Which palm / trim router? Corded or cordless?

[jteneyck]

I ended up getting the Makita, because I already have a drill and small circular saw. The saw isn't very powerful but it's handy for the small jobs that I use it for.

Good choice.  There are a ton of accessories for it that are very useful.  

John

[lincmercguy]

"I ended up getting the Makita, because I already have a drill and small circular saw. The saw isn't very powerful but it's handy for the small jobs that I use it for."

I think cordless is better for this kind of stuff. I started with a Rdigid corded, which works well. Once I got into the Dewalt 20V stuff, I got one of those. The battery does make it more top heavy, but a cord has it's own issues.

90% of what I do is ease corners or make chamfers on small parts. The other 10% is routing out areas with a small straight bit when it's not practical for the large router. A cordless with less power is just fine for this.

I hate the ergonomics of these small trim routers, makes my hand hurt after a while.

[meackerman]

I just purchased a Ridgid corded 5.5 amp trim router.  It has everything you need on it.  $99 on line from Home Depot.  Delivered to my door.  It also comes with a palm sander (free).  Just the router costs $129 normally. It's your money.

RP

my Ridgid trim router, turns on sometimes, other times not. Definitely has a squeal when it turns on, until its up to speed.  Hasn't been used that much, I wouldn't buy another.

Its the only trim router, out of 4, that I own that's flakey like that.

[tablesawtom]

I have a Bosch, Porter Cable and Makita corded palm routers and the one I reach for 99 % of the time is my Makita cordless router. I love it. It fits in my plunge base for the corded palm router too.

Tom

[dg152]

Isn't a palm router smaller than a regular hand-held router?  A "palm" router suggests to me the need for portability rather than heavy duty work.  And, (I'm guessing here), don't most palm routers use quarter inch router bits?  I have both a corded and a cordless palm router.  The corded is a Ridgid that I won in a drawing.  The cordless is a DeWalt 20v router.  I like using the cordless because there's no cord to get in the way.  It's just easier to use.  Having said that, if I need to make a deeper, heavier cut I'm probably going to skip the Ridgid and go directly to my Bosch 1617 1/2-inch router.

Bottom line is if I was making the choice today between a corded or cordless router I'd go with the cordless.

[tablesawtom]

Isn't a palm router smaller than a regular hand-held router?  A "palm" router suggests to me the need for portability rather than heavy duty work.  And, (I'm guessing here), don't most palm routers use quarter inch router bits?  I have both a corded and a cordless palm router.  The corded is a Ridgid that I won in a drawing.  The cordless is a DeWalt 20v router.  I like using the cordless because there's no cord to get in the way.  It's just easier to use.  Having said that, if I need to make a deeper, heavier cut I'm probably going to skip the Ridgid and go directly to my Bosch 1617 1/2-inch router.

Bottom line is if I was making the choice today between a corded or cordless router I'd go with the cordless.

I agree 100%. Application, application application governs the routers use. When battery powered routers first came out no. But today, absolutely. It is just like battery powered drills and circular saw, they have came a long way since their beginnings. If you have a battery powered drill or anything else I would stick with that brand. More batteries.  Especially right now, buy a couple of 4 or 5 amp batteries and a charger and get a free tool. If you have a brands drill with two batteries , all of the sudden you have 4 batteries and probably never have to buy a replacement battery at their inflated cost.

Tom

[meackerman]

I agree 100%. Application, application application governs the routers use. When battery powered routers first came out no. But today, absolutely. It is just like battery powered drills and circular saw, they have came a long way since their beginnings. If you have a battery powered drill or anything else I would stick with that brand. More batteries.  Especially right now, buy a couple of 4 or 5 amp batteries and a charger and get a free tool. If you have a brands drill with two batteries , all of the sudden you have 4 batteries and probably never have to buy a replacement battery at their inflated cost.

Tom

I won a bunch ($5k worth) of Ridgid tools years ago and have stuck with their 18v line, for better or worse, since then.

DirectToolsOutlet.com recently had a pair of factory blemished 4ah batteries....$50/pair.  normally I'd agree about the inflated battery cost...but $25 for a 4ah battery is a good deal. 

I've bought a number of factory blem'd tools from them and have yet to figure out what the blemishes are.  The tools look perfect...maybe its just the box that's blem'd...who cares about that.