Cordless palm router

[Charlie Boy]

I’m thinking of getting one but, like most who own a boat and do their own work on it, I don’t want to spend a fortune.
Anyone got any real time experience of the various brands?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Makita 5Ahr battery excellent

 

[john_morris_uk]

I too have a Makita Palm router on board. It’s excellent. If you’ve ever watched Leo and the Tally Ho build videos you’ll see that it’s one of the routers he uses one too.

It helps that I’ve got other 18v Makita tools so they all share the same batteries and charger.

 

[Major_Clanger]

Another + for Makita. Reliable and powerful enough for anything you're likely to need to use it for on a boat.

 

[Alicatt]

Not got a Makita router but Makita cordless drill, almost 30 years old and still going strong, had to replace the batteries this year, apart from that faultless, powerful, and much better than the Bosch that I also have.
Also got <akita grinder but it is mains powered and again an excellent tool

 

[KompetentKrew]

If you mean what I would call a trimming or edging router, and budget is a concern, then you will save a lot of money by buying a corded one - there are loads on places like Amazon for about £40 or £50, which is less than a third the price of the Makita battery powered one,

I think. I think they're all basically the same as this [Draper 58349](https://www.powertoolsdirect.com/draper-58349-trimming-router-710w-each-5010559583492) - they all look like they come out of the same factory - but the unbranded ones start about about £50 with a bunch of bits. I have one I will try soon.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I’ve got well over a dozen Makita LXT tools. Including the router. Your choice depends on whether the others are good enough for you. Incidentally Makita do a 12v powered charger for their 18v. batteries. The comprehensive range is another reason they are so loved.

 

[KompetentKrew]

I'm not saying the Makita is a bad choice, just that @Charlie Boy opened this thread by saying "I don't want to spend a fortune" and the cheapest I can find the Makita is £140 inc VAT, plus another £60 for the battery (different supplier) and that doesn't include a charger. So that's 4x or 5x the price of a corded cheapie - is it 4x or 5x better? Depends how will OP use it,

I have a Makita cordless drill myself, but when you buy cordless tools most people are buying into the battery system too - they'll continue buying the same brand of cordless tools because it's cheaper than buying new batteries. I believe that, for this reason, the manufacturers frequently discount their budget power drills - because a drill is the first power tool that most people buy, and then they continue buying the same brand thereafter.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I'm not saying the Makita is a bad choice, just that @Charlie Boy opened this thread by saying "I don't want to spend a fortune" and the cheapest I can find the Makita is £140 inc VAT, plus another £60 for the battery (different supplier) and that doesn't include a charger. So that's 4x or 5x the price of a corded cheapie - is it 4x or 5x better? Depends how will OP use it,

I have a Makita cordless drill myself, but when you buy cordless tools most people are buying into the battery system too - they'll continue buying the same brand of cordless tools because it's cheaper than buying new batteries. I believe that, for this reason, the manufacturers frequently discount their budget power drills - because a drill is the first power tool that most people buy, and then they continue buying the same brand thereafter.

I’m sure every point you’ve made there is reasonable. In fact I did buy my drill first, and subsequently bought more. All of them heavily discounted though, I don’t thing I paid £140 for a bare router.

 

[B27]

FWIW, I have the Dremel 'router attachment' and find it quite useful where a small light tool is wanted.
I've also got an inverter which will power a mains router.
If you've got a great deal of router work to do then investing in the optimum tool might make sense,

It's easy to find people to advise you to spend lots of money on aspiration brands of cordless tool.

 

[Rappey]

If you want to go the cheap route then £30 will buy a "for makita" router on ebay with one battery. There is a whole range of for makitas as they can all use makita batteries.
I bought a ½" impact driver for £16 and no expectations. It exceeded them ! For the money its brilliant but don't expect it to undo car wheel nuts.

 

[alan_d]

It makes sense to standardise on one brand of cordless tool, to avoid duplication of batteries and charger, so look at entire ranges rather than just the tool that currently interests you. For what it's worth, I have a number of Ryobi cordless tools that I am happy with, but I can't compare them with other brands.

 

[zoidberg]

I bought a very cheap corded palm router from Lidl a couple of years back. It's good, it has earned its keep, but I can't get accessories for it now. I've used it perhaps a dozen times and will certainly buy a better corded 'for makita' type before long, for use on board with an inverter.

 

[Graham376]

I've had a Katsu corded router for quite a few years, identical to Makita. I see they also do cordless which would be my choice if needing one - Cordless Trimmer with SP10031106 and SP10174805

 

[Charlie Boy]

Thanks for that, looks like a good deal. Ordered

 

[DownWest]

Having used a Kingfisher cordless drill for while, I bought the hammer breaker drill on a discount. Well, the batteries are different! Looked on the UK site for comment and... The first reply (of few) complained about the same thing.. So I went back and bought a battery (and charger..) for somewhat more than the drill cost. Slightly bad taste..

On the subject of cordless.. I am not usually out of range of mains power (or a genny) so like my mains routers. Elu, B&D and Ryoby; The last a tough, noisy 1/2" chewer. Elu for delicate, as smooth and precise. The B&D is a copy (as they bought them) but not close.