Routers

Firstly you have to know how you will use the router tool, i.e. whether the router should be fixed at a router table, used in the hand or for both purposes. 

For manual operation, care should be taken to ensure that the router is suitable for use in the hand, it shouldn't be too heavy so it is easy to control, it would generally be equiped with a motor with a power of approximatly between. 700 - 1,600 watts. 

In table operation, a somewhat stronger router or a router motor is recommended. Efficient router motors for the routing table are available from 1,000 watts. An increasingly important criterion for the router is that it can be adjusted in height from the top of the router table.

sautershop provides a wide range of brands (e.g. Festool, Trend, Makita, Bosch, DeWalt) that offer very high quality professional routers and tend to be at the top end in terms of price. But we have mid price devices for the semi-professional and hobby area that offer a high price to performance ratio are for example Perles routers and Triton routers. 

When purchasing, make sure that the router is compatible with router accessories such as copy rings, rip fence and guide rail adapters. Trend, Perles, DeWalt and Elu routers are related to compatible router accessories.

Which is best? A plunge router or a router motor?

Routers: A normal plunge router can be used in combination with an insert plate or a router lift, e.g.sauter OFL1.0 or 2.0

When using an insert plate we recommend using a router where the height can be adjusted from the table top such as the TREND T14 this makes accurate adjustments easier than trying to do the adjustments from under the table.

Router Motors: These are becoming increasingly popular when using our router tables, they must be attached to a router lift such as the popular range  sauter router lifts including the new worlds first tiltable router lift, the sauter OLF3.0. We have many suitable router motors in our shop including, among others, models from Mafell and Suhner

Routers were originally developed exclusivly for woodworking, now there are router bits available for many different types of materials, such as solid and natural wood. board materials like plywood, chipboard or MDF, solid surface materials (Corian®, Staron®, Hi-Macs® etc.), plastics, acrylic and aluminium can also be routed.

Whichever material you wish to work, sautershop has the perfect router bit, if you are not sure which bit you need you can contact our experts, they will be happy to advise you.

This is an amendment to the European standard DIN EN 62841-2-17. As a result, from 21.12.2021 only hand-held routers equipped with restart protection may be placed on the market.

The change focuses on safety, because according to the standard, routers must not restart after an interruption in the power supply without releasing and re-actuating the circuit breaker. This is not a problem for hand-held routers, but for stationary routers (e.g. those installed in a router table) it has more serious implications.

New routers with restart protection that are put into continuous operation must not restart after a power interruption. Consequently, a router mounted under a router table cannot be switched on again via a safety switch after a power interruption as usual. The user has to crawl under the table every time the power is switched off in order to switch the tool back on. For the vast majority of tasks on the router table, this is a completely impractical procedure.

There are basically three options for router table self-assembly:

• Option 1: You still buy an "old" router, because these may still be sold until the stock is used up, At sautershop, these are primarily the Triton and Perles brands. In order to still be able to enjoy an "old" (and cheaper) router without restart protection, we recommend buying it in good time.
• Option 2: You choose the combination router lift and router motor. We recommend this option because it has many advantages for working on the router table: it saves space, changing router bits is easier and fine height adjustment is more precise. More importantly, router motors are not affected by the change in standards and can still be conveniently controlled via a safety switch.
• Option 3: As a third option, a few manufacturers offer standard-compliant routers that can also be used stationary. Triton, Dewalt and Trend are among the brands that are either planning or already offering products now. However, these routers are not yet widely available and are, at least initially, more expensive than a conventional router.

We sell conventional routers and corresponding accessories while stocks last. Of course, we continue to support customers who have these solutions in operation with our expertise.

In the medium and long term, we see a trend towards router motors with router lifts, because in our opinion this combination is the best solution for most routing tasks. Accordingly, the range will be successively expanded with new products around router lifts, router motors and matching accessories.

Of course, we are always available to answer any questions you may have. Simply call us on our service number +49 (0) 8143 99129-0 or send us an e-mail to info@sautershop.com