110-Volt 3.25 HP Precision Dual Mode Router with Plunge

Bought this for our slab flattening and it did not disappoint! Highly recommend!

I seldom use routers but I've owned a Porter-Cable plunge router for years and was always happy with it. Unfortunately, it turned up missing. I've recently bought this Triton to use as a plunge router for the meantime and plan to eventually mount it to a table. The ability to raise and lower the bits from above, as well as relatively easy bit changes, also above the table, piqued my interest. The 3.25 hp is also a strong selling point. I've used the plunge router once so far. The rack-n-pinion system and micro-adjuster work nicely. Using a brand new Whiteside 5/8" dia. straight bit in treated pine is like using a hot knife in butter - even easier actually. I tried out the fence also and am impressed. the steel plates (base and fence) are substantially thick and leave me with no desire for anything thicker. The materials, power, and fit&finish are all top-notch. The only complaint some might have would be in getting template guides. Triton has a proprietary system for their template guides -- not the commonly used Porter-Cable template guides that many people use on most various manufacturers' routers. And, the dealers that I found that normally sell the Triton template guide kit, informed me that they were unavailable at the time. I found a universal base plate of 1/2" thick acrylic from Infinity Cutting Tools that has mounting holes that work with the Triton router and the ability to fasten the Porter-Cable template guides too it. This works well for me and I have no regrets about the Triton. I've read many reviews on many routers and can understand why so many recommend this machine. I ordered it online and it was delivered well packaged, in perfect condition, right on time.

Short Review: Given it's power and features, it's a good buy. It does have some quirks. I've had this router for almost a year and I've had a chance to put it to work. Made a number of different mouldings with no issues. Sure saves some money making your own. Recently I made 30 some kitchen cabinet doors, all raised panels. It's had a permanent home in the router table, so I can not say how it works as a hand router. Frankly, it's a little to big to use by hand, in my opinion. The variable speed is very nice. Handy for me because I could turn it down for a raised panel bit. I bought it mainly because of it's power. Planned on making the kitchen doors with raised panels and knew I'd need a big router to turn the panel bit, it's huge. Rails and stiles cut great, smooth and crisp cuts with a good bit. The router complained a little here and there for the raised panels (MDF), even taking multiple cuts and setting my fence forward as far as possible. But it never stopped or bogged down. Just complained a little and made my LED shop lights flicker a little now and then. As for the quirks... The height adjustment above the table is a handy feature (one reason I bought it), but the adjustment tool feels pretty flimsy. It has not broken, but I am concerned how it will last. There are no measurements on the adjustment tool, so it's not very precise. It can be a lot of hit and miss when trying to set up bits. It also does not tell you which way it up or down. Like that on my PC router. You'd think I'd remember by now, but no. The lift mechanism just seems clunky to me, it's not as "smooth" as other routers. Some times when I am setting up a bit, when unlocking the router, the router actually drops. So there are times you have to start over. Annoying. To lock the bit to change it, you raise the router and when you get to the top a pin goes into the router shaft.Sadly, that pin does not always come out, or lately, it takes several attempts to get it to actually lock. Makes it worst that this is the only way to loosen or tighten a bit. This router does not have two wrenches to change bits and you can not put two wrenches on it. I have not had much luck with the dust collection, but I do need to upgrade my collection system. Not going to fault that yet. Although, the dust guard is not very tall. If you can live with the quirks, this is a great router because of it's power and features. You would be hard pressed to find a router this big, with the features at this price. Just be prepared to be a little frustrated. Also, remember, you can not take the motor out of the base, like some routers, so that could be a limit to some. Over all I am happy with it. It has done everything I've needed it to do.

* Power of this router worked good with the Freud 99-762 router bits * Variable speed works nicely with the Freud 99-762 router bits * Dust collection works really well * Used this running boards through using the Freud 99-762 router bits to create 19 kitchen cabinet doors * This has met my expectations - enough to where I will be going back to using my router table, as before the router I had vibrated horrible and dust collection was not great and made a mess and lots of dust. I bought this router to run the Freud 99-762 (Rails & Stile) bits since I needed a higher HP router. With the variable speed control, I was able to run the speed the bits needed (16,000rpm). I needed to build a new router table as I didn't want to use my old one. I used 3/4" MDF layered with another 1/2" MDF, this worked really decently, but the issue is the depth of the router getting to the top of the table resulted in me having to route out 7mm from the bottom of the router. This allowed me to get to the height I needed. The locking of the bit feature when the router is raised all the way works great. The adjustment rod works decently to do the adjustments from the top of the router, however with it or manually reaching under, at times there seems to be some type of serious rubbing going on with the lift. I found by lifting on the router while raising/lowering helps with that - but minor/micro adjustments are quite easy. The locking lever did came unscrewed after a bit of use, but I re-installed it with no problems afterwards. Using this router in a router table is really good and I'd recommend people to consider getting this one. The dust collection on the router is good too - with my table I used it along with the router table dust collection. This minimized the amount of dust/chips to nearly nothing. I'm using the 5-gallon dust deputy and the Super Dust Deputy. I have NOT used this free hand, but the spring to do the plunge cuts is strong, but not so strong to make you wrestle it down. One thing that could be improved or provided would be a template of the holes to mount it in a table. They have 3-M6 bolts holes under the plate, however, without a template it was difficult to come up with a way. To handle this, take a piece of paper and cut to a square size of the width of the router. Tape it to the bottom with an edge of where the front of the router is and how you'd want it mounted in your table. Take a carpenters pencil and use it to rub on the paper where the bolt holes are - also rub where the opening of the router is too. Once you have that, place it onto a temp board to drill the holes on your drill press to ensure you have straight holes. With the template board, mount it onto the bottom of your router top (assuming you've built a MDF top) - I used brad nails to hold it on. Now drill holes through the top of the router. Next is the fun part to match up the holes. I purchased 4 bolts that were longer than I needed, I used 1 to get one bolt started. With the other 3 cut to length, I was able to get two others started, once those were in, I removed the longer bolt and put in the last bolt that was cut to length.

works great just what i was looking for

It is a very powerful machine with minimum amount of noise. It is made very well and is easily adjustable with its knob system and placement. I would recommend this machine.

Easy to set up in router table. height adjustment is very precise. Plenty of power

I bought this router after burning out a 2.5 HP Dewalt trying to roughy miter lock joints in QSWO. This router fit very nicely under my router table. The above table height adjuster and automatic spindle lock make bit changes a breeze (no more craning my neck from under the table while I try to make fine adjustments to bit height. Smooth start feature avoids torquing on startup. 3.25 HP is excellent for running large complex bits at slow speed without faltering.

Mounted the router to a 3/4" thick phenolic router table - and still able to change bits from above. Easy to change heights - comes with an above table handle, and removing the plunge spring for table use is a great enhancement. I have not used it free-hand, so cannot comment on that use or the accessories that came in the package to assist circles, edges, etc. Be careful in removing the plunge spring - the spring cap is not screw on, a 1/8 turn twist releases it and the spring. Having separate collets for 1/2" and 1/4" is a good feature, allows better gripping of the bits and removes the challenge of keeping track of an insert. The variable speed adjustment wheel is not positioned well for viewing when mounted on a router table. Not a big deal, but when I want a specific speed range have to get on the floor to view the numbers. Very happy with the router.