1400 or 2200 Router?

[MrToolJunkie]

The DC on the OF2200 is really good and would be perfect for routing grooves for stringers. It handles very well and I think it is one of the best engineered hand-power tools made. Costly, yes. But I think it is worth the price.

 

[Motor]

I'm going to buy a router for routing housed stair stringers. So I will be routing a .5-inch-deep channel in an engineered plywood, fir or hardwood stringer. What router would be best for this purpose? Dealer recommends 2200.

Thanks for all the input. I ordered a 2200. Should be here this week.

 

[Motor]

I'm going to buy a router for routing housed stair stringers. So I will be routing a .5-inch-deep channel in an engineered plywood, fir or hardwood stringer. What router would be best for this purpose? Dealer recommends 2200.

Does anyone know if the Festool 2200 will work with the stair jig made by stairequipment.com? Specifically the template that goes into the base.

 

[Job and Knock]

All the stair jigs I've used were designed to use a guide bush and a stair housing cutter (like the oversized dovetail cutters I highlighted in a previous post). I use the Trend jig myself and it comes with an auxilliary base plate to fit to the router (also comes with an alignment pin and a centring bushing). Fit the sub-base, centre-it on the collet (same as you would for any jig operation, really), fit the guide bush, fit the cutter, set the height and away you go. It's not a plunge routing operation, BTW.

Looking at the Model 7 you refer to, the kit clearly shows P-C guide bushes as being supplied with it (bottom right of the photo):

View attachment 1

So providing that you can fit and centre a P-C (Porter-Cable) type guide bush you should be OK.

TBH, though, I think that is a grossly expensive way to do a one off, or even a few different stairs. It is a massively over engineered CNC cut steel production jig. You know, it is completely possible to make your own jig using plywood, a framing square and a pair of buttons and as a joiner I have done so quite a few times in the past. It would also save you hundreds of dollars to spend on more Festool tools....... Personally I eventually went for a mid-market Tufnol (cloth re-enforced phenolic plastic resin) manufactured jig because it was becoming too costly in time to make a new jig each time, but in reality it really only takes about an hour. I still do 2 or 3 stairs a year from scratch - on that basis my jig will last me until I'm about 300! Making the jig will also force you into thinking about how and why things are done the way they are in stairmaking - no bad thing when you get involved in structural stuff.

 

[Holmz]

If it comes with a PC bushing, I bet a PC router would've worked.

Before I got a good jigsaw the main use for them was making templates for routing.
A quality jig is worthwhile if it is used enough. Example: if all door hinges were the same...

I am unsure about the stair jig, but if it is relatively universal then it may be good. Or you make you own. Personally I would probably buy the PC router and the jig than the 2200, because I like the jig, and I hate spending too much.

 

[DiscoStu]

What about the Triton TRA001? Big and powerful but nothing like the cost of the 2200. You could get an OF1400 for general routing as well as the Triton for less than the OF2200. Just agreeing with the point above that if you don't need lots of high level of accuracy and refinement then the Triton would be good. I have a Triton in my table and it's a beast. I also have the OF1400 and that's lovely but that never goes in a table.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Motor]

All the stair jigs I've used were designed to use a guide bush and a stair housing cutter (like the oversized dovetail cutters I highlighted in a previous post). I use the Trend jig myself and it comes with an auxilliary base plate to fit to the router (also comes with an alignment pin and a centring bushing). Fit the sub-base, centre-it on the collet (same as you would for any jig operation, really), fit the guide bush, fit the cutter, set the height and away you go. It's not a plunge routing operation, BTW.

Looking at the Model 7 you refer to, the kit clearly shows P-C guide bushes as being supplied with it (bottom right of the photo):

View attachment 1

So providing that you can fit and centre a P-C (Porter-Cable) type guide bush you should be OK.

TBH, though, I think that is a grossly expensive way to do a one off, or even a few different stairs. It is a massively over engineered CNC cut steel production jig. You know, it is completely possible to make your own jig using plywood, a framing square and a pair of buttons and as a joiner I have done so quite a few times in the past. It would also save you hundreds of dollars to spend on more Festool tools....... Personally I eventually went for a mid-market Tufnol (cloth re-enforced phenolic plastic resin) manufactured jig because it was becoming too costly in time to make a new jig each time, but in reality it really only takes about an hour. I still do 2 or 3 stairs a year from scratch - on that basis my jig will last me until I'm about 300! Making the jig will also force you into thinking about how and why things are done the way they are in stairmaking - no bad thing when you get involved in structural stuff.

Thanks for your advice. So far I've been making my own jigs out of plywood or MDF like you mentioned. By the time I get the jig here in Canada and pay the tax I'm just shy of $2000 Canadian. That buys a Kapex saw or a good part of a vacation in Hawaii. I think I will stick with the jigs I make from scratch. Like you say, it only takes an hour and for three or four sets of stairs a year that's not a big deal.

 

[Motor]

Over here we generally rout housings for closed riser stairs (the most common variant) in a single pass. This is because we use a dovetail-profile housing cutter like these to do the job:

[attachimg=1]

That type of cutter needs to be run single pass at full depth, so the bigger the router, the better - so I'd definitely go for the 2200 for that. On open riser stairs you are routing parallel sided grooves so there's less pressure to do it single pass, however, stair routing can get pretty tedious after the third or fourth flight in a day, so again if you are doing volume bigger really is better. But then my friends all reckon I'm a power freak, so...

What kind of jig do you use? Obviously some kind of template jig with a bushing inserted into the router base. Do you use a 2200?

 

[Job and Knock]

The DC on the OF2200 is really good and would be perfect for routing grooves for stringers.

From experience (TODAY) I can confirm that it is  [big grin]

 

[Job and Knock]

What kind of jig do you use? Obviously some kind of template jig with a bushing inserted into the router base. Do you use a 2200?

I use a Trend STAIR/JIG which comes with a Tufnol sub-base for the router. Only bought because it saves me having to search around for template materials when out on site  (only to find that there is nothing, normally)

This is the sub-base:

[attachimg=1]

I previously used it with a deWalt DW625. That changed today when I had to make-up a couple of small stairs in a rush and I adopted the OF2200 to do the job instead (it being the only big roouter I had out on site with me). It works well - cutting 32mm (1-1/4in) treads in softwood it was noticeably easier to cut the housings that it had been with the DW625 (mine is an older 1850 watt model - type 4). The dust extraction was particularly good. granted, though, that this is not te reason I bought the OF2200......

 

[Motor]

Over here we generally rout housings for closed riser stairs (the most common variant) in a single pass. This is because we use a dovetail-profile housing cutter like these to do the job:

[attachimg=1]

That type of cutter needs to be run single pass at full depth, so the bigger the router, the better - so I'd definitely go for the 2200 for that. On open riser stairs you are routing parallel sided grooves so there's less pressure to do it single pass, however, stair routing can get pretty tedious after the third or fourth flight in a day, so again if you are doing volume bigger really is better. But then my friends all reckon I'm a power freak, so...

Won't a dovetail bit make a dovetail channel in the stringer?

 

[Job and Knock]

Won't a dovetail bit make a dovetail channel in the stringer?

Yes. If you were to rout a straight channel it is more likely that there would be a visible gap where the tread meets the stringer or where the riser meets the stringer. Using a slight dovetail in conjunction with the tapers used to assemble the stairs ensures a good tight joint. It also prevents the joints getting "vapour locked" with glue because squeeze-out has a small escape path I find. It has been standard commercial practice here for over 100 years AFAIK and is found on machines such as the Pickles Stair Trencher

 

[Motor]

Thx! That's very helpful.

 

[Motor]

I'm going to buy a router for routing housed stair stringers. So I will be routing a .5-inch-deep channel in an engineered plywood, fir or hardwood stringer. What router would be best for this purpose? Dealer recommends 2200.

As a follow up to this post I bought a 2200 and just routed a huge stair stringer (18-feet long) with 17 risers and 16 treads. The 2200 worked flawlessly. It's a big router but the weight is to your advantage when doing an operation like this. Meanwhile, my Porter Cable router crapped out while making a stair template. You get what you pay for.