Wrriten by SainSmart Customer
This trim router is a great value and I’d recommend it for anyone’s wood shop.
I have owned and used several trim routers. They have been across the spectrum in terms of quality and expense. I have a $20 Central Machinery router from Harbor Freight and a DeWalt router that costs around $150 new. This Genmitsu is much closer in quality to the high-end DeWalt than it is to the budget versions. I had a trim router from Ridgid that costs around $130 new, and I much prefer this Genmitsu option. (R118V 1.25HP Variable Speed Trimmer Router)
Initial Impressions:
The packaging was simple but effective with this router. When you take it out of the box you can immediately feel the quality. It has a lot of metal parts and the plastic parts are well refined and feel very sturdy. You can tell this was a well designed machine. It has a nice heft to it and it is very comfortable to hold. It’s a little slimmer than a DeWalt trim router.
The accessories aren’t particularly impressive, but they’re right in line with what you’d expect to come with a router (I didn’t get the kit with the extra bases, just the 1.25hp router). They’ll get the job done, but they aren’t anything special. I don’t reach for these type of accessories very often anyway.
First Uses:
The base on this model is metal and its very easy to adjust up and down. I much prefer this setup to the plastic base offered on the 1 HP version. When I first used the router, the base did slip a little bit. I don’t blame the machine for this, however, because it comes with a small wrench for tightening the clamp on the base and as soon as I tightened it, the issue went away and the base held steady. The router has a button to stop the spindle from spinning so you can change bits with one wrench instead of needing two like many other models. This is a luxury that I appreciate very much! There is a speed selector and although I must admit, I’m not entirely sure when to use different speeds, it’s nice to know it’s there.
This is getting pretty nit-picky, but the power switch is a little small and cheaper feeling than the rest of the materials on the machine. It works perfectly fine and is easy to reach, but I thought I’d point out that observation. One very nice feature that I wasn’t expecting is when you flip the switch on, the motor has a soft start.
A lot of times I start the router with it sitting on the work piece (with the bit adjacent to the wood, not touching it) and if there isn’t a soft start feature like this, it can jolt and sometimes cause a gouge in the work. This soft start feature lets it ramp up to full speed without the jolt. Once its running it seems to have a ton of power. So far I’ve just used it for different edge profiles on pine and plywood, but it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down whatsoever.
Other Observations:
This machine has a round base – this can be a great feature for using against a straight edge. If you rotate a router with a square base, it will change the distance from the straight edge. A round one will stay the same distance. This only works if the bit is perfectly centered within the base, however. I haven’t measured my unit to make sure it’s perfectly centered, but it looks to be pretty accurate right out of the box.
No LEDs – This isn’t a big deal, but one feature on the DeWalt that I really like is the addition of some LED lights on the underside of the router body. It can make it easier to follow lines when freehand routing or just to make sure you’re stopping cuts right on their mark.
Noise level – When running full speed but not cutting wood, this machine was pleasantly quieter than expected. Once the bit hits the wood its still a fairly noisy machine, but the motor itself isn’t bad at all. Its quieter than it’s 1HP brother and quieter than the DeWalt as well.
Collet Nut – I’m not really sure what this means, but the collet nut is bigger than that on the 1HP version. With the lock button for the spindle shaft it’s easy to get the collet/chuck nice and tight on the bit and I didn’t notice it slipping at all.
In Summary:
This is a fantastic router, it has plenty of features and a lot of power. There are a couple things I prefer on the DeWalt, like the LED lights and the depth adjustment mechanism, but those things are very minor. The Genmitsu has some things I prefer over the DeWalt as well, like the form factor and the quieter motor, and most importantly the PRICE coming in at less than half. There are many cheapo routers you can buy on Amazon and Harbor Freight, but I believe this one would be significantly better quality. I haven’t used it a ton yet, so I cant speak to longevity, but from any other tools I’ve used that feel this nice initially, I don’t have any concerns about it lasting a very long time. The versatility of a trim router makes it deserving of a place in your workshop, and the incredible value this Genmitsu 1.25HP model offers makes it a very strong option!
