The Gold Mine

[BobbyG66]

I have a Porter Cable sander that I like quite a bit
Maybe i'll give their router a try

what's the plunge base for anyway?

The plunge base allows for the cutting blade to spin above the work surface.
When it 'plunges' you are pushing the blade down  into the wood.
This allows you to make cuts inside the outer edges of your panel.
Useful for cutting out trackball and joystick holes.
A regular "non-plunge"  router is good for trimming corners and edges of wood.

I have a Porter Cable sawzall and love it.

BobbyG66

[DrewKaree]

The second issue you had (wood dust) can be somewhat handled by the first (what router). 

Get yourself the Porter Cable Router with the vacuum attachment handle. 

As for costing a fortune, please define a fortune in terms that tell us what it means monetarily, and quality-wise.

I'm going to bet the majority of people who have used them (myself included) will tell you Porter Cable ends up costing very little when compared to replacement costs, headaches due to inferior design, horsepower, features, and durability of other brands.

The Porter Cable line of routers also has to have the most varied and extensive line of attachments for a router out there, which means if there's an application you want to use it for, someone probably thought of it, and made a jig or attachment to make your work easier to do.

As for dust, find yourself a dust mask able to filter down to 5 microns (I think it's microns, anyhoo) and you should GREATLY eliminate your problems with wood dust.

Other measures will also help, such as an air filtration uinit bought or built by yourself, and a vac system, but those are WAY beyond cheap and reasonable solutions to implement for simply building a cab.

[IntruderAlert]

OK
You guys have convinced me
I'll be shopping for a Porter Cable Router with the vacuum attachment handle
Thanks for the recommendation!

[mrGrinch98]

Played mame last night, and just wanted to bump this thread, since it made me get in the hobby to begin with.