Trim router?

[Silly Car]

Toying with buying a trim router but torn between the options available, I.e. mains v cordless, known brand vs Amazon sourced Chinese copy.

It would only be used for DIY tasks, e.g. hinges, light shaping etc. I’m sure I’ll find uses for it

I currently have Ryobi plus one 18v kit so I can pick up a bare tool for £90, a Makita 240v is around £130, a Katsu (Makita clone) around £40 or £90 including 3 bases.

[demographic]

Ive got a De-Walt one, its 110 volt (site usage) and its a belter.
Its got the fixed base and plunge base.
I can do hinges with the fixed base but its better with the plunge base and hinge jig if I have a load of doors to do (I bought the jig when I had about fifty doors to fit in a load of flats).
It also does the roundovers on window sil boards with a bearing guided roundover bit.
With the right guide bushes it can do all sorts of template tasks as well.

Were I to buy one now it might be cordless as I've got a load of De-Walt batteries but bear in mind routing requires dust extraction if your doing a lot of it so a cord isn't that bad when you already bave an extraction hose anyway.
The associated lung problems are for routing without dust extraction are... erm... not to be sniffed at.
At least wear a decent mask.
Can't remember the model of De-Walt I have but its 900 watts.
I've used a smaller (600 watt if I remember right) Makita and it wasnt a patch on mine but makita do another one a bit closer to the same power and that was OK.

Not tried any other versions so can't comment on em.

[Silly Car]

Cheers, I’ve got a 1/2” one at the moment which is a beast but sadly best suited to being bolted to the “router table” I’ve got, when I say router table, it used to be a router table but the damp got to it and the top swelled up so I salvaged the insert, fence and rails and currently use it on a scrap sheet of ply on a couple of saw horses when needed.

The trim one is just for small jobs but I take the point about the dust extraction, bloody stuff gets everywhere!

[demographic]

Yeah, I have a half inch collet Hitachi.
Good for kitchen worktops but its a big numb beast otherwise.
I've got an insert for it to go into a table but so far not bothered to do it.
Also got a No Volt release switch cos I might do a dual function thing with a circ saw.

[Silly Car]

I managed to score a table saw out of a skip a few years ago, the riving knife, guard and insert were missing and the cable had been caught in the blade at some point but once replaced it worked like a treat.

4A96170A-30DB-40C9-94F9-802880F4F87B.jpeg (35.13 KiB) Viewed 430 times

One of these with out feed extension. Often wondered if the extension could be used for the router.

[Hairybiker84]

I've got the Makita RTO700 kit and it's my go-to for everything now. Seems to be nicely made if I need anything bigger I've got a vintage Elu to turn to!