Kress router or Unique Product?s Quiet Router

PoorBoy B

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a taper shaper from Unique which I have really grown to like. But I'm going through/reworking routers a little too often for my taste. Aside from stepping up to a one of those high dollar machines, which do you think is the better buy. I would think the Quiet Router would have been the way to go but at $1500 vs. about $500 for the Kress :eek: ? I need to know just what am I paying for:confused:
 

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Why are you going through so many routers? I am still using the same DeWalt laminate trimmers I have had for years, even have & use old Ryobi routers I have had for around 10 years. I have not smoked a single router yet. My shaft cutting router must have 20,000 shaft cuts by now & shows no sign of wear or required maintenance. I often read where people experience frequent router failure, but cannot relate. I'm wondering if it's the way they are used or what?

One thing I did somewhat recently was began running my laminate trimmers on a 90vdc variable speed converter instead of just plugging them into a socket & using whatever raw juice the power company is pushing. I began doing this so I could refine the power & accurately tune it, as well as control the speed for when I want to use routers equipped with wing cutters & such. What I realized is it tremenmdously cleaned up the power to a consistent & smooth flow so the routers run much smoother & actually seem to run faster & stronger. I wired in a plug receptacle so I can plug in any router & run it, just like plugging it into the wall but with infinitely controllable power. So far i'm loving it. The routers seem quieter, smoother, faster & best of all I can control the speed to get max RPM just before the point of vibration. My intention in the first place was to save bearing life by reducing vibration, but I got much more than that, which is good.

Anyway, my point is I can't really relate with going through routers. But I have experienced a neat way of controlling the routers & giving them refined power, which I think will extend their life beyond normal wall socket juice. You might try something similar before dumping a lot of money into expensive routers. I use $100 routers I pick up at Lowes, and have great success with them. I'm not saying at all that finer routers wouldn't be better. I'm sure they would. But I have used cheap routers with success for a long time & no failures as of yet. I also get as smooth of cuts as I have seen anywhere. Just a thought.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
The Unique's quiet router's bearing would most likely last longer b/c you can't abuse it as much. The belt slips if you hog out too much. It's an NSK bearing so it's da nuts.
Kress is the best slim router though.
 

dchristal

Senior
Silver Member
I have a kress and it's a great router, but I use the Unique quiet router on the taper shaper because it's soooooo quiet.
 

rhncue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
qbilder said:
Why are you going through so many routers? I am still using the same DeWalt laminate trimmers I have had for years, even have & use old Ryobi routers I have had for around 10 years. I have not smoked a single router yet. My shaft cutting router must have 20,000 shaft cuts by now & shows no sign of wear or required maintenance. I often read where people experience frequent router failure, but cannot relate. I'm wondering if it's the way they are used or what?

One thing I did somewhat recently was began running my laminate trimmers on a 90vdc variable speed converter instead of just plugging them into a socket & using whatever raw juice the power company is pushing. I began doing this so I could refine the power & accurately tune it, as well as control the speed for when I want to use routers equipped with wing cutters & such. What I realized is it tremenmdously cleaned up the power to a consistent & smooth flow so the routers run much smoother & actually seem to run faster & stronger. I wired in a plug receptacle so I can plug in any router & run it, just like plugging it into the wall but with infinitely controllable power. So far i'm loving it. The routers seem quieter, smoother, faster & best of all I can control the speed to get max RPM just before the point of vibration. My intention in the first place was to save bearing life by reducing vibration, but I got much more than that, which is good.

Anyway, my point is I can't really relate with going through routers. But I have experienced a neat way of controlling the routers & giving them refined power, which I think will extend their life beyond normal wall socket juice. You might try something similar before dumping a lot of money into expensive routers. I use $100 routers I pick up at Lowes, and have great success with them. I'm not saying at all that finer routers wouldn't be better. I'm sure they would. But I have used cheap routers with success for a long time & no failures as of yet. I also get as smooth of cuts as I have seen anywhere. Just a thought.

I've gone through a number of P/C laminate trimmers, myself. I used to use them on my CNC for inlays. My CNC probably averaged running 4 hrs. a day 7 days a week. They would last about 6 months and the brushes would be shot. Change brushes and they would last about 4 months, change again and they would only last a short time as the commuters on the armature would be wore down so far that the brushes would start chipping and breaking. I used to always keep at least one spare as I usually work at night so I couldn't just go pick up another. I've completely wore out 2 of them and have replaced brushes in three of the four that I have at present. At present I use one with a small saw blade on my ring cutting lathe, another, with a wing cutter, on my butt tapering lathe, one with a 60 deg V cutter and another with a router bit. Most of the router motors I have used have been Craftsman which aren't real high quality but I've had them throw a copper commuter destroying one, a bearing go out of another and collets wear causing the bits to slip and no longer run true. Not sure exactly why they would wear as there should not be any slippage when made tight but they did.

Dick
 

rsmith_1972

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Routers

Has anyone ever used a Festool Laminate router? I looked at the specs at a shop here in CA and the tolerances are awesome and there are local distributors.:rolleyes:
 

BarenbruggeCues

Unregistered User
Silver Member
qbilder said:
Why are you going through so many routers? I am still using the same DeWalt laminate trimmers I have had for years, even have & use old Ryobi routers I have had for around 10 years. I have not smoked a single router yet. My shaft cutting router must have 20,000 shaft cuts by now & shows no sign of wear or required maintenance. I often read where people experience frequent router failure, but cannot relate. I'm wondering if it's the way they are used or what?

One thing I did somewhat recently was began running my laminate trimmers on a 90vdc variable speed converter instead of just plugging them into a socket & using whatever raw juice the power company is pushing. I began doing this so I could refine the power & accurately tune it, as well as control the speed for when I want to use routers equipped with wing cutters & such. What I realized is it tremenmdously cleaned up the power to a consistent & smooth flow so the routers run much smoother & actually seem to run faster & stronger. I wired in a plug receptacle so I can plug in any router & run it, just like plugging it into the wall but with infinitely controllable power. So far i'm loving it. The routers seem quieter, smoother, faster & best of all I can control the speed to get max RPM just before the point of vibration. My intention in the first place was to save bearing life by reducing vibration, but I got much more than that, which is good.

Anyway, my point is I can't really relate with going through routers. But I have experienced a neat way of controlling the routers & giving them refined power, which I think will extend their life beyond normal wall socket juice. You might try something similar before dumping a lot of money into expensive routers. I use $100 routers I pick up at Lowes, and have great success with them. I'm not saying at all that finer routers wouldn't be better. I'm sure they would. But I have used cheap routers with success for a long time & no failures as of yet. I also get as smooth of cuts as I have seen anywhere. Just a thought.

I gotta say you've been pretty darn lucky then. I used to go through PC lam routers like a kid with 50 bucks to blow in candy store.
Brushes...always had 3 extra pair on hand...bearings...a couple extra sets..
seemed I was always working on them. When I switched over to kress routers, I've sent one back for warranty replacement in 4 years and still haven't changed brushes in any of them yet. I opened one up and noticed I was getting close so I have to order some and have them on hand for when the day comes. I think I'll probably order one of the electronic plug in's just to have one on hand since they're out of warranty now.....that's what I sent the other one back for.
They all run days ahead of the other lam routers I've tried.

<~~~thinks Eric is a lucky dog.............
 

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Wow, I never knew laminate trimmers were such trouble!!!! Now you guys are gonna jinx me :( BASTARDS!!!!! Seriously, I have been using the same DeWalt router since 01' & have done nothing to it except change cutter bits. I trust them so much I bought a couple more & equipped them with different bits, then made universal quick release mounts for my machines so I can change routers instead of bits for different tasks. Maybe I have been lucky....I hope it keeps that way.
 

Adonisy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have 3 kress router , 2 are 110v and 1 is 220v
quiet router I also have it...

kress+1

but I use quiet router to cut ring

:D

2765481978_37a84687e3_b.jpg
 

BarenbruggeCues

Unregistered User
Silver Member
qbilder said:
Wow, I never knew laminate trimmers were such trouble!!!! Now you guys are gonna jinx me :( BASTARDS!!!!! Seriously, I have been using the same DeWalt router since 01' & have done nothing to it except change cutter bits. I trust them so much I bought a couple more & equipped them with different bits, then made universal quick release mounts for my machines so I can change routers instead of bits for different tasks. Maybe I have been lucky....I hope it keeps that way.


Yes sir...........I learned a long time ago, rule of the universe is, every time I talk good about something I have it falls into a bucket of $hit.

<~~~hope yours comes out smelling like roses....................
 

PoorBoy B

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks everybody for the feed back I'm going to go with the Kress. I guess with all of the money I just saved I can buy everybody a BEER!
 

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
BarenbruggeCues said:
Yes sir...........I learned a long time ago, rule of the universe is, every time I talk good about something I have it falls into a bucket of $hit.

<~~~hope yours comes out smelling like roses....................

Now dang it, you just keep your yapper shut. I got my own little world & things on planet Eric are just fine. I don't need a Dave ateroid dropping a giant $hit here & stinking the place up :eek:
 

brianna187

BRIANNA SINCE 1988
Silver Member
qbilder said:
Now dang it, you just keep your yapper shut. I got my own little world & things on planet Eric are just fine. I don't need a Dave ateroid dropping a giant $hit here & stinking the place up :eek:
you mentioned 500.00 for the kress which is right from thecno plus the collects and shipping i have them for 350.00 with 2 collects i will have another shipment in a few weeks.lee
 

bubsbug

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
quiet router setup

I have recently made the transition to quit router set up. I would advise you to go this route because you have many more options, if you are a do it your selfer. If a Kress goes bad its going to be Approx $500 bucks each time. I dont for see many issues with the quiet router set up. There are however many different motors and controllers to choose from if something does go wrong. The NSK Spindal is a very nice spindal. I am actually making one for my metal lathe as we speak. My tapershaper has an enclouser which quiets the anitial blase of any router but with the addition of a quiet router it is very smooth. Also, I have no problems with belt slipage under normal working conditions. I suppose I could make it slip if I wanted, but then again I could also burn up the motor if I wanted. It is a product worth looking into. About a year a go someone told be about problems with belt slipage and because of this I didnt get one. I have one now and realy, realy like it.
 

BarenbruggeCues

Unregistered User
Silver Member
bubsbug said:
I have recently made the transition to quit router set up. I would advise you to go this route because you have many more options, if you are a do it your selfer. If a Kress goes bad its going to be Approx $500 bucks each time. I dont for see many issues with the quiet router set up. There are however many different motors and controllers to choose from if something does go wrong. The NSK Spindal is a very nice spindal. I am actually making one for my metal lathe as we speak. My tapershaper has an enclouser which quiets the anitial blase of any router but with the addition of a quiet router it is very smooth. Also, I have no problems with belt slipage under normal working conditions. I suppose I could make it slip if I wanted, but then again I could also burn up the motor if I wanted. It is a product worth looking into. About a year a go someone told be about problems with belt slipage and because of this I didnt get one. I have one now and realy, realy like it.

What are you basing this on?
I have less than $300 each for my Kress routers and can replace the brushes for approx $15 per router. The electronic controller in them are less then $50 each and that is the main brain of the router. Only other thing is the bearings and I can do those pretty inexpensive also.
Running Kress routers are not expensive at all.
 

bubsbug

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Of the two companies that sell these products on this form I have gotten two approx prices. One being $375 and the other being around $500. If you change hardwere on these items great you may be able to keep cost lower. I was basing the amount on pruchasing new machine. With a Nsk spindal, you only buy it once. I have never used a Kress. I have phasicaly heard the amount of noise they make and in my opinion are pretty loud. Im sure Kress is a good product everyone has good things to say about them but Im not going to pay for anything that cost more than its worth. Figured approx value, $125-$150. Figured approx shipping rate. $125 to $150. Actually Im a little low on both sides I think. Now Im no genious but If I were purchasing stocks and bonds this way. The government would have to bail me out of bad Debt. Just as they will with Fanny and Mack.
 

BarenbruggeCues

Unregistered User
Silver Member
bubsbug said:
I have recently made the transition to quit router set up. I would advise you to go this route because you have many more options, if you are a do it your selfer. If a Kress goes bad its going to be Approx $500 bucks each time. I dont for see many issues with the quiet router set up. There are however many different motors and controllers to choose from if something does go wrong. The NSK Spindal is a very nice spindal. I am actually making one for my metal lathe as we speak. My tapershaper has an enclouser which quiets the anitial blase of any router but with the addition of a quiet router it is very smooth. Also, I have no problems with belt slipage under normal working conditions. I suppose I could make it slip if I wanted, but then again I could also burn up the motor if I wanted. It is a product worth looking into. About a year a go someone told be about problems with belt slipage and because of this I didnt get one. I have one now and realy, realy like it.

These are your words? Are they not? If one were a do it yourselfer, why on God's farm would you replace the whole router if something like the brushes went out. Granted, the other spindles are probably a fine spindle but if your going to quote replacement costs do a little research before you come on with some numbers.
 

butterflycues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
routers

I don't think I would pay 1500.00 for a router set up when I can get a Kress from Lee for 350.00 I had the same problem with the cheap ones. The brushes wear out after a few months. I don't know how anyone could get ten years out of any router with brushes, but anything is possable. I agree with Dave, I can get brushes for my Kress for 35.00 at the most and 1500. will buy a lot of brushes. Butterflycues
 

butterflycues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
routers

qbilder said:
Wow, I never knew laminate trimmers were such trouble!!!! Now you guys are gonna jinx me :( BASTARDS!!!!! Seriously, I have been using the same DeWalt router since 01' & have done nothing to it except change cutter bits. I trust them so much I bought a couple more & equipped them with different bits, then made universal quick release mounts for my machines so I can change routers instead of bits for different tasks. Maybe I have been lucky....I hope it keeps that way.
maybe I need to try a DeWalt as I have used everything else and have probably went through a Dozen of them at least. Usually brushes first and then after two sets of them it is the bearings. They are all junk. Butterflycues
 

brianna187

BRIANNA SINCE 1988
Silver Member
butterflycues said:
maybe I need to try a DeWalt as I have used everything else and have probably went through a Dozen of them at least. Usually brushes first and then after two sets of them it is the bearings. They are all junk. Butterflycues
HOPING TO HAVE KRESS ROUTER SHIPMENT BY THE US OPEN
 
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