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I recently got a makita RP2301FC plunge router. I'm a hobbyist and this is my first router. Today I tried using it for the first time when i noticed the straight guide isn't straight. When I push it against anything straight (a wood piece, a ruler, a straight edge) it has some room to wiggle and I can see between the wood and the guide.

Is the guide broken or is it expected/fixable?

Edit: Here's a picture of the guide: https://ibb.co/hHMGJzc

enter image description here

In the picture, I push the top part towards the piece of wood and the circled gap is what bothers me.

gnicko
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NirIzr
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    By "straight guide" do you mean the fence? The fence should most definitely be straight. Within limits a fence that is slightly hollow can work OK (just OK, not ideally) but if it's bowed outwards, toward the bit, even a little bit it won't work. – Graphus Dec 17 '21 at 23:34
  • @Graphus I uploaded a picture so the issue (and the accessory) is clearer – NirIzr Dec 18 '21 at 05:08
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    Have you taken the plastic off to see if there's any flashing/gunk that's bulging it out? Between that and a bit of shimming, you'll be able to make the guide dead straight as it should be. – Aloysius Defenestrate Dec 18 '21 at 15:41
  • I have not. Since i got this from Amazon I'm gonna try asking for a replacement before I try fixing it myself and accidentally damaging it. I just wanted to make sure it's an issue and not adjustable or some odd design feature. Thanks! – NirIzr Dec 18 '21 at 16:42
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    I would check if this can be put right easily, just a matter of simple adjustment, now that you know it's not the way it should be. But if it's so finicky it's this easy to have it installed wrong that wouldn't give me confidence in it long-term. Replacement or not I'd suggest you look at installing your own wood fence lining, for easy wood-on-wood sliding (as was and still is commonly done with the metal fences on rebate and grooving planes). – Graphus Dec 19 '21 at 09:32
  • Thanks. I'll try fidgeting with it myself later today. You guys are right it might be a simple solution. Regarding quality and confidence - This thing is quite expensive and comes from a well known company, I was hoping to get something proper because I don't have too much confidence in myself either :) – NirIzr Dec 19 '21 at 10:06
  • I removed the plastic pieces and the metal itself is uneven. I'm not quite sure how to fix this and guarantee it's straight :-x – NirIzr Dec 19 '21 at 17:37
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    Makita's quality has been slipping for years apparently (as has that of almost all power-tool companies.... not to single out Makita this includes Bosch). And just to repeat what is now firmly a Rule: cost is no assurance of quality. It is (or should be) more likely you'll get a good tool/piece of equipment at a higher price point, but there's no telling when a lemon gets through QC. And it only takes a single faulty part to ruin an otherwise sound piece of equipment..... cue comparisons with computers, which can far too frequently have one faulty stick of RAM while everything else is sound. – Graphus Dec 19 '21 at 19:22
  • Given you’ve had a look, I’d just have Amazon replace it. I’m the same as you, I’ll buy a tool so that I don’t have to worry about the tool when I have not built the skill to perhaps build or indeed fettle my own yet. – JJO Canada Dec 19 '21 at 17:48
  • @Graphus if you don't mind me asking, which well-known brands have not been "slipping" in quality? – NirIzr Dec 20 '21 at 16:33
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    Oh that's a thorny issue because of the fanboy effect. Fans of a given brand can skew the perception of apparent quality (same as undeserved high scores on IMDb) which is very much the problem with Dremel for example, whose products aren't a patch on what they were a couple of decades ago (and more so further back, when they were really built to last as was almost everything). Anyway in terms of small power tools, it's really hard to single out a single producer who hasn't cheaped out in some way, including Festool O_O Few would argue that Festool's products aren't top-drawer [contd] – Graphus Dec 20 '21 at 18:59
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    ...and while their products do continue to be very good to excellent (and sometimes class-leading) teardowns and occasional breakdown reports point to some of the internal components being a little less stellar than you'd expect given what you pay for one. Anyway, don't want to rag on Festool because this is exactly what almost every maker is also guilty of.... just moreso. It's not just the spread of plastic or light-metal gears where previously these were exclusively steel, even the plastic of the casings isn't what it was compared to as recently as the 80s/90s, which I think is just sad. – Graphus Dec 20 '21 at 19:08
  • Oh yes. I'm aware of the fanboyish nature of brand endorsement. I'm browsing for opinions though. I've been looking at dewalt, makita and milwaukee for cordless tools but I've got no clue... – NirIzr Dec 20 '21 at 22:00
  • If you're interested, I just came across a good specific example for you about quality issues where you'd imagine that price would be an assurance of reliability — the Mirka Deros sander. Over here this averages a rather eye-watering £400 O_O – Graphus Jan 24 '22 at 15:06

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Yes the fence should be completely straight.

It needs to be straight to work properly. A slight hollow is just about acceptable (although undesirable) but if it's bowed toward the bit, even a little bit, it won't work right because the router can rock a little over the 'high' spot, altering the distance between the edge of the workpiece and the bit1.

From the Comments:

I removed the plastic pieces and the metal itself is uneven

This is definitely a replacement issue then IMO. One can fix this (since aluminium is easily filed or sanded, or you could shim the gap out2) but the bottom line is you shouldn't have to because the fence casting should have an absolutely straight edge.

1 A discrepancy of 0.3mm (~1/64th") is enough to cause issues, perhaps even a little less than this.

2 Ironically slivers of aluminium drinking cans make good shim stock.

Graphus
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  • Thank you for the detailed answer! It seems the two metal faces aren't parallel. One is slightly facing outwards. If i understood correctly - this is what you'd call acceptable? I'm waiting on a response from Makita monday, hope they'll send a replacement – NirIzr Dec 19 '21 at 19:48
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    Just to chime in and say that un-parallel faces are completely unacceptable. – Aloysius Defenestrate Dec 19 '21 at 19:50
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    No no, this is not acceptable since it amounts to something like the same situation that a bow would cause (you can rock into that gap, thereby slightly decreasing the bit-to-edge spacing). – Graphus Dec 19 '21 at 19:51
  • Gotcha! Thank you so much! – NirIzr Dec 19 '21 at 19:53
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    Made a mistake in the previous Comment here — if you rock into the gap the distance from bit to edge increases, not decreases. Just wanted to make a point of correcting that because it's hard enough keeping straight in one's head which way this sort of thing works (hence my own mistake) without erroneous info throwing in a curve ball :-) – Graphus Dec 20 '21 at 19:13