DecisionalReview.info

Overall Rating

Nice router
I have used this router now for about 4 months. I was a little sceptical on spending the money for this kit since there are cheaper kits available. I was also a bit concerned about spending the money for this since my only purpose was to do some laminate trimming but I didn’t want to use my much larger router for the delicate work. Well, I have not been disappointed with this machine and its attachments.

The first thing I noticed upon turning it on is the soft starting. I have never had a piece of equipment with this ability. I does not twist your arm or wrist when starting like a lot of other routers. I do not know if it is worth spending extra money if offered separately but it is sure nice when the joints are a little sore. Its size is a definite plus when doing the fine laminate trimming and cutting out hinge recesses, etc - it does fit in the palm of my hand and I am able to do most things with holding the router in one hand and holding the working item with the other hand. It also variable speed settings but I have not used these yet.

The router base has some recesses that are nice to place one’s thumb in when needing to stabilize the router when cutting corners or angles,etc. The base does get warm after using it awhile but not hot. The regular base has a large opening so one can see from the top side of how the cutting bit is behaving with the working material. The accessory bases are very nice to have available. They can be exchanged very easily with just moving the lever to the open position on each base and then aligning the arrows on the base and router. One of the bases’ levers was too tight from the factory but that was easily fixed with just loosening the lever one turn. I have found the angled base and the close quarters (offset) base are great to have when cutting angles and tight spots. The close quarter base probably gets the cutting bit within 3/4 to one inch from a wall or similar type of blocking item. This base utilizes a small, strong belt (similar to the newer vacuum cleaner kevlar belts) to get its offset ability.

I have not used the undercutting guide yet. I must have read the manual over 5 times in that section before I finally understood how to use it. Basically, this guide is used for cutting a piece of laminate or wood when replacing or fixing a countertop, table top, flooring, or similar type of item. It uses the edge of the good piece of wood/laminate as a guide for cutting the new piece of wood/laminate so it will have a nice tight fit with minimal amount of a joint type of appearance. I know this will come in handy some day for that one unique project.

I am extremely happy with this router. Changing bits and bases is extremely easy almost fun. I probably wouldn’t buy this router without the extra bases since they make it earn its place in my tool cabinet.