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Pocket hole machine Ritter or Castle?

6/3/16       
John

Hi all,

Looking for feedback on your experience with pocket hole machines. Have you had good luck with Castle vs Ritter? The ritter seems to come in slightly cheaper than the Castle. Regardless of price , the quality of the machine is far more important to us.

I had a ritter in the past, it worked great and was fairly reliable in not breaking the bits. Towards the end of its time with us it was just cutting sloppy holes with alot of tear out. But this was after many years of use.

We recently bought another machine who I would rather not mention . And it just does not keep up for us and our application .

Thank you !

6/3/16       #2: Pocket hole machine Ritter or Castl ...
Bob

I have used a Ritter for many years. Have drilled 1000's of pocket holes. Great machine. Had to replace 1 bearing in about 15 years but it was very simple to do. Would not hesitate to buy another one.

6/3/16       #3: Pocket hole machine Ritter or Castl ...
Dustin orth

Website: http://customwoodmontrose.com

We have 2 castle tsm-21 machines. Besides normal maintenance, these have both run for years and years. Millions of holes would not be out of line as one of these has been with the company for almost 30 years. We use it for plywood assembly and face frame assembly. Good luck.

6/3/16       #4: Pocket hole machine Ritter or Castl ...
larry

We have a tsm21 that has been good but if you are going to run all day long look at their 3 phase machine.

6/3/16       #5: Pocket hole machine Ritter or Castl ...
Kevin Jenness

The Castle machines work well when they work, but a bit inconvenient to maintain. The proximity switches triggering the route and drill cycles on the TSM21 I used are based on magnets that weaken and need adjustment or replacement periodically, and not the most accessible. Otherwise a decent machine.

Have you looked at the Safety Speed Cut machine?

It sounds like you need high production, but for a smaller shop the manually operated Castle TSM11 is simpler and eliminates the electro-pneumatic system maintenance.

One thing you might consider if you go with a routed pocket is using a downcut spiral bit to reduce tearout on cross-grain cuts.


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