see that one again, and write down some details. Sorry.)
2) Bosch POF 1100AE, 1100 watt, 6mm and 8mm collets. Discontinued model, superceeded by 1200- and 1400-watt models. This was the “cheapest” of the Bosch “green line.”
3) Nu-Tool (a belgain marketer of chinese knockoffs), which is a dead ringer for my U.S. market Elu 3304,which I bought in 1993 and just love! (History review for the young ‘uns: Elu got snarfed up by B&D, and the designs went into the DeWalt router line at that time.)
The other option is that I can continue to plug my 110-volt U.S.-market Elu into a voltage converter. But, I have a tiny collection of bits. My Elu has a 1/4″ collet, but local shank sizes here are 6mm and 8mm. Which are *close* to 1/4″ and “1/2, but not quite. (Of course, Whiteside and other U.S. bits makers ship abroad, I suppose, so this is not the biggest concern. But, maybe now is a good time to switch to the bigger, safer collet anyway…)
Will running my Elu in a converter (for the long term) hurt its variable-speed electronic innards?
Or, should I spend some more money, and buy a blue-line Bosch or whatever? (I’m open to suggestions, particularly from those familiar with Euro models.)
Thanks for letting me think out loud, y’all. –George
Replies
If I were you I'd keep using the Elu router with a converter as long as possible, which could be a very long time. All you need is 6mm and 8mm collets for it, which should be available anywhere via internet, and give you complete flexibility regarding the bits you use. They will cost a lot less than a new router.
My experience is a bit different than yours, but I've found that routers generally do not need local service. If you keep on hand replacement carbon brushes and collets, you're probably good to go for years with the Elu.
When you do get ready to buy any electric tools, start shopping around all of Europe. You won't find prices as low as the USA but you'll probably do much better than locally in Estonia. I'll bet that there are good deals right now in Greece for instance.
inexpensive routers, East European market
Hi Dave,
Wow, thanks for the great idea. I love this router, and I was going to box it up and ship it to a friend back home. But, yeah, why not just use it until something goes wrong? I'm still wondering about the long-term effects of a voltage converter on its variable-speed electronics.
(I had read somewhere, that a Makita 12-volt battery charger for the English market does not like being plugged into a voltage converter, and that doing so voids its warranty. I don't know if that's the truth, or just Makita's strategy to protect its continental European distributors and dealers. Ha, ha!)
I just realized, that we have a DeWalt service center here in Tallinn. I'll bet the collets and brushes are still available for this little 3304. (I haven't shopped the DeWalt line lately, but I do remember after the acquisition about 15 years ago, that DeWalt's offering model in this catagory was a twin of the Swiss original, just a new yellow body to replace the gray.) Heck, those guys might have an answer about the electronics: maybe there's a way of swapping something--a relay? a condenser? surely not the whole motor?--so that it will run on our 230-volt grid.
Anyway, thanks again. You just added significantly to my portable planer budget. :-)
By the way, my wife's professional chamber choir toured Israel one year ago. Everyone in the group just loved it. Special place, to be sure.
And, I really enjoyed seeing the samples of your kitchens. Wow!
--George (who don't know much about eee-lek--trish-tee, obviously)
Using US tools in Europe
I don't know a lot about electricity either, but as far as I've learned there's no problem with the converter from 220V to 120V for your tool. The issues may arise because of the difference in cycles - all of Europe runs on 50HZ while the US is at 60Hz. Your converter can't change that. But I don't think that you will suffer if the router ran a bit slower than the maximum speed it was built to run.
Regarding battery chargers - I've got a pile of DeWalt 18V cordless tools that I bought in the US and brought to Israel in 2006. The chargers are plugged into voltage converters and haven't given me a problem in 4 years. On the other hand, I know that those chargers are very touchy about fluctuating current supply. Using them with jobsite generators usually burns 'em up fast.
Coletts
You should be able to buy 1/4" coletts quite easily. Probably even locally.
inexpensive routers, East European market
Wow! First Israel, and now Malta is chiming in! I didn't realize that Taunton Press had such a wide following outside north America! (Okay, there's three of us anyway.)
Maybe I wasn't clear. I bought my Elu in the U.S. eighteen years ago, and it has the 1/4" collet now. If I buy router bits locally, I'd would only find bits with either 6mm or 8mm shanks.
But, yes, your point is well taken: I didn't realize that I can switch collets! (Duh!) So, all I need to do is find 8mm collet (safer than 6mm, I'm guessing, especially for larger bits), and switch it.
Thanks for your idea.
--George (who played trombone in the opera house in Turin/Torino for four years, and made it as far south as Sardinia on an orchestra tour. Not quite to Malta...)
Giorgio
Hi from the Falkland Islands. I'll try to paste a web address here for you
OK it didn't work, it doesn't like Firefox, however Google Foreign Voltages and Frequencies Guide - US Army
T. M. 5-688. Its a pdf that will answer all you wanted to know and lots you didn't, on the effects of voltage and frequency.
Good luck
wot
Collets
Guess what !! Freud and the Festool 1400 collets fit the DeWalt 625 (Elu clone). So my guess is that you can get the metric versions from either of them to fit your Elu. That is if your Elu is the 3hp plunge.
George
Your Elu is basically an Elu MOF96 (what they were called in Europe). The collets are about 15 to 20 Euros and they can still be had from lots of places, especially as DW still sell a router which uses the same collets (DW613). If a problem try Trend in watford, England or Axminster Power Tools also in England.They still make 6mm, 1/4in and 8mm. 1/4in are common bit shanks in the UK and Ireland. As to running a 115 volt tool on a transformer, the type of site transformer used on building sites in the UK will work brilliantly - input 230 volts, output 115 volts. I've had Porter-Cable 120 volt stuff from the USA (and US-bought Festo routers, Bosch drills, etc) running this way for years.
Don't know about the battery chargers not working on transformers, but I have been warned about not running Makita battery chargers on the output from portable generators. Apparently the output fluctuations are what can kill them.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled