Woodworking can be a fulfilling and rewarding hobby, but it can also be intimidating for beginners. One of the essential tools for any woodworker, whether professional or amateur, is a wood router. A wood router is a versatile tool that can help you create intricate designs, cut decorative edges, and make precise cuts in wood. However, with so many models and brands on the market, choosing the best wood router for beginners can be a daunting task. In this article, we will explore some of the best wood routers and provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.
Makita RT0701CX7 ranks top of the list as best wood router for beginner. Get your hands on this wood router and you won’t regret your decision as we have researched, compared and taken user reviews of these wood routers before making it our top notch pick!
We have short-listed these tools after thorough research and customer reviews. We have covered some extra miles to compile this list of the best budget wood router for you.
Which are Good Routers For Beginner – Plunge Base vs Fixed Base
A Fixed base is more ideal to do edges. A router with a fixed base is more compatible with the router table. Using a fixed base for plunging woods isn’t really a wise choice because it doesn’t really compensate for dealing with depth cutting.
A Plunge base, however, can effortlessly maneuver wood plunging and fixed positions. Its ability to deal with depths enables you to create use grooves within the wood pieces. Unlike a fixed base, it isn’t that compatible to be used for a router table.
In the subsequent wood router reviews, you’ll find some of the items that come with both a fixed and a plunge base. You can pick from them wisely as per your project requirement.
Best Wood Router For Beginners
1. Makita RT0701CX7 Wood Router For Beginner – Overall Best
Makita is a big brand in manufacturing power tools. The brand through its machines, providing the best user experience and winning the hearts of woodworkers in the town already.
Makita RT0701CX7 is one of our top picks for the best wood router for beginners. This compact wood router has a motor of 1 to 1/4 HP that generates a variable speed range from 10,000 to 3,000 RPM. With these variable speed dials, you can choose the speed of the tool as per your requirement for the project.
It has an electronic speed control system with a slow start feature that helps maintain the diligence of the work done. You don’t need to worry about its quick start that may affect the accuracy of your cuts and trims.
A plunger base is also included in the package that makes this router pretty economical. It is designed to provide high visibility. You can easily observe the routing easily and can add more precision to your patterns. Its height can be easily adjusted to different levels.
The rank and pinion and cam lock adjustment system provide easy depth scale adjustments for your tasks.
Apart from all the amazing features it provides, some of the customers find some issues with the fitting of the fence on the plunger base. So, in that case, you might need to buy a separate fence.
Overall, it’s a great tool that provides value for the money. Get your hands on this plunge router to create some cool badges and amazing patterns on your wood pieces.
- The ergonomic design allows easy handling.
- Heavy-duty aluminum durable motor
- Slow startup with speed variable controls
- Does not accept standard template guide inserts
2. Bosch 1617EVSPK Fixed-Base Router For Beginner
Bosch 1617EVSPK ranks on second number among our personal favorite tools for the best budget wood router. This router comes with a fixed base that allows going for a single depth at a time.
The routing work is easier with this tool because of the different depth adjustments available. Its detachable motor can be easily attached to different bases. With Its quick-adjust lever, you can effortlessly adjust the base to various depths.
Slow start motor has circuitry that allows applying a constant load that ensures the speed remains intact when dealing with more depth. You get three components in the kit i.e. a motor, a fixed base, and a plunge base. A hex key is also included that permits depth adjustments from the top of the table as well.
It has a fixed plate, using which, it can be smoothly mounted to the router table.
Altogether, this guy is versatile when it comes to their applications. You can do a lot with this one.
If you’re a beginner, this is the tool that you need to make your trimming and routing work butter smooth.
- Easy handling
- Increased visibility with the plunge base
- Quick adjustments
- Short life span
We’ve been through some of the reviews complaining about its grips and adjustments, but that can be resolved if you use it wisely reading all the instructions and guides.
3. DEWALT (DWP611PK) Wood Router For Beginner
When it comes to picking up the power tools, DEWALT can probably not go out of your brand list. It manufactures world-famous tools for different industries. In the best wood router for beginner list, DEWALT (DWP611PK) is our third choice.
This durable router runs on the 1.25 HP motor to deliver high power in dealing with stubborn wood pieces. With its variable speed adjustment feature, you can change the bit speed as per the requirement of your task
Our favorite feature is the dual-LED with a clear base for high visibility. It might sound a normal thing but it actually does a lot in adding precision and accuracy to your work.
The soft-start motor is the main thing you can look for in the wood routers which are good for beginners. The reason because it does a lot in maintaining precision by controlling the speed of the router.
Also Check Best Wood Router Under 100
You’ll get two bases in the router kit, a fixed base, and a plunge base. The depth of the plunge base can be adjusted up to 1/64 inches with the help of an adjustment ring.
The bit change can be made on a single wrench with the help of a low-pressure spindle lock button. This saves your time and effort while changing the bases for multiple uses.
Some of the customers found the life span of the tool short and motor bogging. We cannot guide you much about that. But with the instructions and product guides, you can make a way out of it as well.
- Various depth adjustments
- IDual LEDs for precise working
- The quick and easy bit change
- Motor bogging issues
One can never go wrong with the decision of buying this tool. Especially if you’re a beginner and don’t want the extra hassle to deal with your tool, then this one is for you!
4. AVID POWER 6.5-Amp 1.25 HP Woodworking Router For Beginner
AVID POWER is the best wood router for the money. It is heavy in duty and light on the pocket. This tool kit comes with all the accessories that you can possibly imagine coming with a router.
Its 6.5-amp with 1.25 HP is powerful enough to generate the variable speed ranges from 10,000 to 32,000 RPM.
Rack and pinion type adjustments of the router provide smooth working for a myriad of woodworking projects. An adjustable roller guide is also included in the accessories to assist you with shallower coves and curves in the best way possible.
The 5 router bits are highly useful to create amazing trimming and routing projects. You’ll fall in love with the size and portability of the tool. Its lightweight and ease f use add more to the value of this router.
You’ll be glad to hear that in this tiny router, there’s a dust hood as well that helps you to work conveniently with your projects without worrying about the tidiness of the workspace.
Last but not least, The electronic speed controls would allow you to have more control over your device in terms of controlling the speed and make the handling smooth.
- Highly portable
- Inexpensive
- Precise and accurate performance
- Not an ideal tool for bigger projects
The fact that it’s suitable for small to mid-level projects affects its versatility somehow. It’s more preferable for beginners only who don’t have to deal with heavy-duty projects.
5. DEWALT (DW618B3) Wood Router For Beginner
Another DEWALT tool has made it to our list. The last one on our index for the beginner wood routers. You must agree with the fact that whenever you hear DEWALT, power, accuracy, and precision are the benefits that come to your mind.
DEWALT (DW618B3) is a wood router that operates on a 12-amp motor of 2-¼ HP to provide a speed that ranges from 80000 to 240000 RPM. That makes it an aggressive router to make cuts even through the toughest of the wood pieces.
You can easily adjust the depth of cuts with the cam lock and steel motor to get extra hold and precision. Its micro-fine adjustment ring does a phenomenal job in adjusting ap to 1/64 inches deep.
Like all the other tools of DEWALT, this one also comes with a dust collector to make the work easy and manageable.
With the quick motor release, the bits and bases can be changed within seconds without wasting time and extra effort.
- Powerful cuts
- Easy bits and bases switching
- Dust collector
- Short time warranty
This wood router is highly recommended for you to increase productivity, get precise work done, and altogether give life to your dream woodworking projects.
How To Choose The Best Wood Router For Beginners
As a beginner, you must be looking for a product that fulfills all your basic woodworking needs and thus providing with the best user experience. For that, you need to consider some of the significant features, so that you don’t miss out on enjoying the work along with gaining more expertise.
Price of the Router
Considering the fact that you’ve just put your feet in the field of woodworking, we won’t suggest you at all go for a tool that costs heaps of money. There are various categories of routers available in the market. This gives you a free hand to choose the one that best suits your type of project.
Make sure to do deep market research to get the best and affordable wood router for yourself. Generally, you’ll see that the products that cost more are ideal to be used for heavy-duty projects, which you won’t really do if you’re still at your learning stages.
Speed of Motor
The speed of the router decides how many rotations it makes per minute. A router with a good speed will generate more power that eventually will lead to high performance.
We highly prefer to go for a tool that comes with a variable speed option. A router with variable speed adjustments is highly recommended considering the fact that it increases the versatility of your tool. You’ll be able to handle different projects that need different speed adjustments.
Smooth start-up
A router with a smooth startup is no less than a treat for a woodworker, especially the one which is at a beginner’s level. It helps you to maintain accuracy and precision in your work. This is because it will probably not affect the diligence of work done giving you a shocking result when turning on the device.
Size of the device
A compact-sized router is not only portable but allows easy handling as well. These are the tools that you’ll need to work with for long hours in a day. It would be tiresome for you if your device is gigantic in size giving you a headache about its handling.
If the router does justice with the size, you can not only easily keep it in your workspace but can transport it to different job sites. If you’re also a person that prefers the ease of handling and portability, then AVID POWER 6.5-Amp is your product.
Spindle locks
While working with a router, you’ll need to change the bits every now and then to be used for different purposes. What spindle lock does is that it allows the easy changing of the bits. You just put the router bit in the shaft and lock it. With that, you won’t have to waste time on adjustments and changing the bits to be used for several purposes.
Durability
Most of the woodworking tasks are quite demanding. To keep up with the task’s requirement, your tool should be of high inbuilt quality and will make it more durable. An aluminum-designed body is highly preferred in such a case. It will serve you for a long time than the normal plastic-built router.
Final Words On Best Wood Router For Beginner
We hope that this article on choosing the best wood router for beginners will help you to make your purchase decision. All the wood router reviews that we’ve provided are purely based on our research as well as the authentic reviews of the customers.
There’s no ambiguity left for you to pick the right device for your next dream project. We’ll highly recommend you to especially consider the buying guide before locking in the decision. All of these factors will collectively play a role in your best buying choice. We wish you a happy purchase!
Best Wood Router For Beginners FAQ’s
1. Which wood router is the best?
Makita RT0701CX7 is the best router that you can pick for your next dream project. It’s loaded with tons of features like variable speed adjustments, smooth startup, durable aluminum motor, and what not? All these incredible features make it an ideal router to be picked for your woodworking tasks.
2. How to cut a circle in wood with a router?
First things first, make a center hole with the drill bit. Then mount the trammel to the router and measure the radius of the circle. After measuring and marking the circle point, attach the trammel to your wood piece with the help of a screw so that the trammel can rotate easily. Now start routing to achieve the desired circle. In the end, cut the excess wood and you’re good to go!
I’m Thomas Steven with more than 12 years of experience in woodworking. It has always been my passion to become a successful woodworker. I have completed hundreds of successful projects. This blog is a way of sharing my woodworking experiences and what tools get the best results. I write about woodworking while being an associate with Amazon and I earn a little commission from every qualifying purchase.