Festool 574692 Router OF 1400 EQ Imperial

I waited way too long to invest in this router. I've been building a lot of furniture with mortise and tenon joints for several years. My go to method for cutting mortises has been a PC plunge router with a PC edge guide and an uncut spiral bit. The results have been acceptable, but I've been frustrated in with the fine adjustment ability of the PC set up. I also didn't enjoy spending 20 minutes or more cleaning up all the chips after finishing.Then this beauty came into my shop and everything changed! I purchased the parallel edge guide with the 1400. When they arrived I couldn't wait to test it out. I had a Veritas inset vice I needed to install in my work bench and it required a deep slot about 2 1/2 wide as well as shallow wings on each side. The fine adjustments with the Festool parallel guide is amazingly simple and accurate. That alone made the price of this upgrade much easier to take. However, the dust collection left me amazed and smiling. I used a 1 1/4"x1 1/4" flexible plumbing coupling with radiator style clamps to connect the router's dust hood to my shop vac. When all was done a scant handful of dust and chips had escaped the dust collection system, an amount I was able to clean up in about a minute with a bench brush and trash can.If I could give this more than 5 stars I would. Yes, it's an expensive upgrade, but the frustration and time saved more than make up for it. If you are serious about woodworking it's worth saving up and investing in great tools like this.

I love woodworking, but I hate sawdust. It gets everywhere and on everything, and it's a royal pain in the rear to clean. There is no worse dust offender than a router, and this is especially true for flush trimming something like MDF.I recently built myself a new very large (2400 x 1200mm) MFT tabletop out of MDF. If you have ever attempted flush trimming with MDF, you are aware of the amount of very fine dust that is produced. I was in process of setting up my Makita trim router when I remembered my OF 1400 comes with a 1/4" collet. Friend, let me tell you, this was the best news of my day. Connected to my CT 36, this router collected at least 99% of the dust, and likely more.In other projects, I have also been impressed with the power of this mid-range router. A lot of the fit/finish you get from a router is due to bit selection, but the router is a key component. The variable speed on this machine allows whatever rotation you need, and as handheld routers go I am very, very impressed.In the spirit of full disclosure, I find myself falling deeper and deeper down the Festool rabbit hole because of their dust collection capability. I own a CT 36 that is providing the suction for this dust collection. I believe you could also do this with another shopvac style dust collector so long as you had the right hose to connect to the dust port on the tool.

After messing around with other brands of routers I finally broke down and bought a Festool 1440 EQ Router. AMAZING machine. Having just bought a new table saw (Grizzly G0690) I was frustrated with the lack of repeatable accuracy for crosscuts of large/long cabinet sides. Dados are very hard to get right with a cutting depth of 29" to the right of the saw blade. Enter the Festool 1440 router and the Festool MFT/3 Table. The Router is SMOOOOOTH as silk in its running. Quiet too! I've had PC routers and Dewalt routers that sound like a jet engine. When combined with the Festool MFT/3 and its rail system the accurancy is just what I was looking to have in my funiture shop. The initial investment is a bit much (ouch) but in the end I am VERY happy. I HAD another brands setup that starts with "M" but I sent it back... not nearly accurage enough. So YES... I have drank the green coolaid! I also have the TS 55 Track saw and love it too!

Festool is not a brand you buy for everything, but this is definitely one of those things. It’s a great all-around use router. It works with the festool rails for straight accurate dados. Dust collection is great but also requires the operator to understand best practices to get the best possible collection.

Tool and a price for pro's and those who want the best. I'm a working pro-carpenter, own 6(?) routers, used 20 others. This is just a sweet, sweet tool to use. Very stable, solid feel. I've already used it with the equally hideously expensive track set-up to bail me out of a tricky cabinet veneer job so consider purchasing the accessory parts just in case. Ouch, but anything to get the job done. ** I replaced the Festool track clamps with DeWalt's track clamps. Much better.

I did a lot of research on the purchase and as expected Festool was the best choice for me. I'm an avid hobbiest and while this was by the most expensive router I looked at I consider my tools as an investment. I don't foresee needing to replace or upgrade this router for a long long time.

A pleasure to work with.

The media could not be loaded. I do not feel there’s a problem with the tool I know there is. Attached is some pic showing the height of the screws above the base plate using a dial indicator some are as high as .006 inch. I’m not sure why it should be my response to send a brand new tool right out of the box in for service. If this is an example of the quality control over Festools, this will be my last Festool. I own a Bosch and a Porter-Cable router and did not have to send them in for service right out of the box. I’m asking for a new phenolic base plate with the counter sinks cut to the correct depth. I have received no response form the Festool service department as of this posting.