I messaged him.
Any other Canadian brands tested?
I’ve been eyeing Canadian Tire’s Mastercraft MAXIMUM Fixed/Plunge Router #054-6810-8 which is on for $129.99CAD. Should work right?
Also, we can buy the same compact Makita router that comes with the metal Maslow too, but I think it’s cheaper in the kit then locally.
I have been using my Maximum in a makeshift router table for the last few weeks, with the fixed base, optimizing a procedure for making drawers (joinery of them anyway) out of 1/2" plywood without having to move the fence. From the moment I installed it in the table I was having issues with the 1/64th fine depth adjustment.
The fine depth adjustment is supposed to go about 7 full turns (per the manual) but I was finding it would go maybe one or one and a half and either bind up or skip and drop the router, losing any setting I had. I was getting pretty frustrated with it and thinking maybe I made a mistake. I otherwise like the power of the unit, the soft start, the LED light (especially working from above) and the 1/2" and 1/4" collets. I was reading reviews on the Canadian Tire website and I noticed two things I wanted to pass on:
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The fine adjust, when upside down, has an allen key head on the bottom - so it can be adjusted from above the table as a makeshift router lift! This was a helpful discover, except for the fact that the stock vaccum port attachment blocks this. In the future I suspect I’ll 3D print a new hose attachment and potentially use this. In the mean time, it’s not to bad to kneel or squat down and open the lock collect and adjust by hand (when it works - more on that below - I’ve resolved it).
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Multiple people reported slipping but others expressed confusion and said theirs has been fine. I wondered if they had fixed the base everyone was complaining about. I dug around in my files, found my receipt (I was 1 year + 5 days since purchase - ugh) and headed to the store with my base and spindle. In hindsight I should have brought everything (it would have saved me a trip home to get all the parts to do a full swap). The unit has a 90 day satisfaction guarantee, a 1 year repair warranty and a 5 year limited warranty. I demonstrated the issue and a tool employee was called and we went to the row where the units were. He took a new base out of the box and we put my spindle in and it did the same darn thing. I was dismayed… and then he said something obvious I (and others on line) hadn’t considered… Put the new spindle in your base and see what happens…
Sure enough the new spindle worked like butter in my fixed base. It never occured to me it would be the rack on the spindle that might be the issue, I just assumed it was the pinion mechanism. While not obvious to the naked eye, it appears there was a tolerance issue with the old spindle rack! In the end I opted to swap the whole thing and I can say, so far, the new machanism works perfectly. So make sure you test the wide range of transit up and down with the fixed base and your spindle when you get your unit.
All that being said, I also have this kit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhqzjB-oSPI
I think I paid around $300 for it. And it is definitely a superior router in every respect except power. The fine adjustments on it are excellent and smooth and very accurate. The plunge base makes it extremely versatile. The fixed and tilting bases have also proven very useful. It is my go to, it’s powerful enough, light and easy to use, brilliant for trim work but beefy enough with the plunge base to do some more serious work. I also mounted it to my jigsaw table and did some initial table learning with it. However, I like to use it for roundovers and flush trimming etc and prefer it for hand use, so I put the Maximum in my table. Also, I have a Sienci Labs Longmill 30x30 coming and I intend to use it in that when I’m not using it by hand.
The Makita seems to be an excellent spindle for home CNC use and widely praised. When not in the CNC, it’s a brilliant hand router especially with the accessory kit. They are $129 here at home depot for the basic kit. The extended kit is an Amazon or tool shop order. Comes with a nice carrying bag too.
I think either option will work for you, but there will be some adjustments you’ll have to make to the Z axis etc since it’s not the stock Maslow Ridgid recommended unit.
-Jeff
Hey there - the Maximum #054-6810-8 router is $279 right now but hopefully it’ll go on sale again, did you end up using it? – gt
I’m holding off for now, until I actually have a room for a maslow haha.
Ah ok I guess I’ll be a guinea pig then, probably not til things warm up in the Spring tho!
Hi Gord,
I have one of those routers. They do go on sale at least 2x-3x a year for $129 or even $99 if you aren’t in a hurry.
I think I posted this here, but do double check all the components when you get home. I had slop in my rack and pinion that I originally thought was a fauly base but turned out to be a lack of precision in the machining of the rack that was mounted to the router. Canadian Tire did a straight exchange for me on a new one.
I’m using mine mounted in a table at the moment as I haven’t built my Maslow yet. I did see a fellow Canadian member, a young first nations gentleman in the prairies if I recall correctly, who did a build with it and it was working well. There was one thing he needed to do to get the Z-axis adjustment working but I’ve looked for his post a few times and can’t find it (maybe it was a web page I ran across?). I think he said he had to jam something in the mechanism to tighten it up for the adjuster but don’t recall the details. Other than that he had a few project shots up and it looked good.
-Jeff
One other thought - at $279 I’d buy the Ridgid from Home Depot. I believe the kit is a bit cheaper than that and you get a lifetime warranty if you register it within 90 days of purchase (definitely do!). So if you’re moving ahead now, look at the Ridgid option and then it will be stock config for you as that was the default in the design.
-Jeff
Hi Jeff,
I'm Gerald from Boucherville, Québec. I'm looking for a Maslow CNC Kit. Where did you order your's and what is your recomandation since you start few years ago.
Thanks 
Salut Gérald, moi je suis de la région de Trois-Rivières!
(I’ll continue in English so other people on this forum can read). I got my Maslow from MakerMade, they shipped pretty quickly. Plan to pay some duty fees, I had to pay around 60$ for my kit.
The Ridgid router is only really recommended to fit the stock Z-axis, if you’re planning on going without or changing it completely, any router will do.
One not-so-good surprise I got was the price / availability of good router bits here in Québec. I found some good ones from Boomerang Tools at my local Unimat, apparently you can return them for a discount when they wear out, and the were much cheaper then the ones at Home Depot to start with.
Salut Emile,
Puis-je t’écrire directement ? ce serait plus facile.
Je suis de Boucherville, Qc.
yes one of the best routers out there, but it needs a dedicated z axis. We recommend the cbeam ones from bulkman3d.com
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Is there a picture of this setup? I am planning a build this summer with a Mastercraft (Cdn Tire) router and expect to need a dedicated Z axis – gt