Customer Reviews

Makita RF1101KIT2 2-1/4-Horsepower Variable-Speed Plunge Router Kit

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this router after extensive research. I looked at Makita, Porter Cable and Dewalt. It basically came down to the PC and the Makita since I read many reviews about the Dewalt motor going out rather quickly! This is a great router kit for the money. Router has plenty of power, and is fairly quiet, too. Zipped right through oak and ash with no problem. Variable speed and soft start are nice. It also comes with 1/4 and 1/2 collets which is awesome. Another nice thing is that the porter cable guide bushings work with this router. The case for this router is very nice and holds everything well.The only two problems I have with this router are with the plunge base and the power switch. The plunge base has a very smooth action when you get it, but the slides seem to get filled up with sawdust fairly quickly (A common plunge router problem) and the clear chip guard comes off too easily. The other problem is that the power switch is on the top of the router (like the porter cable 690), which is a difficult spot to turn it off at. It would be nice to have the switch at your hands. It seems that basically this router is just a copy of the Porter Cable 690 with an extra 1/2 hp. With the great deals on the PC 690 and the fact that basically ANY accessory works with the PC, make the 690 also a good choice. One nice thing about the PC is the ability to use a D handle (an add on) which puts the switch at your fingertips. I opted to go with the extra 1/2 hp however and have not been disappointed. Either one is a solid choice.

I've had this router kit for about 4 months and have used it on three projects so far. It has performed well--powerful, accurate, smooth.
But I have a couple of complaints. The first is that the collet wrenches supplied tend to slip. I have a large crescent-style adjustable wrench that I substitute for one of the wrenches when I tighten/loosen the collet, which reduces the slipping by about half. But the remaining Makita wrench still contrives to slip most of the time. Perhaps this is intentional, to prevent the user from overtightening the collet?
My second complaint is perhaps attributable to my own clumsiness. The plastic collar that is meant to index the depth of cut falls out with great regularity when the base is removed and the clamp is loose. Each time it falls out, it breaks off one of the tabs that is meant to hold it in place. There are only three tabs, so it is not long before the collar is useless. But the markings on it seemed rather crude and difficult to read, so I really don't miss it very much.
This brings me to my last point, and I want to be clear where I'm coming from, because my reactions to this router may be highly skewed. My first router, which I still have, was a 5/8 horsepower, 1/4-inch collet Craftsman number that I paid $35 for in 1972 or 1973. To adjust depth of cut on this guy, you loosen the clamp and slide the motor up or down. There's a scale which is practically unreadable, and which I always ignored, preferring to measure the depth of the bit below the router base directly. I found this arrangement awkward, although I managed to do a certain amount of work with it.
The Makita has a helical depth adjustment, which helps, and the aforementioned plastic depth collar, which doesn't help much, and the final result is that the Makita is only slightly less clunky than my 35-year-old Craftsman. Frankly, I expected more progress in 35 years...
I wanted to buy a Triton 2 1/4 HP router, but they were unavailable, and I needed a more powerful machine, so I got the Makita. But I wonder what I might have gained in convenience and usability if the Triton had been available.

Very good router. Sturdy and good smooth motor typical Makita craftsmanship.
Light weight and easy to use and manuever. Its powerful and goes through the wood easy.
Carrying case makes it easy to keep all its accesories together.
It comes with 1/2 and 1/4 inch collets for different shank router bits. Flat top allows for easy bit changing. Can't say enough good things about it.

After reading through many reviews of routers on Amazon and wood working sites, I narrowed the search to the Makita, DeWalt, and PC routers. I own a number of other Makita tools and have always been satisfied. So I went with the 1101 kit. It got solid reviews and seemed to have all the things I was looking for.

I used the router to make a few window stools. I used the 1/4 inch round over bit along the top and a 21/64 Ogee bit..(Freud 99-006) along the bottom. I made the stools out of 1 inch pine. The router was impresively quiet and for my relatively simple project handled very well.

A couple of things I did not like.

- To tighten the bit into the collet two wrenches were necessary. Tightening was no problem. Getting the nuts loose was a knuckle busting experience. I understand that PC has a locking "button" on the shaft and I presume would allow for single wrench tightening and loosening. This would have been a nice feature.

- When I was lining up the depth of the cut with a 1/4 bar. When I moved the bar around the bit 360 degrees I noticed that the base was not completely level. One side of the bit was ~1/32 lower than the opposite side. This is likely not a problem if one always uses the same side of the base when making edge passes.. For groves it would leave a non-level bottom of the grove. If the router is used in a router table this is not an issue.

Despite these two drawbacks I would recommed this router.

Once again, another hit from Makita. I use this router bench mounted so I can't comment on the plunge attachment but for bench work, this tool is great. My original router was a Hitachi that had the bearings wear out (probably my fault for not property adjusting the RPM). This tool is very powerful and great for routing harder woods with its variable speed control. The "in bench" height adjustment is so so, but you can still accurately set it with some tinkering. I have run many hardwood raised panel cabinet doors through this tool and it has no issues with the larger diameter bits.

Without being too long winded, I just wanted to say that this router is definitely the work horse in our shop. The "soft start" is nice and the power is never lacking. We do 3/4" X 3/8" deep dado grooves in red oak all day with this machine and it has been perfect.

Amazon has recently lowered their price to exactly what I paid for this kit over two years ago, so without question, buy it from them.

I bought this router over 2 years ago and I love it. Very reliable and very quiet on the low speeds, important since a screaming tool is a distraction since you end up thinking about shutting it off instead focusing on your cut. The plunge base is fantastic and the depth stop screw adjustment is easy to use and easy to lock into position. Important if you only have one router and need to keep swapping bits. Before buying it I think I read something about the collect coming loose and the bit coming out during use and so this worried me, however this has never happened to me or even come close to happening so I guess the answer here is to use the supplied wrenches to make sure the collect is more than finger tight. The case is nice too, lots of room to store bits with the router. Swapping between the fixed base and plunge base is easy and quick. The body has grooves and the base indexing pins on the inside, so swapping it back puts it right back into the same position it started in. The price was good too. Since buying it I have noticed the popularity has increased and so there are more accessories built for it now.

I am glad I bought this router. I use this as my hand held router, and use a milwaukee 3.5 HP router in my table. I really like both of them. I have used a few porter cable, bosch and ridgid routers, but this set feels smoother, more powerful and more accurate. Everything on the routher feels of high quality, and the best part is that Makita designed it to be used on portecable jigs and base plates. This makes this set very convenient. Makita went to a lot of trouble to engineer this thing right. Even down to the case (which is the nicest case to come with any tool I have) this unit is very impressive.

I have always liked Makita tools. I have some that are 20 years old and working like new. Admittedly I am not a contractor so I do not work tools to death. Built solid and well thought out like a Japanese car. Besides the excellent price for the tool, what was a nice surprise is that it is so quiet. Routers a notoriously noisy and this is the first one I do not need my "ear muffs" work with. The bit, carving up the wood makes more noise than the motor. To get the best out of this tool, invest in high quality bits.

I bought this Makita Router Kit. I am really surprised at the quality of this router. Its quiter than most routers also. The quality is great.