best budget friendly palm router

[Roboboyo]

hi guys, as the title suggests, im in the market for a budget friendly palm router

i originally had the bosh POS (Opps, i meant POF) 1200 ae router (not a palm router) and it wasn't for me. can anyone recommend one?

 

[Jameshow]

I have the excel one and it's been great.

https://exceltools.co.uk/collection...d-trimmer-palm-router-240v-710w-with-base-set
Brought it to save on p+p on thier 150mm ros sander.

 

[Jameshow]

Looks at Katsu router on the bay or up the river...

 

[pgrbff]

I recently found a Bosch Pro GFK600 for £90 on Amazon. I think I got a bit of a bargain. I haven't used it yet but I've heard it's good.

 

[glenfield2]

I think Aldi sell one of their Ferrex brand ones. Anyone tried it?

 

[Fitzroy]

Not a budget friendly option but I got the Makita battery jobbie for Xmas last year. I have found a palm router the most amazing tool, I use it all the time and would be upset to lose it from my tool chest.

The attachments/additions I have found the most useful/needed:

• Plunge base, with right angle handle attached
• Tilt base with straight cutter for edge bevels
• Inlay kit for bowties and other cut-outs
• 8mm collet so I can use my existing router bits

I've not used the standard base much as I find it a bit unstable and free handing stuff is not yet in my skill set, I'm a guides and rails kind of guy.

Fitz

 

[worn thumbs]

I bought a workzone version when they were on special offer.Its OK but a bit noisy,which seems to be quite common with the palm routers.

 

[RobNichols]

I recently found a Bosch Pro GFK600 for £90 on Amazon. I think I got a bit of a bargain. I haven't used it yet but I've heard it's good.

I have a Bosch GFK600 and find it easy to use and reliable.

 

[pgrbff]

I have a Bosch GFK600 and find it easy to use and reliable.

I'm glad to hear it. I couldn't find many reviews.

 

[MF1000]

I think Aldi sell one of their Ferrex brand ones. Anyone tried it?

I’ve been using one to do the cutouts on my beech cookie slabs …..no problems so far

 

[ps.harris80]

Another vote for the Katsu from me as well, a nice tool that has handled everything I have thrown at it without even breaking in to a sweat. Both as a hand held and in a small router table. For the price it's a bit of a bargain and it's of a higher construction quality than the Aldi one that costs about the same.

 

[RobNichols]

I'm glad to hear it. I couldn't find many reviews.

This was the review that probably influenced me most in getting the Bosch

 

[h-magic]

I looked at getting the Bosch gfk600 but ended up with the dewalt since it was an offer.
I had the Katsu but my van got broken into and my relief that’s the only thing they took out of all my tools.

Never got to use the katsu but felt good in hand and had all the accessories.

I like the dewalt adjustment which is really good.

Can’t go wrong with katsu, Bosch, dewalt or even the majors version.

 

[TomGW]

I have the Makita RT0700CX4 and find it to be excellent, so would suggest that the Katsu/Anesty badged versions would be a good budget choice. I bought the Makita when it was on an offer at £65, otherwise I’d have gone for one of those too.

 

[Johnwa]

I tried the Aldi palm router and returned it next day. The plastic fixed base didn't fit the router body very well, but the screw for adjusting was either too tight so that the router body couldn't slide or was so slack the base fell off the body, nothing in between. The motor was a bit rough but was usable and as a whole, apart from the plastic base which I didn't like seemed quite well made. Typical aldi product, you don't get cheap quality! Returned to Aldi next day, no problem, got my money back just told them the problem and that the router wasn't fit for purpose immediate refund. I bought the Makita RT 700 in the end, lovely little router, highly recommend!

 

[ChaiLatte]

I've not used the standard base much as I find it a bit unstable

You might or might not know this but you can unscrew the plastic sole of the standard base and replace it with the plastic sole of the offset base (available as a spare part). This greatly aids stability.

https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/excel-offset-base-trimmer-router-attachment
https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/excel-trimmer-offset-base-plate
The above two are absolute bargains for anyone who has a Makita-compatible motor.

https://www.lsengineers.co.uk/makita-offset-base-plate-195562-2-413148-3.html

 

[Mickjay]

You might or might not know this but you can unscrew the plastic sole of the standard base and replace it with the plastic sole of the offset base (available as a spare part). This greatly aids stability.

https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/excel-offset-base-trimmer-router-attachment
https://tools4trade.co.uk/products/excel-trimmer-offset-base-plate
The above two are absolute bargains for anyone who has a Makita-compatible motor.

https://www.lsengineers.co.uk/makita-offset-base-plate-195562-2-413148-3.html

Those Excel bases are on offer at £6 each at the moment, I've just bought those 2 and the tilting base for my katsu which I've had for about 4 years, wouldn't be without it.

 

[Sideways]

I bought the katsu and sold it.
I found it less stable and less convenient to use than my small plunge routers.
If I were to try again, it would be with a brushless battery type because those motors should be ideal at high speeds - nice and smooth. But the stability is unlikely to be any better than the katsu. I'd need all of the accessory bases.

 

[robgul]

Katsu, corded, for me with the add-on base and side-gauge - impressed with it, especially for roundovers on long lengths of timber.

On the wider subject of routers I've just bought the Einhell cordless router combo - common motor that fits to a plunge base and a palm base - pretty good (and the same battery platform as a lot of my other tool)

 

[TheUnicorn]

like tomGW I picked up a makita router for about £65 on offer, its the model that the katsu trimmer is cloned from, every now and again you hear shocking quality issues on the katsu (though fairly rare TBH) so when I saw the makita model for just a little bit more it made sense to me. Cheapest I could find at the moment was £72 plus delivery, don't know anything about the seller though

https://hsstoolshop.co.uk/makita-rt0700cx4--trimmer-110v--240v-5700-p.asp?_=&variantid=5702