Hercules Lives
Written: Aug 02 '06 (Updated Aug 04 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High quality router, very stout motor, some advanced features that include above table height changes.
Cons: Two wrench bit changes, limited above table features, some feature placement quirks
The Bottom Line: Extremely strong running and rugged router with smooth operation and the best features in it's size class. The best table mounted router I've used.
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| woody2's Full Review: Milwaukee 3-1/2 HP Fixed-Base Production Router Wi... |
The purchase of my newly acquired Milwaukee 5625 router was purely opportunistic. When I awoke on the morning of that blessed event, buying a new router was not even on my radar screen. However, being the spontaneous tool lover and bargain hunter that I am, all it took was an email alerting me to an opportunity to pick up this big gun for under $200 delivered to get me to spring into action.
The 5625 is a heavy duty 15 amp, 3-1/2 HP fixed base router. It's Milwaukee's top dog among an impressively built line up of contractor grade routers and is backed by a 5 year warranty. It features soft start, electronic variable speed with feedback circuitry to maintain a constant speed even under load, a large throat opening to accept the largest diameter bits, a two nut 1/2" collet, two wrenches, a height adjustment wrench, and above table height adjustment capability. The 5625 also has a convenient decal that correlates the RPM to the numeric speed setting (1-7). Like most other Milwaukee tools, the 5625 is extraordinarily well built. Plucking it from the box gives an immediate impression of ruggedness, quality, and balance. Even the collet wrenches are heavy duty cast tools. The speed control and on/off switch are of good quality and are somewhat conveniently located (more on that later). The height adjustment is very smooth and has no indication of slop of lash from the meshing of the thread gears. The height lock is heavy duty and sturdy as well. The throat opening is made from heavy duty castings, and as previously mentioned, is quite large. The 5625 deal that I bought only includes a 1/2" collet, when many other routers include a 1/4" collet as well. There is also no kind of dust collection attachment or edge guide included. The manual is brief but useful. Under power the speed control makes smooth incremental adjustments.
For hand routing the 5625 is a bit heavy compared to smaller routers, but has a low center of gravity, wide base, and is well balanced. My primary purpose is for table mounting to handle the heavy duty tasks. I mounted it on a phenolic router plate with removal trim inserts that offer different clearances for different sized bits. My first complaints came before even firing it up. The relationship of the height adjustment, lock mechanism with the on/off switch, RPM decal, and variable speed control is arranged so that not all of those features can be easily accessed while mounted in my router cabinet. For table mounting purposes the router gets inverted, and in my case, is placed within a small cabinet for better dust collection. In order to have access to the height locking mechanism from the door of my router cabinet, the router can only be facing with that lever facing out, or within reasonable proximity of that location. The RPM/speed reference decal has been placed on the opposite side of the locking mechanism where it can't be seen without removing the router from the table. This position also places speed control and on/off switch just behind the cord relief making it a bit difficult to reach. It's not a big deal, but could have been (and should have been) easily remedied during the design stage. My second complaint is the two nut collet that requires two wrenches and two hands in order to change a bit. My new Freud FT1700 has a simple and elegant solution that's far superior in my humble opinion - the FT1700 utilizes a spring loaded pin that automatically slips into a hole in the arbor when the router is raised to full height to change a bit. Within one rotation of the arbor the pin locks in place...one wrench, one hand. The Freud collet also extends well above the router plate which easily allows above table bit changes through any insert opening that allows the nut to fit through ...a feature that I absolutely love. The 5625 does extend slightly above the plate, but only enough so that I can get one wrench on the top collet nut, but not far enough that I can get to the bottom collet nut without removing insert ring or going at it from below....it's just too similar to most other 20 year old designs. Fortunately the 5625's huge throat opening does allow just enough access to get both wrenches in place with the trim ring removed.....but unfortunately, not all router tables have removable insert rings....I just got lucky. The bit changes are more convenient than on most routers, but falls short of what should be a standard feature on a router that will undoubtedly see alot of table use.
In use, the 5625 proves to be the mother of all big daddy routers. My first test was a large panel cut in hickory, which is among the hardest, densest woods I can get my hands on. The first bit was a 3-1/2" raised panel cove bit of suspect quality....the combination was pretty much a worst case scenario. The 5625 walked through heavy cuts without hesitation or chatter. Every other cut was a cake walk. I don't know what Milwaukee has under the hood that makes their routers seem stronger than other routers with comparably sized motors, but I've owned two Milwaukee routers, and both have blown me away with their power relative to the amp rating of the motor. The Bosch 1619 has impressive power too, and has similar electronics but I don't recall getting the same impression of "diesel" power the 5625 has. Nor did the Hitachi M12V or my Freud FT2000. Regardless, I've never used a 15 amp router that had insufficient power. The 5625 is fairly quiet too....a characteristic that I noticed with my smaller Milwaukee 5615. I haven't tried the PC7518 or the DeWalt DW625, but I have read several reviews that place the 5625 at the top of the heap for a table mounted router. I have no reason to disagree. In addition to impressive power, the 5625's motor can be removed from the frame and used with an aftermarket or shop built router lift. Given the effectiveness of the supplied t-wrench for the above table height adjustments, I can't justify the expense of a router lift, but others may. Another aspect the 5625 doesn't have that would have been beneficial is an above table locking mechanism that would prevent reaching under the table for every height change. Oh well...I guess you can't have everything on one router.
The acquisition of the 5625 brought my router inventory up to 5, my checking account down to zero, and the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) plummeted to the freeze zone. Justification of this impulsive purchase and the solution to world peace (...er, I mean household peace) was clear...it required selling my Freud FT-2000 that was no longer seeing much use anyway, and my much loved smaller Milwaukee 5615 BodyGrip router. While I miss the 5615, I'm very pleased with the purchase of the 5625 and feel that overall my current inventory of the 5625 and reasonably new Freud FT1700 (plus my old 8.5 amp Craftsman) puts my overall router capability ahead of where it was previously. The 5625 solved my gripe with the small throat opening on the Freud FT2000, has more power, and more above table features. I never seem to use the plunge on the FT2000, so I think I'll be fine without it.
OK.... so even though I've got what seems like several minor to medium complaints, they're more like disappointments in being "less than perfect" because the included features still eclipse those of most other router's. The 5625 is so close to having it all, that I'm just a bit frustrated by the shortfalls that didn't need to be. I find the 5625's performance to be smooth, flawless, impressively powerful, functional, quiet, and ahead of the pack. My smaller FT-1700 kicks butt with it's feature advantages, and I'd like to see Milwaukee copy some of them, but in use, the FT-1700 is only a 13 amp 2-1/4HP router and just can't hang with the big boys when push comes to shove with a 3" bit in heavy wood.
If the Epinions system allowed 4.5 Stars, I'd likely reward the 5625 accordingly for the feature shortcomings relative to what it could and should have. But given the restrictions of the existing rating system, I'm going to stretch with a 5-Star rating for the 5625 because it is such a stout, smooth running router with features that still eclipse most of it's competition. No sense being harsh on the best available until a better mousetrap comes along.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
woody2
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Rochester, NY
Reviews written: 97
Trusted by: 19 members
About Me:
Thank God for God. Think life is tough now...try without him!
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