Customer Reviews for RYOBI 10 Amp 2 HP Plunge Base Corded Router

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Ian happy with the quality of the product. Cuts great. This is my first router. Wish the instruction booklet had pictures to help me learn easier.

Purchased this on July 27, 2023. It is now November 14th. This is the second one of these routers I have had to replace in the past year. The pc board gets too hot and the tabs holding the switch wires pop right off. The solder is minimal and poorly done.

Get a Bosch . This thing has an o ring inside where the plunger is next to the set screw that tightens it down. This I ring has worn with little use and the plunger is now stuck . Looking at you tube it’s a PAIN in the hind quarters to remove this thing . So it’s a complete waste of money unfortunately…

1/4 in collet won’t hold a bit in place. Returning.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Got it and have used the hell out of it. Holding up nicely. Cutting 1/4" deep and 1 1/8" wide did not bog down. 144 strips total 22" long. I am impressed.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Bought this tool approximately two months ago. I have used it on several projects and it never seems to struggle and has plenty of power. Give a nice clean cut and no kickback.

Router was good and powerful for the first 3 yrs of occasional use up until it was out of the 2 yr warranty. 1st gripe, it seems the power cord comes straight out of the top that is in the way when changing out bits. 2nd and most important is the plunge lock is defective. When locking the plunge and starting my routing, the plunge slips, which messed up the work I was doing. After careful inspection, I found the screw for the lock that is attached to the locking lever was broke inside the housing and I was unable to fix myself. Ordered a new plunge router (not a Ryobi). My other Ryobi products seem to be doing fine though.

This is probably the cheapest plunge router you will be able to get. It has a lot of power and can run large 1/2" collet bits. Router has a easy to access button to lock the collet so you can tighten or loosen it with the provided wrench. It has a pretty sturdy build for its body and feels very tough. The cheapness of the router does come at a cost, primarily for the plunge function and the depth lock. The plunge is not smooth at all and you will have to give it a very large push for it to reach the deeper depths and you'll have to try multiple times to get it at the right spot. The depth lock is very risky as you have to make sure you are locking it down REALLY tight to make sure your bit doesn't come back up. However, if you continually use the depth lock, the lock itself becomes loose and looser which makes you have to tighten it more and more, leading to a vicious cycle. The alignment of the router is also not perfect out of the box. I had to sand off some plastic on the straight edge of the router base as the black plastic crept past the metal straight edge and would throw off cuts very slightly. If you need a powerful router to work on pieces that do not cost lots of money, this will get the job done. But if you are unable to accept the risk of it potentially destroying your work do not get this. If you need to reproduce certain precise depths do not get this.

This is a really good quality plunge router. Measurements on it appear to be accurate so far and no major issues with it. I think a DIYer would love this thing and will save a lot of money. Good HP with this one so it should be able to handle the harder woods.

This is one of my favorite RYOBI tools. I purchased it primarily for hand carved signs and other pieces of home decor. Plenty of power for ripping through a variety of different woods, easy bit changes, and reliable depth control. This tool has it all.

Got an open box on sale, new tool good sale price, for 2 or 3 jobs I have in mind.

I build clocks and this tool is excellent in my work. Very light weight and easy to handle with perfect adjustments. I would highly recommend! I purchased it 2 mos. ago and have not been disappointed yet.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Helped me complete a project for my best friends wedding. Super easy to use the locking feature for the plunge works great had to adjust measurement gauge only because of how I installed the bit. Felt like I had great control while using and plenty of power!!!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Easy to use, powerful and at a very good price. Here I have attached my milescraft router jig.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] For years ive made due with a fixed based router. Time to upgrade. Shopped around a lot but kept drawing back to the roybi plunge. Simple reasons, Outstanding features, cost and simplistic to use and grow with. It can fine tune to a degree of perfection first time using it. I looked at ones 2-3 times the cost, but none come with the quality, ive come to love with roybi for years with. None had a simple guard that prevents chips from flying up into your face, this one does. Having availability to use 1/4 or 1/2 " bits ,easy bit changes ,you simply can not ask for more. Ive used mine with in the last 30 days to finish and dress up 3 projects, currently its sculpting the edge of my deck railings, I'm using it more and more. I'm becoming a better wood smith because of a well made tool that permits me to grow and expand my reaches. The attached photo is of our new patio table my router cut the rabbit for the surface boards to lay flus with the surface, round over on the edges and legs and rabbit bit to fix the few small errors I hit along the way.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I was on the fence about buying a plunge router or a fixed router and I am so glad I went with the plunge router it is very versatile and you cannot beat the price of these Ryobi tools highly recommend this tool

I've never owned a router, but they always seemed like a great tool to have around the house for not only installation of door hinges and lock, but for larger jobs like cabinet building and molding. I was not sure if I wanted a plunge or fixed base router, and I was not willing to spend $400 for two different name brand styles. I seen this a noticed that it had the best 3st of both worlds for a smaller price, so I decided to give it a shot. At first, I was worried that 8 would not be able to figure it out, but within 20 minutes, I felt like a pro using this. It was extremely easy to use, and all the adjustments were easy to make. The router is actually very powerful, and the speed can be adjusted from high to low for different types of wood. As for the router bits, it takes 1/2' and also has an adapter for 1/4' which makes this router very versatile. They give you a wrench, and makes but changes very fast and easy. It's also comfortable in the hands but does feel a bit bulky. the plunge action is very smooth, but like some others had mentioned, the locking mechanism does get a bit lose after using it for a while. There is however a screw that can be tightened in the back that will help snug it up. All in all, I have used this to cut holes in bi-metal doors, signed and some molding, and I am extremely happy with it. Once I get my skills sharpened, I will probably spend more for a more professional router, but until then, I'm happy with this.

I was working on a project that required production level use notching 4x4's for a handrail. I have one little BOSCH fixed base, I bought one of of these Ryobi plunge base models and borrowed an older model Rockwell fixed base. Of the three, I loved the RYOBI! The BOSCH was a little too light for the work, and the Rockwell scared the heck out of me because it was too hard to control. So I went back and bought another RYOBI RE180PLG1! I was using templates for most of the work and the RYOBI worked beautifully! It was smooth, easy to control, and the adjustment features made it a breeze to cut to the perfect depth every time. I've read some bad reviews here, but I have no complaints. You must use the appropriate speed setting for the bit otherwise you get some vibration and chattering. I did notice that one of the two units seemed a bit more "torquey" than the other, but I have not one complaint.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The first time using a router, I have alot to learn. I have all Ridgid tools but side by side I decided to give Ryobi a chance. I retire next year and have to be ready.

The speed control on my unit failed. The speed just started going super high leading to damage on what I was working on. There are visible sparks that I can see inside of it when I turn it on now.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I bought this about a year ago and have consistently had problems with the plunge lock lever. It just won't stay locked and then the router moves up or down and ruins the piece of wood I am working on. Lately it wouldn't plunge at all. I took off the bottom section and the screw for the lock lever had scored the shaft inside the spring and the unit would get hung up. I have had good luck with ryobi products over the years but this one is a dud. It seems that other owners have had similar problems with this model.

Took a little time to get set up and everything adjusted to what i needed but it was a game changer! I bought it to cut out a template and it did a great job.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I just bought this really good price. I recommend this router if you need a good router for a good price.

It worked for about an hour before dying. I opened it up and found the power wires had popped loose from a poor solder connection. I soldered it back in place and the unit continued to work for another two days worth of use and then died again. I returned it for a refund.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I got this 2 peak HP Plunger Router along with the Router table ( Intermediate Router Table. ModelA25RT03). I have yet to use it. Once I have used it a couple of times I will attempt to update the review. So far though I am liking the way it all went together.

I bought two of these to replace older Ryobi RE180PL1’s on a duplicating machine. The older ones worked great for several years but the bearing were getting worn so we decided to replace them. Our machine requires the bits to be located in the same exact spot. Out of the two, neither of the bits were centered exactly the same. They were each off from the older Ryobi by at least 1/16” in different directions which doesn’t sound like much but on our machine, means that the part that we’re duplicating can be at least 1/8” larger or smaller than it needs to be. Probably not a big deal for most but was a major headache for us to have to modify our machines to make them work. More importantly, both routers died with less than 5 hours use on them. Unfortunately, we didn’t install these until after our warranty was up so are going to have to buy more replacements.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Has plenty of power. Love the soft start feature. Plunge function is a bit stiff and difficult. The 1/4" collet is not the best. I have had some bits move while routing. The 1/2" collet works fine.