# Elu / DeWalt DE6900



## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Hello & good evening to all. 
I was wondering if anyone has experience of using the Elu version of the DeWalt DE6900 Router table. I've just bought this set up & it appears to be well engineered though very 'compact'. I have both models of the Elu MOF96 & the MOF96E (Variable Speed) with the intention of keeping one router fixed in the table (which one I'm undecided) Any thoughts, reviews, pro's con's or pointers on this set up would be hugely appreciated. 
Initially the routers are to be used to run channels in timber to house LED strip lights, so no huge power load needed hopefully


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Welcome. Many of us have used a piece of plywood with a board clamped to it for a table so anything more sophisticated that that is a bonus. The small table size is an issue but if you have the room you could use that with wings built on either side like table saws use. You don't necessarily need a long fence and sometimes a long fence can be a problem if the is a slight curve in your work.


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Many thanks Chuck. I was thinking along the same lines re table extension. Another option I was considering if practical would be to inset the table into a section of the workbench retaining access to the underside.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The only issue with insetting it into a bench would be how you lock the fence down maybe. I didn't see the fence in the diagram so I don't know how it works. If you couldn't use the existing fence if mounted into a bench top then I would just make a fence and rout some grooves in the bench top for t track and lock it down to the t track. It's definitely a doable plan.


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## Biagio (Mar 2, 2013)

What you have there is an example of finely-engineered, Swiss-made innovation. Elu invented the "portable plunge router", and the MOF96 and its accessories really started the trend in plunge routers for home workshops, outside of North America. So much so, that fixed base routers have never had much of a following - there were mostly some clunky Stanleys readily available in 220V at the time (remember tilt-plunge?).

The worst one can say about the MOF96 is that it is underpowered by today's standards - 600 Watts in the 220V version (750 Watts approximates 1 H.P.) There was a bigger machine - 2000W, but priced like a Festool today. 40 years ago, a friend bought the MOF96. As an impecunious medical resident, I had to settle for a Hitachi (still running) - more powerful, but I had to make the equivalent attachments over time (and never as precise as the Swiss-made). When my friend sold his kit without telling me some years back, it almost dented a very long friendship.

But the ingenuity lay in the accessories that came with it (Rockler, Trend, Incra, Kreg and Leigh did not exist or have products at the time). In particular, using the router in portable mode, but attached to the table with the right-angle fence in place, was (and probably still is) streets ahead for edge routing - virtually no chance of the router tipping. I did not hear of DeWalt continuing the accessories when they took over - if they did not, it is a pity. A lot of today's aftermarket jigs and plates are just not in the same league.
The supplied table was small, but adequate for about 80% of the tasks one would perform in a home shop. Elu did sell a larger floor-standing table, for working on bigger pieces. They also had a great circular saw, which could be mounted over or under the floor-standing table.

You could drop the table into a bigger surface, much like any other router plate (but too thick for 3/4"), just bear in mind that you would need feather-boards of some sort, as the adjustable-pressure spring guard mounts on one edge of the table (there is a threaded hole and a bolt). 

I scanned the original "manual" so you can see how the bits and pieces come together. To keep the file size manageable, I omitted pages showing the construction of joints, bits, etc. There was a separate manual for the dovetail jig.
For your expected use, you will find it a joy.


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Huge appreciation here Biagio for your incise & enthusiastic comments about the Elu MOF96. I omitted to add in the initial post that I also own the MOF96E (variable speed). I'm considering a way of constructing extensions to the router table using e.g. Bench Dog feather boards - I run these on a table saw - I'm unsure of which router would be best allied to the table, variable or fixed speed, I'm hoping to dedicate one router to the table. I couldn't agree more with your appraisal of the quality of construction & materials Elu used, this tool is truly a joy to use & control. I have the chance of buying (locally) a MOF 177 (it might be an 'E') & wonder if the extra grunt would be useful in the event that I develop into larger heavier work p.s. it's cheap & I'm always on a piddling budget. Though a novice at the moment I've not experienced any current workpiece to be desirous of much more power. In saying this I have little or no experience of higher end 1/2" machines, the units I've borrowed over the years have been budget store products and found them to be difficult to control or use with little assurance of personal safety! Once again very very many thanks for your helpful comments & pdf's


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Hagheld you only need to worry about more power when you start using larger bits. You'll also need either a 12mm or 1/2" collet to go with them as those bits have too much torque for small shanks.


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Many thanks for the input Chuck. I've made the deal for the 1/2" Elu MOF 177 & collect it next Tues. So I guess this means a new 12mm Collet & Nut plus a whole new set of cutters! I'm taking things very slowly partially due to the fact that everything I read about routing strongly yet rightly emphasises safety (even more stridently than the warnings about Table Saws!) The main concern I have is deciding if some of the router bits I've collected are in good/useable order but am doing all the recommended checks before trying test cuts.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Safety. If there is any way to use the router in the table vs freehand, I'll take the table.

Freehand, the router is spinning at up to 20,000 rpm, and it doesn't take much to lose control of it and have that bit tear into your flesh. I'd definitely work out a way to attach a larger table. A split fence is a very good thing as well. Consider putting in a T-track on each side so you can affix and pivot your fence. Bottom edge of the fence should be trimmed to a 45 angle, about an eighth inch up from the table to allow dust a place to escape. Standard advice, but good.


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## Biagio (Mar 2, 2013)

Hagheid, on the 1/4" models there will be liitle to choose between the single-speed and the E model for table mounting. Most of the bits will run at full speed, and you will need to take more than one cut to get to full depth anyway, given the power output. 
There are larger bits, even panel-raisers, with 1/4" shanks, but probably best avoided, as Charles suggested.
You did a good thing getting hold of the bigger machine, which should have the 1/2" collet as standard. I am envious of your ability to source such stuff - problems of living in a smaller country, and the stupid 110/220 volt dichotomy (I blame Thomas Edison).

By the way, if you happen to have a radial arm saw, Elu had brought out brackets to attach their routers to DeWalt saws, so that one had an over-arm, radial routing capability. Not sure if you will still find one, but not particularly intricate to make. Useful for repetititive dado cuts for shelving and the like, if one does not have a dado set for the saw.

Tom, I second the notion of preferential table-mount use (and the Elu kit even included a ball-bearing template follower that mounted over the bit, allowing the template to be on top of the workpiece, without collars). You will notice that with the Elu attachments, for edge work the router bit is almost fully shrouded. Does not get safer than that - the equivalent of a table-mounted bit shrouded in the fence. Freehand plunge routing is freehand plunge routing, and should not be attempted with low blood sugar, alcohol intake or sedating medication.


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## Biagio (Mar 2, 2013)

Hagheid, one more thing: if you build a table, see if you can design it to also take the kit in horizontal table mode. or build a separate table for that purpose. You won't need it every day, but when you do need it, it is a treat.


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

*Elu MOF177E*

Many thanks again Chuck, Tom & Biagio for your most knowledgable input. I took delivery of the MOF177E (same machine as the DW625 I think/hope) on Tues. I was surprised to find included in the deal a large variety of bits, extras & a fence. I've had little time to investigate fully but will shortly post some photos to see if these items can be identified, either as useless or of some value - (Some really big cutters which I'm really dubious to use without advice from my friends @ the forum!).

Re- further add-ons I'm trying to glean information on the compatibility of the Dewalt guide rail router attachment (See Photo 1 in this case paired with a DW router) in application with the 1/2" MOF177. Dewalt informed me that the kit was NOT useable with any 1/4 Router hence part of the reason for buying a 1/2" model. I have 2 Sections of the DW long rails & the VERY necessary clamps which I frequently use with a circular saw which has the track rail base (GREAT Saw!) (sold the plunge saw-bah!) & found it to be a breeze to set up. Just wondering if anyone has used this DW rail adapter with a router & if so have unearthed any pro's/cons?
Many thanks for all the advice once again


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Follow up photos of the MOF177E & the bits I'm unsure of -


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Omitted to add that the second last photo appears to be a collet within a collet - Is this a common practice/ safe?


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

More routers acquired - when will it end!!!! Another MOF96/2 & an interesting old Stanley - Pix to follow


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## Rogerdodge (Apr 24, 2014)

It never ends ! Routers and their aquisition is self perpetuating. Welcome btw.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Hag (you still haven't given us a name oir nickname to refer to yoy by), sorry I missed the post on the 11th. The bit with notches is I suspect a type of roughing bit, in other words it's meant to remove material quickly but not leave a finished cut. The one with the radius curve is called a bull nose bit. The other is a straight bit. Those and your collets are in desperate need of a good cleaning. Trend or CMT both make bit and blade cleaners that are reasonably priced. And yes, that is one standard design for collet. There are some others as well. There are a number of members who will tell you that you can't have too many routers. I'm at 5 and I feel that's about right for me.


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Can't resist an Elu - Another acquired today also Trend Router table to take the 1/2" sourced @ LAST!


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## Job and Knock (Dec 18, 2016)

Biagio said:


> What you have there is an example of finely-engineered, Swiss-made innovation. Elu invented the "portable plunge router", and the MOF96 and its accessories really started the trend in plunge routers for home workshops, outside of North America.


AFAIK Elu were actually a German company and many of the accessories I have were made in Germany, although, granted, the routers made from the early 1970s onwards were often assembled by Scintilla in Switzerland (nowadays part of Bosch, and incidentally makers of their jig saw blades). As for the rest, though, yes, Elu were indeed the Festool of their day. They cerainly did popularise the plunge router, although Ray Carter actually patented it first in the USA in the 1930s (I never have figured out why he never made it). Elu were the first to introduce affordable plunge routers, though, and their system approach was first class, but the same was also true of Carter and successors Stanley from the 1920s to 1960s (when they created many of the tools and accessories we see today, from the guide bush, butt hinge jig and spiral router cutter to the power planer)



Biagio said:


> I did not hear of DeWalt continuing the accessories when they took over - if they did not, it is a pity. A lot of today's aftermarket jigs and plates are just not in the same league.


Sadly, DW did drop quite a few models and accessories. I suppose that they just didn't understand the system approach as espoused by Elu. These days if you want that approach the only game in town is Festool



Biagio said:


> The supplied table was small, but adequate for about 80% of the tasks one would perform in a home shop.


Yes indeed, but the table was small enough to use as a portable router base on tasks such as solid wood lip trimming and profiling. Accessories supplied with the table originally included a trammel arm, fine fence adjuster (missing on the original MOF96 routers) and fine depth adjuster (again, not supplied with the router) 

What is often not appreciated, these days, is that many smaller routers use fences which are compatible with the MOF96. For example the MOF96 fences are compatible with the Makita RT0700/RT0701 and Makita RP1110 as well as successor models to the MOF96 such as the DW613 and DW615 an the Trend T5. In addition Elu's "next generation" small plunge router after the MOF96 (the OF1/OF97) is also compatible as are its' modern day equivalents, the DW621 and DW622. This compatibility is significant because it means that all these routers will also fit this router table. It also means that more power is a possibility, if required

As to table routing vs. freehand, I'd say it depends on usage. For many of the tasks I undertake there is simply no way to use a router table, or use one safely (e.g. plunge mortising, edge-routing stuff like the photo below _in-situ_). For large diameter cutters such as panel raisers a table makes perfect sense, but trying to pass a 12ft long length of timber across an undersized router table is asking for trouble, It's really a case of horses for courses

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280097&thumb=1



DesertRatTom said:


> Freehand, the router is spinning at up to 20,000 rpm, and it doesn't take much to lose control of it and have that bit tear into your flesh.


That's rather a dramatic way to put it, I'd say. If you use a router properly (timber to the left, cutter to the right, push forward, don't cut too deeply on each pass) and use both hands then problems shouldn't occur. TBH, as somebody who works predomiunently on-site a router table isn't really a goer for me much of the time - so I have to find otther safe ways of workking


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## Job and Knock (Dec 18, 2016)

hagheid said:


> Follow up photos of the MOF177E & the bits I'm unsure of -


As nobody has responded I'll tell you what I know

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280169&thumb=1

The cone-shaped item on the right is a centring mandrel for the MOF177. It is designed to allow you to accurately centre guide bushes when copy routing with a guide bush - such as you would when cutting mason's mitre kitchen joints. Sadly deWalt have dropped that particular item from more recent DW625 routers

The item on the upper left has a flat on its' shank and I suspect that it is a collet converter (see below). The item bottom left is a conventional collet extender with a 1/2in (?) shank. This is designed to be used with a plunge router, such as your MOF177, when it is inverted in a router table. It permits the use of cutters with short shanks, amongst other things, but must be used with caution

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280177&thumb=1

TBH the cutters in the upper left part of this picture are probably all gash. One of them is a hogging cutter (looks chipped, but isn't), they are all HSS cutters and in any case the flats on the shanks tell me that they are internally threaded at the top end (Elu used M10 x 1 or M12 x 1 - can;'t recall which right now) for use with the male threaded arbor end of the Elu MOF11 and MOF31 (earlier models) which to the best of my knowledge weren't sold in the USA. Very early MOF177s supplied in Europe were supplied with an adaptor to use these cutters, but I doubt that many ever saw action. Not many of them made it to the UK as they were so expensive, although I still have my old MOF31.

The three "tube holders" in the lower part of the picture are all guide bush holders. The right and left ones look like they were the type supplied with the Elu MOF31 and MOF98 models and are limited to holding a tube guide up to about 30mm. The centre one looks larger and is probably the type supplied with earlier MOF177s (up to typ 3) and should hols tubes of up to 40mm. These work in the same way -m a steel tube is turned to the appropriate diameters and used instead of the Trend "Euro" guide bushes you show in the bottom photo. The smaller ones cannot be used in a MOF177. Extra guide tubes are no longer available

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280185&thumb=1

This is a collet converter, probably from an Elu MOF31, and should have the same type of internal thread discussed above. The idea is that it allowed the MOF31 (and the larger MOF11) to be used witrh conventional plain shank cutters. The internally threaded cutters were a German idea which never really caught on over here in the UK and a lot of MOF31s were supplied from new with this type of converter, either by Trend (the original distributor frim the 1950s onwards) or Elu themselves (when they took the distribution in-house in the UK)

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280193&thumb=1

This is an aftermarket sub-base, quite probably a Trend item, into which a "Euro guidebush" has been inserted. These were originally designed for the Elu MOF68, MOF69 and MOF96 8mm plunge routers and have been adopted by Trens and others as a sort of de facto standard. The outside diameter is 60mm and the drilling centres are 50mm 

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280201&thumb=1

This is an Elu MKF67 laminate trimmer. It shares the same collet and collet nut design as the MOF96 as well as a number of other components. It uses the same fence rods and can take a MOF96 side fence. The offset base makes them useful for some laminate trimming operations and there were designed to be usd with a follow bearing/arm assembly (not unlike that on the Festool OF1010) as well as a lipping base designed to aloow solid wood trimming to be done as well as making over edge trimming far easier. Unfortunately the accessories for thei tool were axed PDQ by DW when they took over Elu in the 1980s making the tools less useful

http://www.routerforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280209&thumb=1

If you are having a hard time adjusting the router in the table like this, you really need a Trend FHA/003 fine height adjuster. This works the same way as the fine depth adjuster supplied in the DE6900 kit, only on the MOF177

A lot in in one poist, but as noboidy else had responded in full I thought I'd fill in the blanks. Maybeb useful for future readers, too


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## Biagio (Mar 2, 2013)

Hi Eric,
Thanks for filling in the blanks and correcting some mistakes. May I express my awe at your in situ work? Could you briefly give a rank amateur like myself an indication of how you do the arch? Do you follow a template of some sort? Nothing I would ever venture, but I like to know how the masters do it.


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## ridgwel (Jun 20, 2013)

Eric,

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge surrounding the ELU router. I am a big fan of the ELU products and find info on the ELU history to be limited.......sadly B&D (DeWalt) as you stated, buried the ELU. 

I got my first ELU 3338 router back in 1986 after seeing one demonstrated at the Houston Woodworking show. It functioned perfectly up this about 12 months ago. The switch quit working and DeWalt's DW625 parts were used to do the repair. I discovered that my Field Case was cracked. I could have used the yellow one from DeWalt but I found that Trend T11 in the UK utilized the ELU design and still used the ELU "black". The T11 parts diagram looked exactly like the ELU 3338 parts diagram I got with my ELU, so I took a chance and had one shipped to the USA.....fit perfectly. During that effort, I discovered the Trend T11 Base Plate was exactly what I was looking for to use on my router table. The Trend base plate, as you may already know, is set up for "above the table bit height adjustment. That worked to perfection as well.

I could have purchased a new DW625 for what I've spent repairing my 3338, but it wouldn't have been the same. Besides mine is labeled "Made in Switzerland". (During the last 6 month, I was able to find and purchase a DW625 that was also had "Made in Switzerland" on the label. It has replaced my 3338 in my router table.....as it is rated at 3 HP vs the 2 1/4 HP of my 3338.)


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## hagheid (Jan 26, 2017)

Staggeringly detailed info Eric. I genuinely appreciate all the effort you've expended in helping me identify these parts. I'm hacking around in the dark (wilderness) here with these tools evaluating the risks involved but mindful of the respect & caution needed so your warning about the e.g.collet extender (some of these adapters just look plain scary!) justifies my pansy reserve, though bear in mind that I'm still below the bottom rung & not even wholly confident about how tight I need to have the 'normal' collets on any of these machines. I've been using the 96's a fair bit though & found these though small to be a lovely tool to handle & my extremely basic cuts always bring a smile. 
Very many thanks 
Al


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## Job and Knock (Dec 18, 2016)

I've always had a soft spot for the old MOF96, Al - small, light, portable and most of the details such as collet design, fence, depth control, guide bushes properly sorted out, too. A design widely copied and for good reason. When they went to electronic speed control (the MOF96e) the power output was increased which made them even better, but for even more power the OF97 and its' successor models, the DW621 an DW622 have a lot going for them - compact and lightweight, sharing many of the design features of the MOF96 e.g. fence, depth control turret, etc - but sadly not the guide bushes) with a lot more power and built-in dust extraction which is right up there with the Festools.



ridgwel said:


> During the last 6 month, I was able to find and purchase a DW625 that was also had "Made in Switzerland" on the label. It has replaced my 3338 in my router table.....as it is rated at 3 HP vs the 2 1/4 HP of my 3338.


You know, I'm never sure about the power ratings quoted in the USA. Over here we quote motor power in watts - so a 750watt motor really does develop 1HP, whilst the typ 1 to typ 4 MOF177/DW625 was rated at 1850 watts, or 2.45HP with the typ 5 and typ 6 DW626/T10/T11 being 2000 watt or 2.65HP (or 3HP when rounded up?). As you say, though the MOF177, DW624/DW625, T10 and T11 (as well as the CMT 1e) share a lot of parts because they all come off the same production line (in Slovenia these days, but before that for a few years in Italy after Bosch absorbed Scintilla in Switzerland who had made them for avery long time).


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## ridgwel (Jun 20, 2013)

Thanks again, Eric! 

You're dead on with the power rating system here in the USA. Watts is a better method, but when given the volts and amps, you can calculate it.....that's what I did and got lower numbers than the wattage you quoted, so they really roundup on the HP rating here. [3338 rated at 120v & 12a = 1440w (1.9 hp) and my DW625 is rated at 120v & 15a = 1800w (2.4 hp)]


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