I've just taken a punt on this PHOTOS

[Graham Orm]

ooeer....
A mate of mine (kitchen fitter) turned up with one of these on its a few weeks ago. Brand new, never been used.
He fitted a small flush trim bit and proceeded to edge up a board that he'd laminated - after about three seconds it started whining, then smoking and finally bang!! The clear plastic guard was in about thirty pieces and the router bit had gone - completely. We found a bit of it in the ceiling later on.

I hope yours fares better but be sure to wear full body armour when trying it out for the first time.

It did come with 3 bits one of which was a flush trimmer. They looked like they were out of a Christmas cracker, I put them straight in the bin. Maybe it was one of those that let your mate down?

 

[Zeddedhed]

ooeer....
A mate of mine (kitchen fitter) turned up with one of these on its a few weeks ago. Brand new, never been used.
He fitted a small flush trim bit and proceeded to edge up a board that he'd laminated - after about three seconds it started whining, then smoking and finally bang!! The clear plastic guard was in about thirty pieces and the router bit had gone - completely. We found a bit of it in the ceiling later on.

I hope yours fares better but be sure to wear full body armour when trying it out for the first time.

It did come with 3 bits one of which was a flush trimmer. They looked like they were out of a Christmas cracker, I put them straight in the bin. Maybe it was one of those that let your mate down?

You could be right. The flush trim bit was painted a particularly garish shade of Snot green and was wrapped in one of those shrink wrapped plastic type packages that look easy to open but require a machete or a chainsaw - I remember it well because he cut his finger getting it out.

Glad your router seems OK

 

[MMUK]

This is the rascal: View attachment 4

The height adjustment is better than my Bosch. The thumbscrew locks it and the knurled knob winds it up and down. To change bits you just loosen the thumbscrew one extra turn and the body slides off the motor. There's no spindle lock so it't the old fashioned 2 spanners job. View attachment 3

Alfie says he likes it. View attachment 5

I gave it a good go on some beech, I used a large roundover bit then a straight cutter to do a hinge chop out, which is what it will largely be used for. View attachment 1

I particularly like the on off switch. View attachment 4

It works, and surprisingly, didn't blow up as soon as I put it under load. The real test will be how long it lasts for I suppose.

Just noticed this thread :mrgreen:

Yes, it is a Makita in sheep's clothing. HOWEVER, it's one of their EU market "DIY" models. I saw these for sale while tool browsing in Lanzarote a couple of months ago and did a bit of digging. Being entry level, hence the price and abundance of plastic bits. On the plus side, the additional bases from the RT0700 will fit :mrgreen:

 

[Graham Orm]

Just noticed this thread :mrgreen:

Yes, it is a Makita in sheep's clothing. HOWEVER, it's one of their EU market "DIY" models. I saw these for sale while tool browsing in Lanzarote a couple of months ago and did a bit of digging. Being entry level, hence the price and abundance of plastic bits. On the plus side, the additional bases from the RT0700 will fit :mrgreen:

Thanks for that info I doubt if I'll need any extra stuff bout good to know. Are you certain it's a Makita? I've seen it with a different name to 'Merry' on it. I thought it was just a Chinese knock off rather than an entry level Makita. Surely they would label it Makita and differentiate it from the trade stuff like Bosch do?

 

[n0legs]

I think it's Chinese knock off, but so what if it is?
If it does all you expect it to do and at a standard you're happy with, then it's good buy.
Use it, treat as disposable, replace and repeat.
Makita made some entry level tools under the Site brand for Screwfix and made a point of it. If Merry were anything to do with them as a budget brand I would have thought they would have advertised the fact.
`More sales, more sales' the marketing people cry.