John B.

Well-known Member
I was at Home Depot yesterday looking at routers. I looked at the Ryobi Plunge Router 2hp for $99 then the other one I was interested in was the Makita Compact Fixed Router also for $99 was 1-1/2hp. I'm thinking the Makita is what I want because all I'm going to use it for is dressing up board corners or edges for now. I also like the compact size of the Makita. The Ryobi was huge. I know probably the more I use one I will mostlikely go to a plunge router. Do any of you have either one of these and if so what's your opinion on them? I did see a Compact Ridgie Router with lifetime limited warranty.
 
Mikita, Milwaukee, Porter Cable, Bosh, are all good. I find Ryobi to have features but lack durability and handiness. We have had no failures with the five mentioned, and we use them hard in an Woods technology lab at SCSU. Jim
 
I worked for more than 40 years as a professional cabinetmaker before I ever used a plunge router. I bought one a couple of years ago and used it for one job and it's been sitting on the shelf ever since. The fixed base router is so much easier to handle and operate.
 
Agree with others,99% time plunge only add's bulk and weight plus more opertunity to become misadjusted.
 
Plunge routers work great for plunge cuts and in router tables. But even mounted in a table, if you're not going to be changing bits or making adjustments much, you can get by with a standard router. There are also plunge attachments for standard routers, though I have no experience with any of those.
 
I bought a porter cable and a dovetail jig. Not sure, I think it's a 3 hp. What I like about it is the slow start feature. Haven't used it in a while, so again, not sure, I think it max 10k rpms. Because of the slow start feature, It won't jump out of you hand when it starts.

I would recommend a slow start router.
 
Thanks everyone! I can see at times where a plunge router would work good but what I'm going to do with one I wouldn't need one. So now it's back to Home Depot to decide on the Porter Cable, Makita or the Rigid that I like.
 

I've used several Ryobi tools and none of them impressed me at all. I'd go with Makita for any power tool.
 
(quoted from post at 22:21:43 04/11/17) Thanks everyone! I can see at times where a plunge router would work good but what I'm going to do with one I wouldn't need one. So now it's back to Home Depot to decide on the Porter Cable, Makita or the Rigid that I like.

Porter cable used to make a kit with both bases
 
I don't have the professional experience that Stephen newell has but I agree with his assessment I also have a porter cable router with a plunge base as well as a fixed base and I only used the plunge base once.
 
Of the two of them I would pick the Makita. Its just up on a level above any Ryobi tool. The Makita you were looking at though is a 1 1/4 hp compact router therefore is somewhat limited to lighter duties and only has a 1/4" collet. Its looks to be a nice router that has a smaller base, lighter weight with soft start that I would not use for much more than rounding corners or with flush cut bits.

As mentioned below a good general purpose router would be the Porter cable 690. Some kits come with plunge and fixed base. Its a little more money but more capability if you need it. If you look at the 1.5 to 2.25 Hp range most have borrowed ideas from the 690.
 

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