Took the 'plunge' and bought a cordless router...

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Raymond UK

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I now am the proud owner of a Makita cordless router but what seemed quite a bit of money to fork out is nothing compared to what's to come. It's like getting an app on your phone with 'in app purchases' :roll:

I have quite a few of Makita 18v tools and they always come with some or most accessories. I bought an 18v planer the other week and it came with a guide and a blade setting thing, two 4Ah batteries, a charger and a Makpac case.

I bought the router as a bare tool with the Macpac case which came shy of £150 as the package with four bases, two 4Ah batts and charger comes to 390 quid and the misses already found out about the planer the other week. :shock: I have 12 batteries so I'll have to use some from my other tools until I can justify spending another £110 on two 5Ah batteries. :cry:

I have ordered a plunge base which was 40 quid and that doesn't come with a dust port or a guide which are 14 quid each.

I guess if you get this thing with all accessories it'll set you back a good 500 quid.

Also the 'bag' in the Makpac case has 5 pockets. One large one and four square ones. The large one takes the plunge attachment and the square ones fit the trimmer base etc. Where do you put the charger and batteries in these? I'm rather careful with all my tools and don't want to have them battered/scratched by just chucking the charger on top.

The tool itself is amazing though. It's like having a corded one the amount of power it has and I've only tried it with 4Ah batteries. It feels solid like any other Makita cordless tool and very stable with the battery on top.

Just a little rant...
 
I am careful with my tools too. I put everything away, clean, in the case or proper place at the end of each work session. Take heart. You are not alone.
 
Excellent. That's what I do too. I upgraded from the push in Makita tools to slide about two years ago and spend about 3K so worth looking after.
 
phil.p":15a91jdm said:
I'm rather careful with all my tools and don't want to have them battered/scratched ...
hahahahahahahahahahaha ... :lol:


i work on building sites on the weekends and my drill and impact driver have been very batterd...... e.g. drop down a stairwell and off a roof

(sorry for thread drift)
 
Does it not use the same dust ports as the corded router? I thought the bases were the same for the corded and cordless, and also the Katsu.

If it is the same base then the dust ports are under £4 on amazon.
 
BHwoodworking":1v4lo9i0 said:
phil.p":1v4lo9i0 said:
I'm rather careful with all my tools and don't want to have them battered/scratched ...
hahahahahahahahahahaha ... :lol:


i work on building sites on the weekends and my drill and impact driver have been very batterd...... e.g. drop down a stairwell and off a roof

(sorry for thread drift)

Ah, mine never leave the workshop so it's easier to keep them in good condition.
 
Don't know, not bought any guides yet.

FWIW for anyone with Katsu kit, as you would expect this does fit the katsu bases (that's what I have) but on the plunge base port there is a little nub which I am assuming fits into a slot on the Makita bases and this has not been copied on to the Katsu base. A few swipes with a file though sorts it out no problem.

The plunge base port works ok, it's better than nothing but far from perfect, of course it has to compromise on size and shape to allow the plunge mechanism to work.
The trimmer base port though works superbly. When I use it on my quick and dirty router table I get zero dust escaping underneath, works an absolute treat.
 
That's some useful info there thanks. I just searched Katsu router base and all 4 different bases came up and look near identical to the Makita ones but less than half the price on some of them. And the plunge base already comes with the guide holder.
 
I have the trimmer base, plunge base and tilting base. They all work fine but the tilting bases are not very flat, something to bear in mind.
 
Cheers. I have the Makita plunge base and the trimmer base came in the package but I doubt I will use that much. I think it will live in the plunge base most of t's life.

The Katsu offset base is probably most value compared to the Makita but I'm not sure when I would need one.
 
Rorschach":3vcvf734 said:
I have the trimmer base, plunge base and tilting base. They all work fine but the tilting bases are not very flat, something to bear in mind.

If you have the trimmer base you'll like this guide. It makes a massive difference in stability handheld.

https://www.powertools2u.co.uk/makita-1 ... sUQAvD_BwE

I didn't buy it from here but you can see what it is and source it cheaper elsewhere. Mine was from buyaparcel at around 11 quid. Well worth it though.

Also bought a couple of 5Ah batteries for it and it's like using a corded tool but without the cord (hammer)
 
Raymond UK":31453g71 said:
Yeah, same as the corded version as they use the same bases. Found one for a tenner but really it should've come with the plunge base. Same for the guide.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-Dust- ... 1470274438

Do you have a link for the Amazon ones

This tool was primarily designed as a trimmer, not a plunge router, therefore a lot of people buy it for its advertised use and do not require a plunge base. It's good that there are options to make it a plunge router, and they sell kits that include one, but to say it should come included on the bare model is nonsense, why should the price be driven up on the bare model for the majority of its users.
 
craigsalisbury":ioeubjz3 said:
Raymond UK":ioeubjz3 said:
Yeah, same as the corded version as they use the same bases. Found one for a tenner but really it should've come with the plunge base. Same for the guide.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-Dust- ... 1470274438

Do you have a link for the Amazon ones

This tool was primarily designed as a trimmer, not a plunge router, therefore a lot of people buy it for its advertised use and do not require a plunge base. It's good that there are options to make it a plunge router, and they sell kits that include one, but to say it should come included on the bare model is nonsense, why should the price be driven up on the bare model for the majority of its users.

You have misread my post. I said the dust extraction port should have been included with the plunge base, not the plunge base with the router.
 
craigsalisbury":3i3yp5a0 said:
ah my apologies, I totally agree with that statement :)

No worries. :wink:

I’ve bought most of the bits now to complete the package.

It really is a great piece of kit.
 

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