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It got solid reviews and seemed to have all the things I was looking for.I used the router to make a few window stools. Getting the nuts loose was a knuckle busting experience. So I went with the 1101 kit. - To tighten the bit into the collet two wrenches were necessary. After reading through many reviews of routers on Amazon and wood working sites, I narrowed the search to the Makita, DeWalt, and PC routers.
For groves it would leave a non-level bottom of the grove. This is likely not a problem if one always uses the same side of the base when making edge passes. Tightening was no problem. One side of the bit was ~1/32 lower than the opposite side. The router was impresively quiet and for my relatively simple project handled very well. When I moved the bar around the bit 360 degrees I noticed that the base was not completely level. I made the stools out of 1 inch pine. This would have been a nice feature.- When I was lining up the depth of the cut with a 1/4 bar.
I own a number of other Makita tools and have always been satisfied. I understand that PC has a locking "button" on the shaft and I presume would allow for single wrench tightening and loosening. If the router is used in a router table this is not an issue.Despite these two drawbacks I would recommed this router. I used the 1/4 inch round over bit along the top and a 21/64 Ogee bit.(Freud 99-006) along the bottom. A couple of things I did not like.
The bit, carving up the wood makes more noise than the motor. Besides the excellent price for the tool, what was a nice surprise is that it is so quiet. Routers a notoriously noisy and this is the first one I do not need my "ear muffs" work with. I have always liked Makita tools. To get the best out of this tool, invest in high quality bits. Admittedly I am not a contractor so I do not work tools to death. I have some that are 20 years old and working like new. Built solid and well thought out like a Japanese car.
Amazon has recently lowered their price to exactly what I paid for this kit over two years ago, so without question, buy it from them. We do 3/4" X 3/8" deep dado grooves in red oak all day with this machine and it has been perfect. Without being too long winded, I just wanted to say that this router is definitely the work horse in our shop. The "soft start" is nice and the power is never lacking.
Plunge mechanism works well, motor assembly adjusts easily in the base. Got this Makita router kit about a year ago at a really good price. Probably better routers out there, but you cant go wrong with this one. Machine is pretty stable. Good power, well made. I have used the plunge base but not the fixed base since I have another fixed based router that fills that need.
The price was good too. The body has grooves and the base indexing pins on the inside, so swapping it back puts it right back into the same position it started in. Swapping between the fixed base and plunge base is easy and quick.
Very reliable and very quiet on the low speeds, important since a screaming tool is a distraction since you end up thinking about shutting it off instead focusing on your cut. Before buying it I think I read something about the collect coming loose and the bit coming out during use and so this worried me, however this has never happened to me or even come close to happening so I guess the answer here is to use the supplied wrenches to make sure the collect is more than finger tight. I bought this router over 2 years ago and I love it.
The case is nice too, lots of room to store bits with the router. Since buying it I have noticed the popularity has increased and so there are more accessories built for it now. The plunge base is fantastic and the depth stop screw adjustment is easy to use and easy to lock into position.
Important if you only have one router and need to keep swapping bits.
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