Reply To: Buying Woodworking Tools is Becoming Stupid
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There is a company called Walker Moore that has been trying to produce a gorgeous new router plane based on the Preston, but even after almost 3 years of effort, they simply cannot get their act together. So no help there.
The Walke-Moore router ( no “R” in Walke) probably shouldn’t be mentioned as an option on this thread. Besides questionable availability, there are other issues.
They elected to copy the largest Preston 2500, which I consider a mistake.
http://www.walkemooretools.com/shop/router-plane-model-2500/
It costs $290, (£214, before shipping) which doesn’t seem to answer the cost complaint in this thread and it has its own issues, IMO. It may well come in higher in the next round of production.
It’s brass construction brings it in at just about a kilo, which is like pushing around a 71 1/2 with an 8” disston number 4 saw on top ( I weighed that combo). Part of that weight is the inclusion of extra metal to accommodate the Preston 2500 style fences, but no fences are made for the tool. I don’t see the value of a heavier router…if I did I’d add some lead or add a hardwood sole the size of the Preston.
Had they copied the 1399 version of the Preston without the fence slots ( the one I see in Paul’s videos, and the one Tyzak copied) it might have been a more attractive tool, and one that would have required less machining and come in at a more competitive price point. The only thing the fence slots do is obstruct your view of the work, a feature Paul touts with the 1399 Preston.
http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/routers/preston/
Being brass, it marks light wood. So you need to add a wood shoe, driving up the weight even more, or spend time cleaning up brass smudges. An alternative might be to add something like a PTFE double stick tape bottom, but that seems temporary and a pain. I suppose you could have it nickel plated for another $70….
It has a unique and innovative cutter, but only in the 1/2” size. I often use a 1/4” cutter. Veritas cutters will fit, but only if you grind your own, lower, adjustment notch. And you have driven the cost of the tool to over $300 for the added cutter. You could use an unmodified cutter with a wooden shoe on the plane, I Suppose.
An upside is that it comes with either Preston or Stanley style handles ( or both, for another $30).
But it certainly doesn’t answer the cost issue, especially if you want a range of cutters and fences.
I applaud another entry into the router options, and it is certainly a gorgeous tool all polished up, but this one seems like a tool geek oddity, not a serious attempt at providing an essential tool.