Cmplmnts f Fn Wdwrkng T l T s t Rutrs fr Rutr Tabls Nw-brd mdls spar yu t xpns f a rutr lft B y R l a n d J n s n abv-tabl adjustmnts mak t dffrn A tabl-muntd rutr an b vry vrsatl. But t s mprtant t s a rutr tat s dsgnd xprssly fr tat purps. T bst allw bt bt-gt adjustmnts and bt angs frm abv t tabl. A rutr tat maks yu ra undrnat fr ts rutn adjustmnts wll qukly bm annyng t us. 54 F I N E w d w r k n g Pt, ts pag (rgt): Mal Pkv
Rutrs ar amng t mst vrsatl tls n t sp t g-t gar wn yu want mldd dgs n lumbr, dads n st stk, mrtss fr ls tnns, r multpl urvd ps tat mat a tmplat. Rutrs ar n lngr just andld tls. Mr and mr wdwrkrs kp n muntd n a tabl. Tat gvs mr prs ntrl vr a varty f wrk, usng bts tat trws wuld b t bg t us safly. A tabl allws t us f fatrbards, ld-dwns, a mtr gaug, and tr ads tat wn t wrk wt a andld rutr. Wt a tabl-muntd rutr, yu an rat mldngs n larg r small stk, mak rasd panls usng larg bts, ut sldng dvtals, and mu mr. Untl rntly, t bst way t marry rutr and tabl was wt a rutr lft, an xpnsv dv tat lds t rutr and allws yu t ang bts and adjust uttng gt frm abv t tabl. Nw, a nw gnratn f rutrs wt a spalzd bas tratns t mak t rutr lft bslt. Ty prms t sam nvnnt abv-t-tabl bt adjustmnt wtut t xpns f a sparat lft. Aftr tstng svn f ts nw rutrs, lkng manly at w andy ty ar t us, I fund tat at last n dlvrs fully n t prms f nvnn. T tls I tstd rang n pr frm abut $175 t $300. Ty av 1 2-n. and 1 4-n. llts, and mst av a 12-amp mtr fr abut 2 1 4 p; t Mlwauk lams 3 1 4 p. Mst ar fxd-bas mdls; as t tabl n p. 58 nts, sm m wt a sparat plung bas fr andld us. (T Trtn s dffrnt: It ds vrytng wt ts plung bas.) A majrty av 1 1 8 n. t 1 3 8 n. f bt travl wt t rank, a typal and adquat amunt fr abv-tabl bt angs. T Rdgd and t Trtn av 1 13 16 n. and 2 1 4 n. f travl, rsptvly. Adjustablty vars wdly Wn t rutr s attad upsd dwn t t rutr tabl and s ut f asy ra, smpl, sur, and asy bt-gt adjustmnts frm abv t tabltp ar rual. Tat s t mst mprtant fatur n ts rutr typ baus yu ll us t mst ftn. I qukly fund sgnfant dffrns. T Trtn as t bst dsgn. Its plung bas mvs n a rak-and-pnn assmbly. Yu mak ars and fn adjustmnts t t bt gt wt an asly turnd Hgt adjustmnt Crank t up. All t tls fr adjustng bt gt wrkd wll. Graduatd dals n t Prtr-Cabl and t Trtn ar nt vry usful. Unlampng t mtr. T adjust t gt f t rutr bt n mst f t mdls, t mtr lamp must frst b lsnd. On t Prtr-Cabl (lft) and t Frud, yu an st r rlas t mtr lk frm abv t tabl. T rd ngags a am tat mvs t lkng lvr. But yu av t ra undr t tabltp t gt t t lk fr t Mlwauk (abv), t Bs, t Craftsman, and t Rdgd. T Trtn s lvr dsgn mans yu an skp t lkng stp altgtr. rank andl. T gt adjustr als as a ratt mansm tat ms nt play wn t bt s xtndd r rtratd fully. It s a n fatur, w kps yu frm rankng t bt t far and lps rdu strss n t rak-and-pnn assmbly. Lk tr rutrs, t Trtn as a mtr lk. But unlk mst tr rutrs, yu dn t av t tgtn t t mantan t uttng gt n us. I fund tat t rakand-pnn assmbly stayd put. Fr t rrd, t wnr s manual rmmnds usng t mtr lk fr avy uts. On t tr rutrs, yu nd t unlk t mtr n rdr t mv t bt up r dwn, tn lk t mtr agan. On t Prtr-Cabl and t Frud, yu an lk r unlk t mtr frm abv t tabl, usng t sam andl usd t ang t bt gt. Mtr lamps n t www.fnwdwr k n g.m J a n u a r y / F b r u a r y 2 0 0 7 55
Bt-angng: n wrn r tw? Easst bt-angng. T Trtn (abv) as a wll-dsgnd spndl lk, and t lfts t llt abv t tabl s yu nd nly n wrn fr bt angs. T Prtr-Cabl (lft) s n f svral rutrs tat nd tw wrns fr bt angs; but at last yu an d t frm abv t tabl. Bs, Craftsman, Mlwauk, and Rdgd rutrs an b wrkd nly by rang undr t tabl. Tat s nnvnnt, spally f yur rutr tabl as an nlsd bas. Tw ffr quk bt angs Yu mgt tnk tat a rutr mant fr a rutr tabl wuld b dsgnd s yu uld ang bts wtut avng t ra undr t tabl r lft t rutr fr. Yu ftn wuld b wrng. Bt angs ar t bggst r n t Bs, t Craftsman, and t Mlwauk. Tr llts dn t xtnd abv t tabl and ty dn t av spndl lks. Yu av t ra undr t tabl wt tw wrns r rmv t rutr frm t tabl. T tr rutrs ar bttr. T andst ar t Frud and t Trtn. Bt av llts tat xtnd abv t tabl and asy-t-ra spndl lks. Yu nd nly n wrn t ang bts n ts tw. T Prtr-Cabl falls smwr n btwn: It s a gd bas systm but as sm nnvnnt dtals. It as a llt lk, but yu an ra t nly frm blw t tabl. T mpnsat, t ms wt a par f wrns, n f w s rankd fr us frm abv. But a plast p guard/dust dfltr gts n t way f t wrns and wn t lt t llt xtnd abv t tabl. Frtunatly, yu an rmv t guard. Tr ar tw ways t ang bts n t Rdgd, bt nnvnnt. Yu an rank t llt nut abv t tabl and us n wrn. But t d tat, yu must ra undr t tabl t prss t spndl lk. Or yu an us tw wrns. But t d tat asly, yu must tak t rutr ut f t tabl. Cllt runut an afft prfrman A rutr bt nds t b as nntr as pssbl wl runnng, t rat as smt a surfa as pssbl. T mu llt FnWdwrkng.m Vst ur Wb st fr fr, dwnladabl plans fr a stw-and-g rutr tabl. runut an man t dffrn btwn a rutr tat prdus a lan, smt prfl n n pass and n tat nds multpl passs t d a dnt jb. T k runut, I muntd a 1 2-n.- da. bt n t llt and turnd t by and wl masurng wt a dal ndatr. I rmuntd t rd and ran t tst svral tms wt a rutr, tn dsardd t gst radngs, t aunt fr anmals ausd by bt pstn r ukng. T Trtn ad lss tan 0.001 n. f runut, wt Mlwauk and Rdgd vry ls bnd, at 0.001 n. xatly. Bs and Prtr-Cabl ad runut f 0.003 n. Craftsman and Frud ad 0.005 n., an amunt I nrmally nsdr unsatsfatry. T gaug wat ts masurmnts mgt man n us, I ran t bst and n f t wrst wt a larg, tall mldng bt and a fast fd rat. Tat wuld antuat any dffrns runut mgt mak n t smtnss f ut. Bt t Trtn, wt almst n runut, and t g-runut Frud lft attr marks aftr n avy pass. A 56 F I N E w d w r k n g Pts, xpt wr ntd: Davd Hm; p. 55 (tp) and ts pag (tp): Rland Jnsn
snd pass, takng a lgtr ut and slwng t fd rat, land up t mldng frm bt rutrs. It was ard t tll w rutr prdud w mldng. I ad t nlud tat atual prfrman mnmzd dffrns n t raw runut masurmnts. Any f ts rutrs s apabl f prdung smt mldngs f yu pay ls attntn t t fd rat and dn t try t g ut t prfl n n pass. Otr faturs t nsdr Swt plamnt and safty ntrlks T Prtr-Cabl and t Trtn av a safty fatur I apprat: an ntrlk fr t pwr swt tat prvnts t rutr frm startng wn t spndl lk s n pla. I us a ft swt wt a rutr tabl, s t rutr s swt s always n t n pstn. T ntrlk mans tat t rutr wn t start f I m angng bts and t t ft pdal by adnt. T Trtn s t nly rutr n ts bun wt gd dust-lltn apablts. It as a lar plast srud surrundng t ntr ara arund t plung bas, and t apts a 1 3 8-n. vauum s. Wt t rst f t rutrs, b sur t rutr tabl as a gd dust-lltn systm. On lar wnnr T Trtn am ut aad n vry mprtant nsdratn. It as t asst bt-angng dsgn, an aurat and asyt-us gt adjustr, and an ntgratd spndl lk/pwr-swt lkut. It ad t lwst bt runut masurd, and t s t nly n wt gd dust ntrl. My nly qubbl: T bas as a 3 1 16-n. pnng, w s slgtly smallr tan t pnng n t tr rutrs; my 3 3 8-n. panl-rasng bt wn t ft t Trtn. I v mad t Trtn my as bst vrall. Its $200 strt pr als maks t t bst valu. If yu want (r an affrd) nly n rutr, t Trtn s my frst rmmndatn. Wnvr yu want t us t as a andld rutr, yu av t rmv t frm t tabl and rpla t larg rtangular tabl nsrt wt t standard rund bas. T Frud FT1700 s a mr nvnnt altrnatv f yu buy ts ptnal plung bas (Frud sad t plannd t bgn ffrng n n lat 2006). Yu an lav t fxd bas attad t t rutr tabl and drp t mtr nt t tr bas fr andld rutng. Dust lltn. A plast srud arund t Trtn s bas ds a gd jb f drtng dust t a sp-va s. Nn f t tr rutrs as a gd dust-lltn dsgn. Swt styls. T Frud s larg sld swt (lft) s slgtly asr t ra and us tan a small rkr swt su as t n n t Mlwauk (abv). Rland Jnsn s a ntrbutng dtr. www.fnwdwr k n g.m J a n u a r y / F b r u a r y 2 0 0 7 57
Rutrs fr rutr tabls Bs 1617EVS Craftsman 1617-12 frud ft1700vk Mlwauk 5625-20 T s t n g t r u t r s Mdl Sur Strt pr Wgt (lb.) Bs 1617EVS www.bstls.m 877-267-2499 $180 9.1 Craftsman 1617-12 www.raftsman.m 800-349-4358 $220 9.1 Frud FT1700VCEK www.frudtls.m 800-334-4107 $175 9.5 Mlwauk 5625-20 www.mlwauktl.m 800-729-3878 $300 11 Slw turn. Jnsn tstd runut manually, spnnng a bt wl kng radngs n a dal ndatr. Tst runs wt t bst and wrst fr runut, usng a tall mldng bt, prdud sm attr marks n t frst pass, but a snd pass land up t prfls. autr s autr s autr s Prtr-Cabl 891 Rdgd R2930 Trtn MOF001KC autr s www.prtr-abl.m 800-487-8665 www.rdgd.m 800-474-3443 www.trtnwdwrkng.m 888-874-8661 $230 9.2 $200 9.3 $200 10.25 58 F I N E w d w r k n g
autr s Prtr- Cabl 891 Rdgd R2930 autr s Trtn MOF001KC autr s Amps Spd rang (rpm) Max. bt travl (n.) Max. bt da. (n.) Cllt runut (n.) Bt ang Bas Cmmnts 12 8,000 25,000 1 3 8 3 11 16 0.003 Dubl wrn Fxd Narly dntal t Craftsman. Btangng and gt adjustmnt nnvnnt. Plung bas nludd, but laks abv-tabl adjustmnt. 12 8,000 25,000 1 3 8 3 11 16 0.005 Dubl wrn Fxd Narly dntal t Bs. Btangng and gt adjustmnt nnvnnt. Plung bas nludd, but laks abv-tabl adjustmnt. 13 10,000 23,000 1 1 8 3 11 16 0.005 Sngl wrn Fxd Vry asy t ang bts. Hgt adjustr als prats mtr lamp. Cmpany as annund a 3 1 4-p mdl wt smlar faturs. 15 10,000 22,000 1 3 8 4 0.001 Dubl wrn Fxd Bt-angng and gt adjustmnt nnvnnt. Small n/ff swt an b awkward t us. 12 10,000 23,000 1 1 4 3 3 4 0.003 Dubl wrn Fxd Abv-tabl bt-angng, but wt tw wrns. Sparat plung bas nludd. 12 10,000 23,000 1 13 16 3 5 8 0.001 Sngl wrn Fxd Bt-angng s nnvnnt. Sparat plung bas nludd. 12 8,000 20,000 2 1 4 3 1 8 0.0007 Sngl wrn Plung Easst bt-angng and gt adjustmnt. Tmplats, dg- and rl-uttng gud nludd. www.fnwdwr k n g.m J a n u a r y / F b r u a r y 2 0 0 7 59