Makita RT0701C 1-1/4 HP Compact Router

At 30 I've only recently discovered the existence of the amazing tool that is the wood router. I'm a musician that has recently got into customizing/upgrading my own guitars, and watched luthiers on youtube build their own instruments out of a router. I'm also a DIY'er in general around the house. And finding out about the router was like pandoras box of creation for me! Last month I bought a Dremel 4300 which I partly bought for doing some light routing. I gave it the task of making some custom drawer/cabinet faces for my bathroom. Well, the Dremel was not up to the task (it sucks for any serious routing). So I decided I was gonna bite the bullet and buy a proper wood router. I educated myself on this tool, and decided that I wanted to get a combination fixed base/plunge router. I went to every avenue and excessively researched these things for the best bang for my buck. Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, eBay, and here, comparing models. I was shocked to see the brick and mortar stores (especially HD and Lowes) have a pretty limited selection of wood routers and accessories. The cheapest in-store deal I could find was Lowes Dewalt combination fixed and plunge base router at $200, not including tax. That was a little too high of a price of an entry point for me. Then I ran across this Makita. I love Makita products. The price almost sounded too good to be true for a combination fixed base/plunge router. I ordered it. I quickly learned how to use setup the tool and I absolutely love it! I made my first cut doing some trim on scrap wood and was blown away. This thing is a wood-cutting beast. Using some cheap project lumbar from HD, I started crafting my own bathroom cabinetry. This thing just effortlessly cuts through wood. It's very easy to control, it doesn't violently start up (which I heard some are bad for). I love that it has a speed control. I leave it on the highest setting (which I heard is best to do), but the fact that it even has that is pretty awesome for the price. And my first set of router bits, I bought a nice kit in Harbor Freight (with coupon) for $30 bucks. They work exceptionally well with this Makita. I used for the plunge attachment and fixed based for doing trim. Honestly, I just love this thing, it's my new favorite tool! It's so fun and amazing the stuff you can make with this. It just takes a little patience and creativity. The tool came with a straight-edge guide for the fixed base which I found kinda useless. Some of the pictures of it in-action show a straight edge guide for the plunge base. I wish it came with this, but it's hard for me to balk for the price. The last thing, it would have been nice if it came with a case like other Makita products, too, but that's also not something to balk at. This is a great tool. I think it's an excellent buy for both entry-level woodworkers like me and more experienced users. And I see it being something that could actually save you money over time if you're into home remodeling as well. I'm definitely going to be using this to craft my own trim, railings, doors, and other things around the house. Highly recommend this router, definitely one of the coolest tools I've bought in my adult life!

Great router, greater set. After a lot of hemming and hawing I sprang for this one because of the capabilities of the set. I could have bought the tilting base separately, and that's what I really needed (trimming angled boxes with a compression bit), but I wanted both plunge base (for drilling shelf holes) and the standard base (for ease of adjustment). I would have preferred the battery powered version but the set was for the corded and enough was enough. It is solid, easy to adjust and to change bits, and with three bases is very flexible. I just got done making a complex curved molding, using a combo of various round over and straight and core box bits with the angle function. My very simple jig is pictured below— I'll make a better one eventually, maybe, once I have figured out what features I really use. Someone complained about the difficulty adjusting the tilting base accurately. I worked off the angle scale (calibrated in 5° increments) and the depth scale, embossed in inches and metric. No problems here.

Ive been a wood worker for about 15 years. I chose this router after researching and using various other brands of routers. I went with the makita kit because it came with more bases then the other kits i was looking at and it fit within my budget.the router is great i have used it muitiple times with most of the bases besides the offset base. The angle base is quit handy for flush triming angles and does a real nice job once set up which is very easy. The plunge base is awesome it has very nice depth stops that can each be ajusted to different hights. Just like the large routers . The only thing i dont like is the way the lock lever works on the plunge base u have to hold the locking lever down with you finger once u plunge cut or it seems to poop back up which cause the plunge base to move up and down. It is not a big deal i was able to use slight presure to hold the lever down with my finger while holding the handles and was still able to control the router easily. Im sure this was designed this way so it is easier to unlock to raise the router out of the hole . The case the kit comes with is really nice it has muiltiple pockets and compartment for storage. Ther is enough room to put a secound router in it. This is a small router with big router options. I am very happy with this purchase. And it arrived in perfect condition and a few days early with a large snow storm between the time of order and arrival. I will use amazon for future power tool purchases

We haven’t used this one yet, however, bought this because my brother has the same one and it’s great! This was a gift for my hubby! It is easy to use. Made well. Works well. We cut out and entire Christmas scene silhouette with my brothers. I used it myself , my hubby taught me first. I found it easy to use hold. Easy to use. Just have to take safety precautions. I like that it’s corded for power. Didn’t weigh too much. My hands were buzzing for a while after I was done.

I needed a palm router for light stuff like roundovers on trim, the occasional hinge mortise, etc. To my pleasant surprise, what I got with this reasonably priced $140 fixed/plunge base combo was a versatile and fairly robust little router that now spends more time in my personal shop than on the job - doing heavier operations I previously would've thought limited to a full-size router. Don't get me wrong, 1 1/4 horse is still 1 1/4 horse. But if you're looking at this kit thinking "yeah, but am I gonna be able to cut dovetails? deep mortises? How about a vast range of profiles and patterns with only 1/4 shank capability?" The answer is yes. Now of course it's no replacement for your Bosch 1617, PC 890 or what have you. But if you're a hobbyist - or like me can only swing one kit for both typical finish carpentry and general woodworking - the 701 is a pretty good way to go. HOWEVER: it's not without its limitations. Mostly related to compatibility with the huge array of router accessories on the market today. Most commercially available compact router jigs, table plates, etc don't match the 4-hole pattern on this base plate - they're designed to work with the DeWalt or Bosch Colt. You will need an aftermarket unit such as the one made by Woodhaven if you plan on using guide bushings. In most cases with a little ingenuity there's a simple workaround (e.g drilling holes to match the 701's base plate). The question is, do you want to spend valuable time modifying or building shop made jigs, or your money on hardware and accessories to expand this router's compatibility with most aftermarket accessories? Rockler, for example, only stocks product designed to work with the trim routers they sell (Bosch, DW). For me it hasn't been that big a deal because I've undertaken these projects as the need arose. But a little time/$ here and there eventually adds up. Had I known all of what I do now, I may have given more consideration to other kits like the DeWalt. Now all that said, this IS a very good little router that's done most of what I've expected of it, and done it well. Operation is smooth, power is more than adequate (just remember it's still a trim router!), and switching between fixed and plunge bases is a snap (the plunge, by the way, is excellent). As far as features go, soft start is nice; the easy-to-use spindle lock works quite well; and rack and pinion depth adjustment was a great idea in theory but the gearing is far too loose for easy & precise adjustments, as you actually have to hold the unit horizontally when the cam's unlocked or the base will slide right off the motor! One final note, to echo a previous reviewer, Makita does not include - or even sell - an edge guide for the plunge base despite referencing it in the instruction manual. Or maybe one just isn't available in the US? Apparently DeWalt's works perfectly, though I haven't tried it yet. Sure it's easy enough to plunk down $30 on Amazon for one, but when you need it now, for today's project, these are the is the sorts of compatibility issues that will give you a headache (first world problems, right). Makita are you listening? Overall recommend. But do anticipate your potential router needs/wants.

It is always great to see a manufacturer go the extra mile and produce a nice package for the client to store these surprisingly good quality tools. When I first opened the parcel I thought "ahh yes, another bag, meh, I bet the router is lightweight too" but when I opened the Makita bag I was pleased to see how well everything fitted into independent compartments and how well thought out the bag really is. A very nice start to a new purchase relationship, and from the good quality of the tools inside these will clearly last. If I were a hobbyist or DIYer I would be particularly pleased by this overall package, but since I am a contractor it is going to be sad to watch this really great bag get battered and pasted all over the various jobsites, but you know what? It might get dirty and scuffed, but it is tough enough to at least last long enough to protect the tools inside. This tool is used at worksites across town, it performs surprisingly well. Actually, it is a lot tougher than it looks and it can handle much tougher jobs than you'd expect from a tool as light as this. The tool is is accurate, well engineered, well designed, comfortable to deploy on the job, reliable, accurate and very stable in the hand. I am pleasantly surprised with the whole package which I suspect will last a lot longer than I originally expected it to last I usually buy a more expensive European brand of tools but when it is not necessary to spend that much money Makita is always my first choice - in this case I am pleased I made the purchase.

I purchased this trim router because of the great reviews and because Makita brand tools always deliver. Power is great, fits nicely in your hand, and it's weighted perfectly for easily control. You can use it as a standard router as long as you use smaller bits. The base hole is 1.25" so I would not use any bit over 1". Only cons I have - No attachments included except for the guide. - Attachments are expensive. Plunge base attachment costs almost as much as the router. - No tool bag included. Cheapest Makita tool bag on amazon is at least 16 bucks. Not a huge issue but when you have a lot of tools it helps to keep track and easily find them on a job. I used a generic tool bag for the router and even thought it was marked with permanent marker, it took me a while to find it. Sounds a bit stupid but when you use these tools everyday it makes a huge difference.

I usually get geeked out about tools but I was especially geeked out about getting this router. First of all, when I was looking it was the best priced unit available. The day before I ordered the Bosch colt compact trimmer from my local Home improvement store. Both were out of stock but available for order so I rolled the dice. This was essentially the same price but included the plunge base so if money is no object, I might have gone with the DeWalt model. I honestly think the led lighting on the DeWalt makes it the winner especially with the flat sided, clear plastic bases. For the amount of times that I will use it, I went with the lower price option. I had previously used a Harbor Freight, orange laminate trimmer which had no "soft start" which gave it a genuine "deathy" feel to the tool. Not with this model. This is comfortable and somewhat quiet. I used it to mortise out door hinges on my living room doors and door frame. I made a hinge jig so that I didn't go over the hinge space. Everything went much better than if I tried to do it with a hammer and chisel. Changing the router bit was easy and it stayed in place during the time that I used it. I haven't used the plunge base yet, so cannot comment on that yet. I do plan on using it to carve a groove in butcher block and will update the review afterwards. I will say that the Plunge Base is compatible with Kempston 99000 10 pcs Solid Brass Template Guide Kit With Adaptor . The adapter fits right into the opening of the plunge base to use the templates. Otherwise the templates do fit the fixed base without the adapter. Depending on the price at the time, you may want to look at what is available but I have not been disappointed with this at all.