HF trim router

[trungdok]

Does anyone have this little guy (http://www.harborfreight.com/1-4-qua...r-44914.html)?

I got one yesterday and haven't even ran it yet. I found that the base plate is not flat on one direction -- maybe there's a 1/16" of movement. I'm wondering if anyone had the same issue or I just got a bad one. If it's just my then I'll go switch it; otherwise, I'd just sand/flatten the bottom down. My fear with the latter is that I might cause the plate to be not perpendicular to the bit holder.

Thanks,

[tlt]

I had that router and am not a big fan; the knob that held the bit depth in place slipped while I was working on a project (it was tight to begin with), and ruined more in wood than I paid for the router.

[mpc]

I tried it's orange predecessor. First one had a lot of run-out. HF swapped it without any problems, replacement one ran better. The height adjustment and especially the "lock" screw were not reliable - my experience is similar to what tlt posted though I didn't loose a nice workpiece fortunately. I still have mine; it hasn't been out of its box in years though.

When Rockler introduced the little DeWalt DWP611PK Compact Router kit - fixed plus plunge base - a couple years ago I grabbed one at the intro price. A lot more money than the HF trim router but I've been VERY pleased with this little guy. It'll do anything a trim router will do... and a lot more. And it has soft start, variable speed, etc... much easier to control.

The Bosch Colt trim router is another one that is generally well liked. Around 100 bucks.

mpc

[atgcpaul]

I have two from Grizzly that look identical to the HF ones except they're green. They don't have the flat base problem but the height adjustment/tightening knob is a little cheesy. Other than that, they get the job done.

[jdon]

Also have a previous color incarnation. Height adjustment/lock is definitely the weak spot- tightening enough to prevent slipping risks breaking the cheap plastic sleeve. OTOH, it's light and not powerful, so good for free hand routing. Personally, I think it's worth $20 at most.

[parnelli]

I've got it and it works ok. Dug thru about ten of them at the store before I picked mine. The bases on them are the biggest issue from what I saw.

That said, I'm not doing anything like furniture or anything- more carpentry type stuff. Rounding edges on posts and the like. For that it's worked just fine.

Think I paid low 20's for it.

[dbhost]

Never used a trim router, however I have looked at the routers / trim routers at HF and always got the feeling they were among the items I didn't want to give a try to... Everything just felt wrong about them... The fit and finish of the pieces just weren't up to part IMHO... However HF seems to have been steadily walking up the quality scale lately. Maybe you got a dud, take it back, check out the replacements to see if they are up to par and grab a good one.

[trungdok]

Thanks guys, I'm going to switch it to see if I'll get any luck.

I've heard of the previous version with orange body. The new version, black body, has a rubbery coating on the body. This should help the plate from slipping; thus, doesn't require the plate to be overly tighten. But, I think this coating will attract dust and become slippery overtime. I don't really know. We'll see - I'll cross my fingers. I plan to use it just for cutting dado on wide board and some flush trimming. Hopefully, it can handle those tasks.