# Which edge guide?



## DanT (Oct 22, 2012)

I am looking to get an edge guide for my Dewalt router. I have narrowed it down to the Dewalt edge guide or the Bosch RA1054 edge guide. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experience with either.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

I would be inclined to use the edge guide that came with the router?


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

Dan_T said:


> I am looking to get an edge guide for my Dewalt router. I have narrowed it down to the Dewalt edge guide or the Bosch RA1054 edge guide. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experience with either.


The RA1054 seems to be a really nice edge guide. If the rod diameter and spacing will your router(I am not sure) It should be a good way to go.


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## DanT (Oct 22, 2012)

There was no edge guide with the router. Dewalt makes a universal guide. The reviews I read where kind of mixed. I was told the Bosch would fit the Dewalt and from the pictures I've seen looks well built. The reviews are slightly better. I was hoping someone on here might have first hand experience with one o the other.


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## Quillman (Aug 16, 2010)

Dw a little squiggly, ok to adjust and good value. Have not tested the Bosch.
Did decide to make my own DW guides.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Dan_T said:


> I am looking to get an edge guide for my Dewalt router. I have narrowed it down to the Dewalt edge guide or the Bosch RA1054 edge guide. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experience with either.


Hi Dan - Bosch is a good guide. To me it's kinda busy what with a lot of knobs but it works well and has dust collection. Porter Cable also has a precision edge guide that gets good reviews. 
Porter-Cable 42690 Edge Guide (for Models 100, 690, 691, 693, 891, 892, 893 Routers) - Amazon.com)
I have no idea if either will fit your router.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Question is will the Bosch fit the DeWalt. You could buy it and try it for fit and return the Bosch if it doesn't work or you have to use adapters to make it fit. I have the Bosch guide and it is a really fine tool, very well built, very good reviews. The dust collection it comes with is very nice indeed.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

How I rate the edge guides

1. PC
2. DeWalt
3. Bosch
4. the one that came with your router

and yes the PC and the DeWalt one will fit many routers..

===


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## DanT (Oct 22, 2012)

I like the looks of the PC. If it fits my Dewalt I may go with it. My imitate need for one is to do mortises in 1 1/2 stock which is to long for me to do on my table. Is an edge guide a good way to do this?


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## DanT (Oct 22, 2012)

Typo in my previous post. I meant to say "immediate" not "imitate"


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

DesertRatTom said:


> Question is will the Bosch fit the DeWalt.


Answer: Yes. I've had both - the DWs are designed to work with 8mm fence rods for their smaller routers (e.g. DW613, DW621) and 10mm fence rods with the bigger routers (e.g DW625), although on different centres. The cast aluminium fence supplied with the Bosch GOF900CE, GOF1300CE and GOF2000CE (aka 1619EVS in the USA) have the same fence centres and use the same diameter guide rods. In the past I've used fences interchangeably between some of these routers. Having owned P-C 690s I can say that their OEM 2-stem fences are not compatible with DW

Regards

Phil


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Dan_T said:


> I like the looks of the PC. If it fits my Dewalt I may go with it. My imitate need for one is to do mortises in 1 1/2 stock which is to long for me to do on my table. Is an edge guide a good way to do this?


Hi Dan - I really prefer a mortise jig for that job. Not much to popping one together, pic shows one I made to put some dowels in 3/4" stock. Could just have easily used a similar for a mortise. Used a 3/4" bushing centers to center the bit. 1-1/2" stock would just mean putting shoulders on it to take up the slack for the bushing, or use a smaller bit. Would need to know the size of mortise and bushings available to figure out the particulars.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

No need to make a easy job into a hard one..all you need is drill motor..

Jessem 

JessEm Zip Slot Mortise Mill - YouTube

JessEm Pocket Mill - YouTube

jessem | Woodworking Videos

===


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

My PC guide will fit my DeWalt 611, plus the PC guide is great cir.jig...


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Phil P said:


> Answer: Yes. I've had both - the DWs are designed to work with 8mm fence rods for their smaller routers (e.g. DW613, DW621) and 10mm fence rods with the bigger routers (e.g DW625), although on different centres. The cast aluminium fence supplied with the Bosch GOF900CE, GOF1300CE and GOF2000CE (aka 1619EVS in the USA) have the same fence centres and use the same diameter guide rods. In the past I've used fences interchangeably between some of these routers. Having owned P-C 690s I can say that their OEM 2-stem fences are not compatible with DW
> 
> Regards
> 
> Phil


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> My PC guide will fit my DeWalt 611, plus the PC guide is great cir.jig...


Hi Bob

For reference any idea of the rod diameter and rod centres? That way I can figure out if they are the same as the DW613/GOF900

Regards

Phil


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## DanT (Oct 22, 2012)

My Dewalt is a 618. I can't get to it until this weekend. I'll measure hole dia. and spacing then.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Dan_T said:


> My Dewalt is a 618. I can't get to it until this weekend. I'll measure hole dia. and spacing then.


Thanks, Dan. Always useful to have some more gen on cross-compatibility

Regards

Phil


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Phil

Here's a snapshot of the PC edge guide in place on the DeWalt 611
rod diameters that come with the PC guide .280 and .309
centres on the DeWalt .235 and .305 OC the DeWalt can take on both sizes..

You're Welcome

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Phil P said:


> Hi Bob
> 
> For reference any idea of the rod diameter and rod centres? That way I can figure out if they are the same as the DW613/GOF900
> 
> ...


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> Here's a snapshot of the PC edge guide in place on the DeWalt 611
> rod diameters that come with the PC guide .280 and .309
> centres on the DeWalt .235 and .305 OC the DeWalt can take on both sizes..


That may or may not be compatible, sound like it will work with the smaller routers. The bigger DWs, the DW624/DW625/DW626 (also Elu MOF131, MOF177 = USA 3337/3338/3339) all use 10mm (0.39in) fence rods at 100mm (3.94in) centres whilst the GOF1700CE (1615EVS) used 9.53mm (3/8in or 0.375in) fence rods but still on 100mm centres. Either way I've swapped various fences between these two routers in the past and they are completely compatible _so long as you use 3/8in fence rods on the Bosch_. The later MOF177s and earlier DW625s (until about 2 or 3 years back) came with an all alloy fine adjuster fence like this:










This fence is currently still supplied with the Trend T10/T11 routers, which are basically modified DW625s made in the same factory, so it's now available from them. It is compatible with all the smaller plunge routers as well, e.g. deWalt DW613/DW614/DW615/DW620/DW621/DW622 (also Elu MOF69, MOF96 = US 3303/3304, OF1/OF97, MKF67, etc), Black & Decler SR100, Trend T5 and clones (e.g Virutex F77/FR78/FR277/FR278, Perles OF3-808, etc), Metabo Signal Ofe.1229, etc because it has two sets of guide rod holes, the inner ones are for 8mm (5/16in or 0.31in) fence rods (I don't know the centres at the moment as I don't have one at hand to measure..... I will come back on this later) and the outer ones are for the 10mm rods at 100mm centres. Note that the DW611 (or D26200/D26203/D26204 in the EU) isn't in my compatibility list - I just don't have the details for it

Using 8mm (5/16in or 0.375in) fence rods these fences are also wholly compatible with all the smaller Bosch routers such as the POF800, GOF900ACE (1614EVS), GOF1300ACE (1613EVS) and by extension with the GMF1600CE (1617EVS) and GMF1600CE (MR23EVS) - see below.

In recent years deWalt has supplied a composite steel/alloy fence (called a DE6913 here) with the smaller 8mm and 1/2in plunge routers over here from the DW613 up to the DW622. More recently this has become the fence supplied with the DW624/DW625 as well:










Like the all alloy fence it is compatible with both 8mm fence rod tools and 10mm ones (and can be used on the Bosch models listed above). Having got both fences I'd have to say that the all alloy fence is a nicer fence to use - it's more sturdy. Neither fence is particularly small and they both feel a tad cumbersome on a small router IMHO. The flip side is that they are pretty stable, even if used with extra long (say 600mm/24in) fence rods.

Smaller Bosch plunge routers in the EU (POF800 to GOF1300CE) have for a long tiime been delivered with fences which are compatible with the larger GOF1700ACE (1615EVS) and GOF2000CE (1619EVS) and which can also be swapped with the fences supplied with the DWs and their clones because they have the two position fence rod holes. Until the current "CE" models (GOF900CE/GOF1300CE/GOF2000CE) the older models were supplied for about 10 years with an all plastic fine adjuster fence. They worked well enough, but the "quality" feel you expect from a Bosch just wasn't there. As the range changed a few years back Bosch reverted to a dual hole alloy fence (2 607 001 387) which is also compatible with the plunge bases on the GMF1400 (1617) and GMF1600 (MR23) routers (according to Bosch UK). these fences are almost as big as the Trend T11/DW all alloy fences, and are cross compatible with them:










My own personal feeling is that the Bosch is little if any better than the all-alloy DW fence, but definitely better than the DE6913

A little afterthought, at least for those in the EU and Oz. Trend supply an adjustable fence for their T5 (DW613/DW615 compatible) router which works with 8mm (5/16in) fence rods and which is physically somewhat smaller the fences noted above, albeit not compatible with the "3HP" routers:










Could be a reasonable after-market fence if it's compatible

Regards

Phil


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Phil

I'm sorry you don't see the compatible of the PC guide,it's only one that I know about that will fit All routers with a simple made face plate to install the bigger or smaller rods like the 1/4" and the 1/2" ones..the bigger one are needed for the tank router like the 7500 PC routers..

I also have the dewalt also because it comes with longer rods 
see below but it has a down fall, it can't take on the tanks routers like the PC one can.
Amazon.com: DEWALT DW6913 Router Edge Guide with Fine Adjustment and Vacuum Adaptor: Home Improvement

==


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## Spud387 (Dec 28, 2013)

Hi guys,

First post and just starting to experiment with my new router.

I own the Dewalt DWP611PK and I am looking to buy a router guide for it. I saw the Dewalt DW6913 mentioned here, but I noticed there is also the Dewalt DNP618 edge guide specifically for Dewalt's compact routers. Which would you recommend?

It would be used for light work and I am self learning woodworking and do it for fun/as a hobby.


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## timbertailor (Oct 4, 2009)

I have a few sitting in a drawer. Can not remember the last time I used one. Not very versatile and not really a tool that you gotta have.

I prefer a simple straight edge clamp. Much easier to follow since there are no uneven edges, clamps to your work in seconds, and can be used with the router, circular saw, jig saw, and any other tool you can come up with. Use two of them and you have a sled for all your hand held cutting tools.

All In One Low Profile Contractors Clamps


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

timbertailor said:


> I have a few sitting in a drawer. Can not remember the last time I used one. Not very versatile and not really a tool that you gotta have.
> 
> I prefer a simple straight edge clamp. Much easier to follow since there are no uneven edges, clamps to your work in seconds, and can be used with the router, circular saw, jig saw, and any other tool you can come up with. Use two of them and you have a sled for all your hand held cutting tools.
> 
> All In One Low Profile Contractors Clamps


+1. 

my router edge guides mostly stay on a shelf. But my straight edge clamps get a whole lot of use for routing with hand-held routers and cutting with Jig-saws and circular saws. (I have an edge guide for both those saws that are on the same shelf.)


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

I am totally new at routing but I am teaching myself to be able to route a 12 foot board for my house. I just had my house painted and I had to pay someone to route a 12 foot replacement fascia board so the under eve boards will fit into this fascia board. I purchased the PC guide for my Porter Cable router. I don’t think a straight edge 12 feet long would be practical. What do you think? I am just reading all this stuff to get a better understanding.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

coxhaus said:


> I am totally new at routing but I am teaching myself to be able to route a 12 foot board for my house. I just had my house painted and I had to pay someone to route a 12 foot replacement fascia board so the under eve boards will fit into this fascia board. I purchased the PC guide for my Porter Cable router. I don’t think a straight edge 12 feet long would be practical. What do you think? I am just reading all this stuff to get a better understanding.


another 12' board would be easy/fast/simple/ enough to do... 
cheap too...
as for the edge guide, depends on what the final product is going to look like...


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

The 12 foot board is a 1 x 6 board with a groove cut about a inch in from the edge. The bottom of the eve fits inside this groove for a tight fit. The house was built a long time ago. If I had to replace several boards then it would work, but I would not want to have to store an extra 12 foot board waiting for another fascia board to get wood rot.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

coxhaus said:


> The 12 foot board is a 1 x 6 board with a groove cut about a inch in from the edge. The bottom of the eve fits inside this groove for a tight fit. The house was built a long time ago. If I had to replace several boards then it would work, but I would not want to have to store an extra 12 foot board waiting for another fascia board to get wood rot.


use the edge guide and a straight bit to cut the groove....


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

That is what I am thinking. I saved a piece of the old board so I can try to match it.

PS

The board on the back of my house is 20 feet or more. I am not sure you can buy boards that long any more. I will have to replace it with multiple boards. If it goes bad.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

coxhaus said:


> That is what I am thinking. I saved a piece of the old board so I can try to match it.
> 
> PS
> 
> The board on the back of my house is 20 feet or more. I am not sure you can buy boards that long any more. I will have to replace it with multiple boards. If it goes bad.


make sure the board (fascia) you will be installing gets painted on all sides. edges and ends, especially inside the groove (dado)....
most excellent for keeping the wood stable and prolonging the life of the board.. the finish paint job will last a lot longer too....


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## timbertailor (Oct 4, 2009)

This would be a good use of an edge guide.

Always more than one way to skin a cat.

If its a rabbit, you could even do it a the table saw, as long as the board is not too small to begin with.


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## coxhaus (Jul 18, 2011)

You know I was thinking about a table saw also but I have never run a dado on my table saw. Would a table saw cut as nice of groove as a router? I would think the bottom cut would not be as smooth as a router but I have never tried it.

You know I wish I would have thought about painting both sides. I just painted it after it was installed. I will paint on both sides next time.


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## timbertailor (Oct 4, 2009)

coxhaus said:


> You know I was thinking about a table saw also but I have never run a dado on my table saw. Would a table saw cut as nice of groove as a router? I would think the bottom cut would not be as smooth as a router but I have never tried it.
> 
> You know I wish I would have thought about painting both sides. I just painted it after it was installed. I will paint on both sides next time.


With a good TS blade, I can rip cut edges smooth enough for glue up, without a jointer, even though I have one.

Lots of ways to skin a cat.

I can think of two other ways using a RAS.

Either way, a table saw and a router are always good investments. The router would probably be a more cost effective solution short term, the table saw, a more versatile long term investment. A dado blade makes for a very versatile rabbit tool.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

coxhaus said:


> You know I was thinking about a table saw also but I have never run a dado on my table saw. Would a table saw cut as nice of groove as a router? I would think the bottom cut would not be as smooth as a router but I have never tried it.
> 
> You know I wish I would have thought about painting both sides. I just painted it after it was installed. I will paint on both sides next time.


over 12'... no it won't because of the crown...


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

coxhaus said:


> You know I was thinking about a table saw also but I have never run a dado on my table saw. Would a table saw cut as nice of groove as a router? I would think the bottom cut would not be as smooth as a router but I have never tried it.
> 
> You know I wish I would have thought about painting both sides. I just painted it after it was installed. I will paint on both sides next time.


Paint it after the tooling is done. Paint will dull your cutting edges in a heartbeat. A router will leave a better finish quality bottom edge than _most_ dado stacks. To come close to the quality of a cheap router bit, you are looking at a finished quality dado set... which mine at that quality are over $200 dollars for the set. But an inexpensive Standard dado set will cut a straighter edge (depth and and laterally) than a router. Router is slower than doing the same with a TS. 

To do it on a table saw, it also needs to have a long enough arbor shaft to be able to accept a dado stack and have enough poer to turn it. I run 8" and 10" dado stacks, but I have 4.5 HP. I wouldn't personally recommend it on a saw with less than 1-1/2 HP. That is just how things are.


timbertailor said:


> With a good TS blade, I can rip cut edges smooth enough for glue up, without a jointer, even though I have one.
> 
> Lots of ways to skin a cat.
> 
> ...


Now for the truth about dado's, which anywhere in the world, is called grooving or spline joint joining... You need a straight in both depth and lateral slot. A smooth finish looking bottom is not really that important. A rough edge there actually creates a stronger glue joint that holds glue better than a smooth surface does. Unless the joint is going to be seen from the side (for aesthetics), it doesn't matter much. A quick fix is edge banding to cover it.

If I need a smooth bottom, then I either setup one of my finish dado stacks or do it with a router. Now, this might be confusing to others-- If someone has a finish sets, why not use them for everything? Well the feed rate is less, that quality is not needed for everything... and if I used them for everything, they are more to have resharpened and/or replaced than a standard set. I save them for something special, where I can get a return on the cost of wear on the tooling. Somewhere there, common sense has to kick in. My tools have to pay for themselves.

Next, I do spline joints with a router, panel saw or RAS. I have no one preference.For shelves under 24", there's nothing faster than using a RAS. For long splines and big jobs, my panel saw is better hands down. (it can also do dado scoring for melamine and veneered). For just a few splines, a router and a jig. There is no best for all solution. It still goes by what I'm trying to do and what I'm in the mood for.

I do all my glue-edge ripping on my panel saw. Before that I did it mostly on my cabinet saw. When I was using the cabinet saw, if it was off by any at all, I jointed it on the RAS or a router table. It takes a bit of finesse the ensure you have a sharp rip blade that gets a clean saw edge, keeping the blade at 90* without deflection... a good rip fence, straight edge jig (also called a TS jointing jig), a good steady rip fence... keeping your saw in tune and practice. I use glue-edge rip blades made especially for that, but those are over-kill for most people. 

I used to do that with HS 40 tooth rip blades. I have four blades that I rotated (to keep a sharp on), that I sharpened myself. They were $9 blades I got off the trade-in rack somewhere. I used those four for years, for ripping glue edges.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

coxhaus said:


> The 12 foot board is a 1 x 6 board with a groove cut about a inch in from the edge. The bottom of the eve fits inside this groove for a tight fit. The house was built a long time ago. If I had to replace several boards then it would work, but I would not want to have to store an extra 12 foot board waiting for another fascia board to get wood rot.





Stick486 said:


> over 12'... no it won't because of the crown...


12 foot long? Look down the edge of any 12 footer and you can grade the bow in the length. Dimensional lumber, even if select grade or grade 2 will have bow to it... and may need to be jointed, depending what you were using it for. A good jig, support and guides... with any normal tooling at that length is going to be a challenge. 

But structural or other construction are different rules. If not really _finish grade work_ (which fascia boards are not), a good, somewhat straight edge and a basic edge guide would get it in the ball park. It's not interior finish carpentry or rocket science. Don't make it into something harder than it should be.

What you were describing was something for mounting in a soffit. To be honest, we never jointed cedar fascia for putting up soffit. We just put the bow up and cheated it into place so it was straight. Then for putting up the soffit, we tacked strips of 1x1 or 2x2, to the back edge of the fascia and tacked the soffit to that.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

this kind of edge guide...


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## Silver7 (Dec 29, 2014)

I just picked these up from Pat Warner Ive had several different types of edge guise and these are the best


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Have any of you considered the CRB7 multi purpose edge guide? It solves a lot of edge guide problems. 7 & 8 mm rods come with it, but 10 and 12 mm are available, so it should fit any router with guide rod holes. The base of the CRB7 is very sturdy and stable, and you can cut arcs and circles with it by using the extra rods to extend one of the rods being used (they thread together end to end) and attach an included adjustable pivot piece to the rod. The CRB7 is expensive, but it can do so much more than just an edge guide that, to me, it's money well spent. Watch the video to see what I mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyS1JpKx684

Charley


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