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The Power Tool Price Watch Thread

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Seraphina:
We plan on building the cabinet with birch plywood.  How would it work on that?   I hate to spend too much since the only reason for the router is the cabinet. 

Thanks for the advice :)

ChadTower:

Keep in mind you can rent tools, if necessary, and you can also easily sell a good tool and get much of your money back.

ScottS:

--- Quote from: Seraphina on July 12, 2007, 01:06:59 pm ---Hi everyone, my first post!

My husband and I are in the planning stages of our first cabinet.  We need a router so I've been looking and pricing them.

Would you say this is a good deal, and because it's so cheap, is it a good one?
Thanks!!  I hope to start my own project thread soon!!

Black & Decker RP250 10 Amp 2-1/4-Inch Variable Speed Plunge Router

--- End quote ---

With power tools, you often get what you pay for. A high-quality plunge router would probably cost 2-3X more. For an arcade cabinet, you may find that you need a fixed-base router just as much as a plunge router. I own both and find that I use my fixed-base routers about 90% of the time...

When buying cheap tools, I prefer to buy locally from a store that has a liberal return policy. That way, if the tool turns out to be a piece of crap I can easily get my money back!

Which isn't to say that the B&D router you've selected won't get the job done. The routing needs of most cabinets can easily be met with a 1.25HP router. Unlike Chad, I use 1/4" shank router bits quite often and have never had any problems. Granted, I'm using a $300 German-made router that has minimal vibration and zero runout along with high-quality Whiteside router bits...

ScottS:

--- Quote from: ChadTower on July 12, 2007, 02:01:41 pm ---Keep in mind you can rent tools, if necessary, and you can also easily sell a good tool and get much of your money back.

--- End quote ---

In my experience, rental tools are a pretty mixed bag. Many of the rental tools I've used were so beat up they barely got the job done...

ChadTower:

Yeah, there is the rental condition issue.  And I use exclusively 1/2" bits because I don't own any 1/4" bits... mostly just the Holbren set we all got.

Could be the best solution is to wait on a decent sale, buy the tool, use it the few times and then sell it and recoup most of the sale price.

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