Festool v Porter Cable Router via YOUTube

[Splint Eastwood]

Festool v Porter Cable Router Dust Control Test (w/Bonus DeWalt 621 router test!)

What started out as a One on One, turned into a 3 legged race, with added DeWalt 621 2 hp Plunge base router.

All three routers were identically setup and shared the same Dust Collector and Router Bit.

Router bit: a 1/2 in Straight Spiral Upcut with 1/4 in depth of cut.

Dust Collector: Festool CT36.

Material Used: We used one 3/4in MDF board on all three routers.

The Test: Rout dado the length of the MDF board using Festool CT36. After routing use a dry paper towel to see how much dust was left after the cut.

The Routers:

Festool : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4W8jhC257E

Porter Cable : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3E5rMAqaVY

Dewalt 621: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teHBOt7M47E
Second is the swipe test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viNxYNiFwNE

All three Routers used the same set up bar 1/4 in depth of cut

Steve, Wayne and my self will be posting separately our test impressions/conclusions.

Thanks for Looking!

 

[Canuck]

First off. What a great way for grown men to spend a cold, cloudy Sunday afternoon than playing with routers in a warm shop in good company!:gar-La;

I brought over my old 2 HP Dewalt 621 plunge router to see how it would stack up. (Was going to bring a DW618, but couldn't’t locate all of DC pieces and parts.:dontknow

I was personally surprised as to how well the little Dewalt performed today against the Porter Cable and Festool routers.

I was elected to drive all three routers through the tests. I tried my best to keep the feed rate as close as possible with each router.


As far as pure dust collection test results are concerned, the consensus of performance was:

• Dewalt
• Festool
• Porter Cable

When it came to performance and ergonomics of the three routers……

I must say that the Festool won hands down (IMHO). It is definitely well made, well balanced, low vibration and extremely easy to control with it’s built-in barrel/pistol grip. Plunge action is exceptional!

The Dewalt 621 is pretty smooth plunge action but the small rectangular base coupled with the power trigger incorporated into one handle does take some getting used to. Very little vibration.

The Porter Cable is still a quality router with pretty smooth plunge action and pretty good balance. I liked the larger conventional base plate as well. When motor vibration was compared with the other two routers, this one had a definite tingle in the handles.?

We did attempt to keep all testing variables (ie depth of cut, same bit, speed, feed rate, same vacuum source etc., but we did notice that Steve’s carbide bit got chipped somewhere between tests.?

I know that if I were in the market for a new router, I would have a tough time deciding with some of today’s routers; if this test is an indication of what is available out there.

If dust collection was the only criteria when shopping for a router I would be wanting to try out what it available before jumping in.

Again. It was a fun afternoon and as always I really enjoyed seeing Steve Coles and Matt again.:icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

Enjoyable exercise guys!

Wayne

 

[Splint Eastwood]

Wayne,

Ditto ! A very pleasant afternoon, indeed.:tool:s

Kuddos to your evaluation, accurately stated, succinctly written.

Twas quite a surprise to see just how good the DeWalt and Porter Cable stacked up against Festool. Very, very impressive Dust Control for both. With DeWalt clearly winning the swipe test.

But, Festool, hands down, is in a class all by itself. The difference in quality, feel, balance, features, etc.... is a thing of beauty and second to none.

But at $470 list, one has to take pause, and ask, Is the price differential of +$200 worth it?

With DeWalt's Retail @$280 and Porter Cable's @$250 (Combo Package, Amazon price) it really makes you think: If you have to use a paper napkin to measure incremental dust, is this worth more than $200 ?

My unequivable answer is, NOT!

This is a good thing. Not one Router does a shop make. I would venture to guess, that most of us have at least 2 routers. A Table Router and a trim router. The point being a router has to perform multi functional routing jobs. And its nice to know there are choices. As the PC and DeWalt proved in this test.

I originally wanted to upgrade my 690 for out of the table routing, but could not stand the dust it spewed forth, so began my quest for a better router.

As tested, they all performed beautifully. Of course Festool is the best. But, as I looked at these two contenders, I realized, that I don't always need to get the best.

My shop is Porter Cable based (Omnijig, 3 1/4 under table, and 690). It would cost me virtually no additional money to accessorize the 894 as I already have them.

Festool on the otherhand, is completely opposite. The accessories, if purchased, would cost as much as the router, if not more.

As I do not do alot of out of table routing, this just doesn't make any sense. I could better use the saved $200 plus to get other much needed :tool:s.:gar-Bi

So the PC fits my needs perfectly.

The DeWalt was very much a pleasant surprise, light, smaller, and nimble and stated 2hp motor, smooth plunge action and excellent dust collection, this too could fit in the shop.

Bottom Line: Doesn't always have to be Festool! its what fits your needs and its nice to know that there are choices.

Thanks for looking, feel free to ask any questions !

Matt

 

[FredP]

You must have been using MDF from HD. Had you been using MDF from lowes the test results may have been different.:rotflm: so when's the re-test?:gar-La; I also detected a .075% difference in feed speed and in one test the wedding band was turned .0091 degrees NNW.:rotflm: You do know this is all TIC right?

Good job guys. Very informative.:icon_thum

Did you happen to test them in an edge treatment application? I kinda doubt dust collection would be good from any router while doing say an ogee edge on a table top.:nah: Is there such an attachment?:icon_scra

 

[Canuck]

You must have been using MDF from HD. Had you been using MDF from lowes the test results may have been different.:rotflm: so when's the re-test?:gar-La; I also detected a .075% difference in feed speed and in one test the wedding band was turned .0091 degrees NNW.:rotflm: You do know this is all TIC right?
That would be me, Fred. I didn't remove the ring, but I was wearing eye and ear protection. I tried to maintain speed but I am an elderly driver and also lost the fight to directional gravitational pull.

Good job guys. Very informative.:icon_thum

Did you happen to test them in an edge treatment application? I kinda doubt dust collection would be good from any router while doing say an ogee edge on a table top.:nah: Is there such an attachment?:icon_scra

We did not get to try edge treatment - ran out of time, but I also suspect that the results wouldn't have been as good.

Steve did bring an accessory for the Festool that looks to me like a little cup that when attached to the base, rides along the workpiece edge in the direction of router travel. This device I believe will direct the bulk of chips to the DC hose as opposed to dumping it on the floor.

Steve may be able provide more details.

Wayne

 

[Splint Eastwood]

You must have been using MDF from HD. Had you been using MDF from lowes the test results may have been different.:rotflm: so when's the re-test?:gar-La; I also detected a .075% difference in feed speed and in one test the wedding band was turned .0091 degrees NNW.:rotflm: You do know this is all TIC right?

Good job guys. Very informative.:icon_thum

Did you happen to test them in an edge treatment application? I kinda doubt dust collection would be good from any router while doing say an ogee edge on a table top.:nah: Is there such an attachment?:icon_scra

Fred,
We planned on doing several tests, but with 3 routers, it was too much. We settled on straight dado, because it was easier to video, could see more dust, especially if trapped in dado.

And, almost everyone does a dado on larger pieces, out of the table.

Thanks for a great question.

M

 

[eyekode]

Very cool Matt, Steve and Wayne! Thanks for the effort! I have a DW621 and it is the best all around plunge router I have owned/used (Bosch 1617EV, Hitachi M12VC, PC 7539, PC 690, DW625). My only objection is with the visibility of the cut. There is a plastic snap-in ring that if you use you get amazing DC but you lose visibility of the cut. Did you use this ring? And did the festool provide better visibility?

As to the small/rectangular base many people use an after market base for this router (check patwarner.com).

By the way the edge guide for the DW621 has a dust chute and it does a pretty good job.
Salem

 

[Splint Eastwood]

Very cool Matt, Steve and Wayne! Thanks for the effort! I have a DW621 and it is the best all around plunge router I have owned/used (Bosch 1617EV, Hitachi M12VC, PC 7539, PC 690, DW625). My only objection is with the visibility of the cut. There is a plastic snap-in ring that if you use you get amazing DC but you lose visibility of the cut. Did you use this ring? And did the festool provide better visibility?

As to the small/rectangular base many people use an after market base for this router (check patwarner.com).

By the way the edge guide for the DW621 has a dust chute and it does a pretty good job.
Salem

Salem, This question would be best answered by Steve or Wayne. As they both own.

Thanks, Matt

 

[Canuck]

There is a plastic snap-in ring that if you use you get amazing DC but you lose visibility of the cut. Did you use this ring? And did the festool provide better visibility?

Salem.

Yes the DW621 I have did contain the snap-in ring and with doing dado's I don't seem to have any issues with seeing the leading edge of the bit. I really didn't detect any issues with bit/cut visibility with any of the three routers we used. IMO each router performed about the same in this category.

I have often complained about the base size and configuration of the DW621 (even yesterday w/Matt and Steve) but last evening I checked out the Pat Warner site and may spring for one of his round bases with the PC bushing recess. Quite reasonably priced and looks like a good product.:icon_thum

Wayne

 

[Splint Eastwood]

FYI,

I received one PM from someone who ordered the Porter Cable PK 894!

Im hoping this was a direct result of our post!

Congrats!

Matt

 

[Splint Eastwood]

One person conspicously absent from this thread is ...Steve Coles.

As the owner of Festool and Porter Cable, I would love to hear your thoughts on both tools.

I also want to thank you for bringing tools for review.

It really was alot of fun having you over my humble shop and hope we get together again, soon.


thanks,
matt

 

[SteveColes]

First let me say that what you and Wayne said was true and I agree with it.

I was surprised that PC did a slightly better dc job than the Festool on this test. However, I suspect in Edge Routing the results would have been different. I know that the festool will beat the PC on edge routing.

The most surprising thing was that any of the three routers will do a more than reasonable job at cutting Dados and rabbets. In fact, any of the 3 routers would be more than acceptable choice for almost any use. The differences are an issue of what features of each router are worth their cost to the buyer.

I own 4? routers.
PC89X
Dewalt 618
Festool 1400
Bosch hand held trimmer.

Which do I choose to use?

The bosch trimmer for small edge treatments is the most used router in the shop. And the Festool for any other things.

Oh visibility? Adequate on both the PC and the Festool

Oops, I lied :embaresse Actually the most used router is really my PC 7518 mounted in a table. I always take my work to the router table if I can.

One person conspicously absent from this thread is ...Steve Coles.

As the owner of Festool and Porter Cable, I would love to hear your thoughts on both tools.

I also want to thank you for bringing tools for review.

It really was alot of fun having you over my humble shop and hope we get together again, soon.


thanks,
matt

 

[zapdafish]

:eusa_doh: I didn't catch this was for comparing routers, thought it was a continuation of the skill saw comparison. Funny how my brain never saw the word router in the subject, I just saw Festool at the start and YOUTube at the end and my brain filled out what was in between.

Nice read. I was wondering about ease of setup for tasks? For example Festool has the MFS system and their routers are also integrated to work with their track system.

 

[Splint Eastwood]

:eusa_doh: I didn't catch this was for comparing routers, thought it was a continuation of the skill saw comparison. Funny how my brain never saw the word router in the subject, I just saw Festool at the start and YOUTube at the end and my brain filled out what was in between.

Nice read. I was wondering about ease of setup for tasks? For example Festool has the MFS system and their routers are also integrated to work with their track system.

Thanks Steve,

Festool is the only tool, of three tested, having any tracking system for their routers (that I know of) . This is what makes their tools second to no one.

If you want to rout a traditional straight dado, one needs to use any number of low profile clamps or shop made jigs to follow. I've done this, but sometimes the router will "take the grain" and drift off course, at least in my experience.

With Festool's track system, this is unlikely. They also have a couple of attachments : http://www.amazon.com/Festool-492636-Parallel-Adjustment-Router/dp/B002VMUPGO/ref=pd_cp_hi_2 which help with stop dadoes. As well as their edge guide attachment.

Without a doubt, Festool has one of the most well thought out, 'connected' system of tools that all revolve around their MFT table and Track system. This is what makes them Great.

Matt