Carpentry and Woodworking - router

I have an old Craftsman 3/8" router whose bearings are shot. Also the bits for it are very much outmoded. I am interested in purchasing a new router. Should it be a fixed base or a plunge? Should it be a 1/4" collet or a 1/2" collet. My woodworking aspirations are modest. Mostly I would use this for edge cuts and making joints.

Thanks.

Most routers that have decent horsepower will come with both 1/4 and 1/2" collets enabling you to use either. 1/4" is for light routering, while 1/2" collets are for larger bits that you might not ever have or need. But it's nice to have that option if you ever wanted to. If the router doesn't come with the 1/2" collet, you can usually get one as an accessory (provided the router has enough HP... your cheaper routers might not come with the bigger collet because they aren't built to handle the stress. A good sign you should probably avoid that model altogether, IMO).

As far as whether you need the plunge option, it's useful on some occasions, and I'd hate to have just one router and not have the plunge option. If you never anticipate doing any plunge routering, then you don't need it- but you never know what you might want to do in the future, so I'd say get it so that you have the option.

Personally I have several routers- the large plunge router is a little big to be running over a board when all I need to do is make a 1/4" roundover. So I use a smaller router for that. So perhaps you don't need the big honkin router- a smaller one might suit your needs- it's hard for us to say.

Some guys like to also have the ability to mount their router into a router table- if so, you might want one that has an easy height adjustment crank that fits into the base of the router when it is mounted upside down. Just something else to consider.

Xsleeper isn't as sleepy as the name might imply...:cool:

I too have two routers - a 1/4" Makita I use for the small stuff, 1/4" round overs, etc. and bosch 1/2" plunge router for the big serious work.

X is right, though. If you don't anticipate the need (or don't have the budget for) a big plunge router, a small one will be sufficient for most needs.

Horsepower and RPM are a definite consideration. If it ain't got the guts, it's useless, no matter how cheap (or expensive).

I think a decent place to start is with a combo kit with both fixed and plunge bases. I agree that, at least for your first router, anything that can't handle 1/2" bits is probably too small.