Thread: Trim Routers

Irrespective of the capability of a small trimmer for the types of work you want to do, if you're after a decent but bargain 1/4" trimmer then you should review Chinese 710W trimmer router review and go looking on ebay for one.

Any basement priced power tools that have fast spinning cutting parts (blades/bits etc) give me the hibie-gibies. I know we all have budgets, but sometimes it's better to not buy something than a cheep version. Remember that a router bit spins at up to 24,000 rpm. I try to buy what the tradespeople use if practical. Their tools withstand a lot of abuse.

I am biased though, having had a cheep router case's casting crack, and only noticing it when putting it away after being used. This was many years ago, and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck prick up thinking about it.

I have the older version of the 400W Ryobi. It has an unguarded switch on the side which is quite dangerous. With the switch on the top as it now has it would be a reasonable trim router. Completely unsuitable for a router table though.

And there’s no way that $25 router is 2200W. A real 2200W router is huge.

I’ve mounted my Makita Trim Router under a portable bench for my toy making.

It was more expensive than those mentioned above but it’s has a great adjustment function with variable speed control plus the recommendation from my long term friend at his tool shop.

RT0700CX | Makita Australia


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I looked through EBay with a filter of Australian sellers only and found one 2200W trimmer for about double the indicated price. Reading the listing, the vendor is claiming a 'peak power' of 2200W and a rated power of 1000W. I suspect that even the 1000W rated power would be an exaggeration.

As usual for bargain basement stuff on ebay, it is being sold by drop shippers who take your order and payment, and pass your order to an low end importer with a portion of the payment and keep the balance for themselves. It's called being an entrepreneur or fast buck merchant. Seek any form of support from the vendor and they don't understand what you are asking them because they have absolutely no knowledge of the product, how it might be being used, or what might be wrong. Need a spare part, forget it, it probably won't be available in AU or China.

Another point to remember is that a bit with a 1/2in shank has 4 times the shank cross section area of one with a 1/4in shank, and is generally more rigid by a similar amount. For the range of profile bits you were outlining, you would be better off with a router capable of handling 1/2in shank bits and buying the profiling bits you want with 1/2in shanks. Trimmers were intended for light duty tasks like trimming laminate overhangs or forming small radius roundovers along the edge of timber. Recently, there has been move to upping the power ratings for some so they can be used as trimmers, light duty routers, or even as spindles for cheaper CNC machines, but that alone does not render them suitable for profiling as a table mounted router.

I agree with Mal, get a bigger one, check FB Marketplace, garage sales, even Cash Converters, they appear for sale all the time, especially from deceased estates.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Maktec - if you can find any in stock. Basically these are older design Makita products at a substantially lower price. Quality is good.

I think Makita has now re-branded back to Makita in the grey livery. Better to buy the plunge router than the trim router though.

$139 Makita M3601G - 240V 1,000W 8mm (5/16") MT Series Router
$189 Makita M3600G - 240V 1,650W 12.7mm (1/2") MT Series Plunge Router

Or if you insist:
$109 trimmer Makita M3700G - 240V 6.35mm (1/4in) MT Series Laminate Trimmer

The Ozito and Ryobi from Bunnings are essentially identical. I own the Ryobi and the depth adjustment is appallingly bad; it’s jerky as hell and just a royal PITA to try to fine tune. The cheap Chinese unit is superior in that respect; a few times I’ve used the Ryobi body in the Chinese accessories.

Regardless though; unless you’re only intending to machine up small components a trimmer won’t really cut it as a table mounted machine. For starters; how would you mount it? The Ozyobi uses a plastic base; one decent kick back and you might find the body parting company with the base. A bit too much excitement for my taste!

As I think I mentioned in your previous thread; many years ago I built a simple router lift based on the WoodRat plunge bar system; here are some photos. The router shown isn’t the one it was built for hence why the cops don’t fit over the handles but you get the idea. The router it was built for was a generic Chinese sort-of-copy of the Dewalt/Elu/Perles 1/4” router that was regarded as the dog’s pods back in the 90’s.
44A8D7D8-D79A-4C8A-ACA6-FC38F91D17B7.jpg 3D6514AF-2DD0-4987-BC98-A1632CC9FB3A.jpg 4AB83D54-EA40-479B-BCA0-F2773B8C0136.jpg
901B7663-2FD0-46AD-90F3-BAA139F77C28.jpg DA8EF705-C319-4A02-B124-856EBAC32A3C.jpg

Back then I had access to things like a metal lathe and a TIG welder but there’s nothing in this design that can’t be knocked up in a home workshop using bits from Bunnings.

Thanks for sending me the link for the cheap Chinese review.
After reading up on it.....I don't think it would be worth my while in going down this path.
If there were to be any issues.....I would have a hard time trying to send back and recieve another that would be "better Manufactured".

Thank you to all who took the time and invested their time and energy into replying to my original question.

I think that I will just mount the GMC 1200W variable speed Plunge router that I own and use it. I have never had any issues with this "Cheap" router.

The only "downside" (if you could call it that) is that it is very hard to operate the plunge mechanism to get a specifically accurate cut.

Can you open up this type of plunge router and have it so that it just slides up and down without any pressure?

Again, thank you.

Can you mount a scissor type jack underneath it to do the adjusting? There's plenty of people using this system to make fine adjustments. You could either use a car one or have a look at this thread - Alternative to more expensive router lifts?