O'Malley router...any good?

[Joe_Stein]

I'm seriously considering bidding on this...

anybody know about these? They look a lot like the Marvels being sold by MLCS which I've considered also. I want a 3hp for use with a router table. I currently own a Craftsman 1½hp fixed base and I would use it except that I don't like the way the height adjustment works (you have to turn a ring). Plus, I've heard a 3hp is better suited for table use. I see Grizzly sells a Makita for less than $200.

Comments? Suggestions? TIA Joe

[Mike in Arkansas]

Don't have their router but bought a circular saw, biscuit jointer and cordless drill several months ago. I found the circular saw did a good enough job and was a higher quality than I thought it would be. However, when I replaced the blade, the new blade wouldn't fit the arbor although both were the same size. A second blade had the same problem so I just used a file on the blades' arbor hole. Didn't take much filing to make it fit but the arbor on the saw is definitely slightly oversized. The Biscuit jointer works okay for the price. The cordless drill has a very small chuck, hard to grip and tighten. The battery doesn't hold a charge as well as my other drills and the drill itself is considerably lighter than my brand names so I assume this translates to lighter duty innards. Overall I was pretty happy considering the prices and I believe them to be better than the HF stuff.

[Toller]

Don't buy junk. It doesn't give good results when it works. The only saving grace is that it will break quickly. (No, I haven't used one of these, it is just an observation on junk tools in general; which I have bought in the past and have always regretted.)

Only if you are doing raised panels, or something equally heavy. For light duty, it doesn't matter much one way or another. Better to buy a small, but good quality, tool.