Customer Reviews

RotoZip DR01-1100 120V Drywall Router

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

 

 

I got this for a great price. And that was the only reason I like it. I found it really hard to control and make straight cuts with it. And that was even in 5/8" drywall. Sometimes it would cut smoothly through the drywall, other times it would struggle. I know why it does it, but it seems silly to me. I didn't care so much about this because the project I bought this for didn't require me to have straight cuts anyway. I was cutting holes in the drywall just to be able to get a drill inside the wall.

The thing makes a huge mess as well. The inevitable drywall dust blows EVERYWHERE because there's a fan inside the saw that blows dust away from the bearings. The sliding bracket that controls cut depth leaves black marks all over the surface you're cutting. They came off easily enough, but really?

The thing that drove me crazy was the fact that the attachments that RototZip makes DO NOT work on this saw. I bought a circle cut guide that said it worked on every RotoZip spiral saw (read the fine print, dummy!). But not this one.

I see that Dremel is coming out with a multi-role device for $99. So far it looks like the best deal. But if you're just looking to make quick, not-so-straight cuts then this will work for you.

This is another of those tools that will eventually save you time, but not until you get used to it. Maybe I didn't read the instructions properly, or I'm missing something, but I found this works best when you cut around the inside edge of your boxes first (but be gentle or you'll route out the screw holes for your switches and receptacles, don't ask me how I know), then move to the outside and retrace the path around the exterior of the box. Of course, with 2 cuts you end up with a ton of gypsum dust, but I guess if you're doing drywall, you just have to be ready for a mess. The router is somewhat bigger and heavier than I expected it to be, which makes gripping it for long periods pretty tiring, but probably a lot less so than hacking away with a keyhole saw would. You'll want hearing protection for this too, because it's LOUD. The kids ran for cover when it started spooling up. I'm glad I bought it and would buy it again if I had a choice. I'm looking forward to cutting a lot more boxes with this router, hopefully without any stripped boxes or runaway cuts (now that I know what to watch out for).