Milwaukee 48-10-5601 Compact Router Plunge Base

Plunge base works fine, except for the fact if you use it you have no edge guide. The edge guide you have to use with the plunge base has to be purchased on its own seperately from Milwaukee, because the one that comes with the compact router doesn't work with this plunge base. Apparently the edge guide that fits this plunge base is the one you get with the 2.25HP router. At $130 for the base you could have at least included the edge guide that works with it.

The tension arms on my plunge base broke the first time I used the product. The tension arms on the compact router are much beefier then the tension arms on this plunge base. I wouldn't recommend this product for the $110 it costs. There are very few products that Milwaukee makes that are sub par (I am a big Milwaukee fan), but this product is one of them. I submitted a warranty claim...we shall see if I hear back.

I honestly think it’s a very well-made and comfortable plunge base. Hand grips are extremely comfortable it’s got a good quality fit and finish is nice. Would get five stars but two problems with this base. The first is more of a pet peeve the rule for the depth on the plunger base is a sticker I don’t like that at all they did this on the tablesaw and and it’s a detail that just bothers me. This needs to be a piece of etched stainless steel that is riveted on Like their circular saws details and the fit and finish is what makes the difference definitely not acceptable on the tablesaw. But my pet peeves aside overall great design works good but the second problem and is a big problem they do not sell and edge guide, they have a spot for the edge guide, they obviously thought ahead about the edge guide but currently don’t offer one. Where the edge guide would go is a U rod with two thumbscrews that currently holds in place the dust chute on every other plunge base This is where the edge guide would go so it’s an easy fix Milwaukee Make a edge guide for this plunge base. This small detail that is easy to fix would definitely be a dealbreaker for a lot of carpenters. I say it’s a small detail because it’s such an easy fix but it’s a huge component come on Milwaukee.

I do mid range to professional woodworking and needed a cordless option. Since I have Milwaukee and sale Milwaukee products it made sense. Tried to remove it to clean it up and about broke the router and then when I reinserted it at the same tension as before the tension bars broke.