Porter-Cable 7518 Speedmatic 15 Amp 3-1/4 Horsepower Fixed Base 5-Speed Router
VERY GOOD MACHINE I WOULD RECOMED TO ANYONE

A very good, powerful router. Good for big bits and heavy cuts. We use this router motor in conjunction with the Bench Dog lift and table to make a "mini shaper" for some special machining. Have bought and installed 5 of these routers. I just use the motor in the lift. I have not used the router on a base free hand. It is heavy. I would reccomend this model more use in a router lift or for a heavy duty operation like sink cutouts or pattern cutting. I think you buy this one for its power. The soft start takes a little getting used to. With the router lift and table you really need the switch Bench Dog makes to mount on their router tables. No way to see the switch on this router when it is upside down in a lift. Bench Dog sells a switch for their router tables that I will try.

When it comes to woodworking, Porter-Cable is my choice of tool. This router is another fine example.

I wanted to make about about 60 feet of raised panel wainscoting (over 25 panels) for my dining room using 3/4 in. MDF board. I selected the PC 7518 router because of the power, favorable reviews and other recommendations. I mounted it in a Bench Dog Pro Lift and mounted that in a Bench Dog ProTop router table and used Freud bits including a 3.5 in. raised panel bit with a back cutter. This set up breezed through the rail and stile cuts like butter with 1 pass and made very smooth cuts. The cuts were so precise that no sanding was required where the rails and stiles were joined. The raised panel bit also generated very smooth cuts but I would recommend 3 passes for safety and a better result. I was using the set-up on a 15 amp line in the garage (it is a 15 amp tool) with a shop vac to suck up the dust and boy does MDF generate dust. After blowing the circuit breaker a few times (using the panel cutter), I moved the vac and work lights to a different circuit and that solved the circuit breaker problem. However the router still shut down if the cut was too heavy or the feed too fast. It was easily re-set by simply unpluging and repluging the power cord. Since this was my first major router project, I attribute this to "operator error" hence the 3 pass recommendation for the raised panel cutter. That cutter really pushes this router to its limits and once I got the hang of it, it performed really well. However if your looking to do a raised panel with 1 pass in MDF, get a shaper. The end result is that I have a very happy wife who loves her wainscoting.

This router is pretty heavy and is primarily intended for a router table which is where I plan to leave it. I'll use a different and lighter router for hand held router work. All and all, I'm extremely pleased with the PC 7518 and have no reservations in recommending it for use in a router table.

Relative to the recommendations of some that a used shaper might have been a better approach, have you ever priced shaper cutters relative to router bits? They are a lot more expensive. Also shapers are not easily moved from the basement to the garage for a project. If I were a production shop, then a shaper makes sense. Since I'm not, the router table approach is the more flexible and cost effective approach for me. Besides, I more than covered the cost of the equipment in the savings from not having to buy or have someone make custom wainscoting.

You can't go wrong using this router. Excellent balance, power, and speed control are just a few of the features that make this router a tool to have. A little heavier than most routers, but what do you expect for a 3 1/4 production router?