Ryobi Router Any Good? (Page 1/2)
James Bond 007 AUG 25, 12:52 PM
Anyone have this Router? Just wondering if its any good.
maryjane AUG 25, 03:16 PM

quote
Originally posted by James Bond 007:

Anyone have this Router? Just wondering if its any good.



I do, or one very close to it. It's 'ok'. R-163. Don't plan on doing any precision routing/milling with it. Both the depth adjustment and the clamp are dismal. It's good enough for hogging off a lot of material but when you get down to the nut cuttin, better use something....better. The bushings that hold the drive up in place wear pretty quick and you will find yourself cutting around .010 other than what you thought you were.

If you use it much, the vibration will really get to you. I used mine with a router sled to cut a large slab of oak from about 4" thickness down to around .875" thick. It did ok till I got near my planned finished size and I realized it simply wasn't going to be able to hold trueness. The collet itself was slipping up and down on it's internal bushing--bearing etc.



I also used it with a circle cutting jig on a glue up table top for my d-i-l. and I thought it did ok until I got ready to put edgebanding on the tabletop. It was then I saw just how much side to side wear was in those bushings. The edge of the circle cut wasn't true 90° to the top.
You may be able to see it in this photo.



If that one came with the dinky little 'router table', and I use that term loosely, build your own and put that one out in a yard sale.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-26-2023).]

shemdogg AUG 25, 05:36 PM
Ryobi tools are "disposable tools", theyre not made for anything precise. If you want precision get a name brand tool for sure. The only thing ryobi I buy corded is the sawzall, Anything corded I use a name brand. Ryobis for cordless junk only. A long time ago I tried a ryobi router that came w a table to dado 2x4s for a fence job. I spent maybe 10 mins w it, returned it to home depot and bought dadoed boards.

shem
TheDigitalAlchemist AUG 26, 02:09 AM
Honestly, most of the "named brands" have all been bought up by China, and just aren't the same.

Am I wrong?

"Milwaukee Tool, which is owned by Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries..."


History of Craftsman Tools. Craftsman Tools have a long history of quality and innovation. In recent years, the production of these tools has shifted to China. The transition occurred gradually, as Sears, Craftsman's parent company, began to outsource manufacturing for cost savings."


*BARF*
cliffw AUG 26, 05:17 AM

quote
Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist:
Am I wrong?




I do not know if old quality name brand tools were actually bought up by China. I do know the quality is worse.

Of Craftsman tools, when I use mine I am thankful they are 1970 ish. Or older.

I think the invention of the ratchet (wrench / socket) occurred by an employee of Sears. Now everybody gives a lifetime guaranty.
maryjane AUG 26, 08:47 AM
Delta used to be a great brand of power tools. They got bought by Pentair which owned Rockwell (another great old brand) a long time ago (before I was born) , which eventually sold Delta to Stanley Black and Decker. SBC sold Delta to Chang Type Industries, but 'most' of their power tools are still made in South Carolina. Chang, is Taiwan, not red chinese.
Delta is (IMO) still a good brand of corded hand power tools. I own a Delta grinder, scroll saw, and drill press and did have Delta Jointer.

I looked very hard at a hand (corded) Bosch hand planer in a Pawn shop recently and almost bought it but wasn't sure if good replacement blades were still available. (I don't have room for a stand alone planer right now..

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 08-26-2023).]

Raydar AUG 28, 01:40 PM
First time I saw this, I was like... "Damn... when did they branch off into computer stuff?"
Took me a couple of seconds. Doh!

True story...
When our company finally got enough computers that they decided to move from bridges to routers, they sent us for training. (The IT guys may recognize Vitalink and Wellfleet.)
One guy was a half day into the class before he figured out that the company hadn't sent him (a Telecom Electrician) to a woodworking class.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-28-2023).]

cvxjet AUG 28, 02:55 PM
My basic rule for ANYTHING I purchase is US-made, then Mexico and Canada, and then the rest of the world with the very obvious exception of China and Russia. Taiwan is a good country and completely capitalistic...Also, Vietnam...

The "Buying Mexican" thing...If we buy from Mex, then they have more jobs DOWN there, and so fewer will try to come up here.

I have a ton of Craftsman (USA) tools....have really tapered off since they started coming from China (I was lucky to find an OLD display at a local lumber yard of Allen sockets and rachets- bought a lot of them because they were >>Made in USA) (By the way- Where is this country called U-sa located? Can't find it on any maps...)
82-T/A [At Work] SEP 07, 08:28 AM
I detest that I like Ryobi tools... or also anything from Harbor Freight (I know Ryobi is from HD). The thing is... I can get a tool at 1/4 the price of what it costs for me to get a DeWalt or a Makkita or some other quality American-made tool.

I do have a couple of quality American-made tools... and they've never failed on me. I have an old DeWalt power-drill that I used to sand down two entire 70s cars, mix concrete, and God only knows what else. It's never failed.

I've had two Ryobi cordless hand-tools fail. One of them failed after only a few months of using it. But 90% of my tools are Ryobi. The thing is... if you need this one tool for this one job... then Ryobi just makes sense. I can get an Ryobi Router for like $59, where as one from DeWalt would probably cost me $200. I might use the router like 5 times... so then why bother?


This is especially true for tools like a tile saw and a wood planer. I bought a Harbor Freight wood planer, which I use rather regularly, for about ~$150. It's worked awesome. Never even sharpened the blades. But I don't use it all the time. On my tile saw... I have a large Harbor Freight tile saw with a massive sliding table. I've tiled two entire ~2,500 square foot homes with this tile saw... same blade actually, and I only paid about $215 bucks. For me to just RENT a tile saw from Home Depot was like $35 a day.


If this was my trade though, I would definitely buy real tools.
maryjane SEP 07, 11:05 AM
Anyone here know of a good corded portable planer?

I looked at a Bosch in a pawn shop but i could tell it had been abused.
Mostly be used to plane down/smooth up old cedar fence pickets. Belt sander works but it's slow and I go thru a lot of belts on this weathered mountain cedar.