What's the difference between a fixed and plunge router?

Question

Can I make rounded edges on shelves with a basic hand held router?

Answer 1

Fixed: base does not move so you are unable to adjust the depth of the cut.

Plunge: base moves to adjust depth of cut.

**Plunge routers lock into place to become a fixed router, thus making it more versatile.

Answer 2

Plunge Vs Fixed Base Router

Answer 3

Fixed Base Vs Plunge Router

Answer 4

The nice thing about a plunge router is that you can safely start a cut in the center of the piece of wood. With a fixed base, you take the chance of the bit hanging up when entering the wood. Many routers are now being sold with both fixed and plunge attachments. You remove the plunge base when not needed.

Answer 5

Sure a basic hand held router will work fine. Here's the differences in the routers.

Fixed Base
With a fixed base router, the depth of cut is set before you turn the router on. The lack of a plunge mechanism tends to make these routers lighter and less expensive.

Plunge
A plunge router allows you to adjust the depth of cut while the router is turned on. This feature can come in handy when you need to make multiple passes on a board, taking off a little more wood with each pass. Plunge routers often have depth stops that can be used to accurately plunge the router to the appropriate depth while in use. Plunge routers can also be used to cut mortises, stopped grooves, dados, and incised letters (with special jigs). However, the plunge mechanism adds weight to the router.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What's the difference between a fixed and plunge router?
Can I make rounded edges on shelves with a basic hand held router?

Answer 7

fixed base is just that, cheap simple, gets the job done. A plunge router is usually more powerful and is made to "plunge" into surfaces. the plunge router is a better router to own if you have the money and the use for it. If you are trying to decide between a miter saw and a table saw, might I suggest a radial arm saw, it's the best of both worlds. Quite a bit bigger than either, but a full size radial arm saw is super useful. It will do the job of a table saw and a compound miter saw. A good one will be just as precise as either one. They even often double as a table router by allowing you to fix a router bit onto the opposite end of the motor shaft. We actually recently re-trimmed our entire house with ours.

Answer 8

Absolutely, Both types of routers alow you to the same type of cuts or edging.

As with both routers the depth is adjustable, most brands allow you to adjust form 0 to about an inch and everywhere in between.

The difference between the two are that with a fixed base you have to start on the edge of a board where a plunge base allows you to start in the middle of a board and cut spacific grooves or designs.

If you are just wanting to put a nice edge on a shelf then a fixed base router is tool I would recomend.

I hope this helps.

Answer 9

I would recommend getting a combination fixed/plunge router. I have one from Dewalt and I love it!
http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=5601