: I'm planning on milling my own strips and I know nothing about routers. Do
: regular routers allow for extending the bit up through the bottom of a
: homemade router table, or do I need to buy a plunge router?

: Also, how many horsepower do I need to get? I can get a 1 hp plunge router
: for $39.99 or a 3 hp for $79.99. I probably wouldn't use it much at all
: except for building this boat, so I'd like to go with the cheaper one if I
: can.

: Thanks.

I've worked with routers for years. Properly setting up bead and cove
cutters is a pain in the ass. They have to be dead-on or you'll have a gap line.

I wouldn't want to try doing it with only one router. I set-up two routers so
I can check the fit of both profiles.

There is a difference in what you get for the money in buying tools.

A cheap tool certainly will not give you the ability to make the very fine
hight adjustments needed to get the cutters in alignment.

Can you do it? Sure. Have many others here done it? Sure.
Will you waste hours and hours and live with whatever you
end up with? Sure.

I think it is much easier and faster to hand bevel your strips.

You will have probably just about stripped your boat in the time
it would take to buy, fuss and mill the strips.

That's what is really great about strip building. You can do it
with very few tools.

IF you just want an excuse to buy another tool, well
go head.

Rob