What Are Your Thoughts On A Used OF2200?

[onocoffee]

I kinda wonder how a guy, who has only been here 2 years, has a 13 year old router, but ok.
You're lucky to have not caught that thing, while flying. I had a guy nearly take out my kneecap, on a jobsite with a 1 1/2" dia, 2" cut length pattern bit. I whizzed past me so fast and stuck in the wall.
From the pic, I would be very skeptical of that bit now. It has obvious spinning/galling marks and the end is deformed.
I would go at it with a stone, at bare minimum, and be very careful spinning it up the first time. Anything sketchy and ditch it immediately. Don't hurt yourself with free tools, just because it was free.

From what he was telling me, he bought the OF2200 (presumably within the past two years) used for $700. Said he bought that, a Festool sander and CT to make his table. As you might surmise from the background, he seems to be heavily into Milwaukee.

Lucky is the best way to describe it. I'd like to tell you I was lightning fast, but that bit came out, crashed through the dust shield, shattered it, blew off the base plate and flew into tool box - and I was still trying to understand what was going on. It happened in an instant. I tend to point the bottom of any router away from me - mainly because I'm terrified of getting caught up in one, but I didn't even think about it and could only react after the fact.

As far as the bit goes, I'm not that interested in using it - especially after today. Looked it up on Amazon and they're $50, but if I really want to do it, I think I'd trust a Whiteside more, despite the higher cost.

And when you say "go at it with a stone", I presume you mean being extremely cautious with the bit. I did run the 2200 in the garage and it seems in good order with no aberrant behaviours or strange noises.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I meant using it to polish away any roughness or burrs, from the shank. Don't put that thing back into a collet as is.
I have a slightly smaller 3 insert model. I used it to cut rabbets in the edges of panels, for reception desks, mostly.
Particle board, MDF and Ply are all pretty rough on router bits. The insert-style units are a lot more forgiving, plus the bigger diameter changes the attack angle of the cut.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I used a pretty identical bit to flatten an English Oak slab, and they work beautifully. Very useful cutter.

As CRG said, just smooth out the damage on the shank and in a 2200 it'll machine like a dream!

 

[Cheese]

Take this suggestion for what it's worth...I have NEVER...EVER used QUESTIONABLE CHINESE or other QUESTIONABLE manufactured router bits. It's a crap shoot and I personally don't want to be the loser on the 4-card draw.
I purchase premium router bits and would never even think about purchasing a cheap substitute. My life, limbs, eyes, digits are all way too valuable to me to take a chance with purchasing something that may explode at 24,000 RPM.
I've managed to make it to 77 years of age and I can't help but believe that my selective choice of router bits and other rotating tooling has helped the process.

 

[luvmytoolz]

@Cheese Everyone's needs and requirements will be different, but I've never really had any issues with any cheap router bits over the decades. Yes the CMT's and similar brands are spectacularly good, but the eye watering price premium also puts them outside the range of many.

Especially here in Oz, the premium cutters you guys buy in the States are usually anywhere from 200-400% (or higher!) more expensive to us. So the Chinese imports are very appealing, and if they wear twice as fast, that's also fine when the smaller ones can be 1/20th the cost. And given that even the premium cutters sold in the States actually come off a Chinese assembly line in many cases, makes it even less an issue.

For me running a CNC, there's no way I can justify boxes of cutters that each cutter costs me $200-$300, but I can happily buy them at $5 each and when they snap or wear, I'm perfectly fine with that.

The only time I really splurge on expensive cutters is door panel sets, as these are sometimes huge, the quality shines through well on these in the balance and performance and especially safety.

I've bought many thousands of cutters over the years, and for the CNC specifically probably maintain a stock level of at least 500 or so router bits in the various profiles and sizes I use, and in all that time I've only ever come across one cutter I wasn't game to use, a Vee cutter with a removable insert. At power up in the spindle the vibration and noise was just too high, so it's never been used and never will be.

 

[nclemmons]

You can get replacements for that dust shield from Festool in Lebanon, IN. Start here - https://www.festoolusa.com/service/repair-service/spare-parts

I have the 2200 in a CMS router table and really like the router. Should serve you well and great find and price!

 

[Jim_in_PA]

That's a good one!

But, I'd be content with just one, though.

Recon "as we speak" has one up for $975 or so if you happened to win the lottery.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Take this suggestion for what it's worth...I have NEVER...EVER used QUESTIONABLE CHINESE or other QUESTIONABLE manufactured router bits. It's a crap shoot and I personally don't want to be the loser on the 4-card draw.

The country or origin isn't a singular determination of quality. I use a lot of tooling from "over there" on my CNC machine and the particular products I buy are top notch in quality and durability. SpeTool, for example, has never let me down. Yonko for infrequently used form tooling has also been my go-to.

 

[smorgasbord]

Recon "as we speak" has one up for $975 or so if you happened to win the lottery.

For me that’s only $147 cheaper than new due to taxes

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The country or origin isn't a singular determination of quality. I use a lot of tooling from "over there" on my CNC machine and the particular products I buy are top notch in quality and durability. SpeTool, for example, has never let me down. Yonko for infrequently used form tooling has also been my go-to.

I'm kind of in the same mind. It purely depends on the amount of use, that I intend to get from them. I prefer the higher end Amana, Whitside, Woodpeckers, even Freud or CMT once in a while. However, I also have a bunch of the SpeTool branded 1/4" shank bits too, as well as Yonoko cove, core box, or round overs too. Those are my least used, but pretty important, when needed.