The review of this router was interesting to me because I have had this router
for about three weeks and my impressions of it are substantially different than
Gregs. My impressions are so different that when I started reading his review I
wondered whether Tool Crib may have sent him a Kitchen Aid blender by mistake.
If I were Greg, I would send that router back. It must have been assembled on
Monday morning by an employee suffering a hangover from a weekend long party.
I have only been doing woodworking for a few years am not an expert with
routers or woodworking. I had a low end router that I mainly used in a table.
I wanted something more accurate and I also wanted above the table height
adjustment. I looked at the Bosch routers and was very impressed but they did
not have the above table height adjustment. The Milwaukee did have the
adjustment but still I would have to reach under the table to release the router
before making the adjustment. The Porter Cable seemed to have everything I
wanted. It was only a few dollars more than the Milwaukee and it came with two
bases. I have actually used the router and have it mounted in my table. I'll
go through Greg's review and add my comments below.
Greg G. wrote:
:: Well, my errant finger pressed the order button on a new Porter Cable
:: 895PK router kit last week, sight unseen. The UPS man delivered it
:: today and I'm a little sorry now that I didn't wait to see one of
:: these in person. Perhaps it's me, but this thing comes off as a
:: quickly designed and assembled collection of cheaply cast Chinese
:: aluminum, replete with peeling labels and plastic parts. The box
:: proudly proclaims, "Made in the USA of US and Imported parts." I get
:: the definite impression that most all the parts are coming from an
:: offshore Chinese factory. I even considered the possibility that
:: perhaps Tool-Crib was selling clone knock-offs of the real thing...
:: I'm used to the substance and feel of the venerable 690 series
:: routers, with well machined collets, heavy duty steel locking levers
:: and the substantial thickness of the housings.
I am familiar with the 690 series and I don't feel that the 890 series has a
thinner thickness on the housings I went to Home Depot today and looked at a 690
and I did not see a difference in thickness. The collets seem to be the same
for both models.
:: To save anyone else from the shock of opening that box for the first
:: time, I am posting a few 'first impressions'. I'll follow up with a
:: more detailed review of the unit's actual performance at a later
:: date. (Read - when it's not 32F in the shop!)
::
:: Overall impressions
:: ---------------------------------------------
:: Packaging/Unit in General:
:: ---------------------------------------------
:: Upon opening the huge blow molded case, I was shocked to find a
:: variety of labels laying throughout the case. Most of the labels
:: refuse to stick to the router, and either fell off in shipping, or
:: are peeling off as I write this. Even the 1/32"/rev marker label on
:: the plunge router base stop adjustment screw peeled off. Some of the
:: label fonts (i.e. The Motor ID label) look like they were printed
:: with a dot matrix printer. The collets are of poor quality, at
:: least in comparison to the older PC models, and the machine work is
:: obviously offshore. The collet wrench is soft stamped steel, again,
:: offshore. The black blow molded case(s) is/are a two piece design,
:: each with storage for five 1/2" and five 1/4" bits and the collets,
:: as well as template guides, collet wrench and height adjustment rod.
:: They can be separated into two identical units, each with storage
:: for the appropriate base. Each case may be used as a router
:: pedestal, with knockouts on the bottom for standing the router
:: upright with a bit installed. The top and bottom are not hinged but
:: are of a clamshell design, being held together with metal flip-
:: clasps.
::
All of the labels on mine were properly attached. None were loose. The Main
Porter Cable label is slightly crooked. The collet wrench is of poor quality.
:: Fixed Base:
:: ---------------------
:: Although the various angles on the base are very rounded, the finish
:: of the sand castings is very consistent, and the forms used were
:: smoothed well before production, the housings on this base are
:: extremely thin wall, and the router body locking lever is very thin
:: aluminum - I thought it would crack the first time I engaged it. The
:: actuating clamp tangs are so thin that after just a couple of
:: operations, the aluminum is coming off in slivers. Additionally, the
:: lever just flops around in the base. The height adjustment worm
:: appears to be metal, as is the rack on the router body. - but the
:: worm has just one thread of engagement, and is rather sloppy at
:: that. The base plate is clear plastic, but I'm unsure whether it is
:: styrene or polycarbonate. Unfortunately, it is filled with open
:: ribs and valleys that catch every piece of debris that falls -
:: making the clear base impossible to see through when used upright.
:: You cannot use a template guide with this base plate. The hand hold
:: knobs are reasonably well formed, although they strongly emit the
:: most peculiar odor... The router collet locking pin is hardened
:: steel and may be actuated automatically by a movable tang, which
:: engages at full router depth. This behavior may be overridden by
:: moving the tang. The tang is metal, but sloppy in fit, and hard to
:: move reliably. You may also press the collet lock pin with a
:: finger. The macro-adjustment release lever is plastic and spring
:: loaded, but seems to operate smoothly. My biggest complaint about
:: this base is that it is designed, as supplied, solely for use in a
:: router table. And therein lies the rub. The router body release
:: lever and the micro adjustment are tiny 3/16" hex headed shafts of
:: soft metal which show signs of wear after a couple of operations.
:: The included adjustment shaft is hardened steel, with a large
:: plastic knob and plastic depth adjustment scale. The biggest
:: problem with this arrangement is that, although you can lock and
:: unlock the router body and make fine adjustments from above the
:: router table, major changes still require access to the macro-
:: release tang on the base body - requiring you to reach inside the
:: router table dust collection box to access the lever from
:: underneath. You could conceivably twist on the micro-adjustment,
:: but at 1/8" per revolution, it could take a while, additionally
:: accelerating the wear of the shafts mentioned previously. See also: comments
concerning the power switch in the router motor evaluation.
::
The housings are different than the 690 series. They are not as smooth and
Porter Cable may have saved some money here but the machining is excellent. I
don't care if my tools are "pretty". I want them to be reliable, accurate,
consistent and safe. Others may feel differently. I don't feel the locking
lever is too thin and I can not see how it could ever break unless the router
was dropped. The height adjustment works flawlessly in a table and is not at
all sloppy. The odor from the hand knobs reinforces my employee hangover theory
because mine do not emit any odor at all. The collet locking part is somewhat
sloppy in its fit but it does work very well on the fixed base. The adjustment
shafts are not made of soft metal. They are diffinately hardened. They work
well above the table. I can unlock the router and then use my electric
screwdriver with a 3/16" socket to raise the router quickly. The supplied tool
to make small adjustments works very well.
:: Plunge Base:
:: ---------------------
:: Fortunately, there is more to like here - barely. The castings are,
:: again, very smooth, but considerably more substantial in mass. The
:: hand grips are identical to the fixed base grips - replete with the
:: same strange odor... The same collet lock pin actuator is present,
:: just as sloppy, but slightly easier to actuate. The labels on this
:: body are applied haphazardly as well as on the others - the PC label
:: on front is canted by about 10 degrees. That is, until it falls off
:: like the others have.
::
:: The plunge stop has 3 adjustable stops - two with allen head screws
:: and hex stop nuts, and one thumbscrew adjustment with 32 TPI. The
:: adjustment rate label for this stop peeled off and will not stay on.
:: That gives a total of four (4) stops, including the default - which
:: is the router base itself. The stop rod is an aluminum sleeve with a
:: soft steel turret which rotates inside. It is movable with a
:: thumb/finger while holding the grips. There is a movable plastic
:: hairline(?!) marker that locks with a thumbscrew. Amazingly,
:: however, you cannot see the scale label (also peeling) through the
:: translucent plastic of the hairline! What on earth were they
:: thinking with THIS idea? Additionally, the distance between the
:: hairline (more of a blunt felt tip line than a hairline) and the
:: scale is about 1/4" - leading to parallax errors. That is, IF your
:: could even SEE the scale!
::
:: The router body latch is more like the familiar metal design on the
:: 690 series - all steel with a nut adjustment for clamp pressure. The
:: router sub-base is also the more familiar PC design, with a ledge for
:: using PC template guides. There is a clear plastic dust shield over
:: this, with a non-removable 1" OD (~3/4" ID) vacuum port for dust
:: collection present on the body itself. The spring loaded plunge base
:: has a spring loaded lever for height adjustments, and can be locked
:: into the released position for free plunge operations. I was amazed
:: to find that the router bit height can be changed as much as 1/8" by
:: pressing gently on the router grips while the plunge is locked. This
:: should make precision depth routing quite an interesting and
:: improbable experience. The plunge guide rods appear to be hardened
:: steel and the base does have bronze bushings riding on them - for all
:: the good it does. It turns out that only ONE of the guides is bushed
:: with sintered bronze, the other is plastic, which accounts for the
:: flex and bit movement.
The collet lock on my plunge base does not work. The router does not go down
far enough to activate the lock. I doubt I would use the lock on this base
anyway but it is a flaw. I have no problem seeing the scale through the plastic
and my 58 year old eyes are not what they used to be. However, it could be
better. I usually use setup bars on a plunge base anyway and never look at the
scale on the router. The next point is probably the most serious problem Greg
found in his review. He was able to change the bit height by pressing on the
router grips. I have tried to duplicate this but I can not. I tried pushing
everyway I could on the plunge base and the depth of the cut stayed the same.
There is no flex in mine and it is much smoother than the 690 series plunge
base. I can not see how his got through any type of quality control with a
defect like this. The router also has power to spare and runs very smooth and
quiet.
:: Router Motor
:: -------------------------
:: The router motor itself is fairly quite, and has variable speed
:: (~10,000 - 23,000 RPM) and soft-start. The soft-start feature is
:: slightly disconcerting, however, as it comes up to speed somewhat
:: irregularly - sort of pulsing rather than smoothly. I was totally
:: appalled to find that the motor fields and rotor are NOT varnish
:: dipped or pressure impregnated - a must for a high speed motor - and
:: that the 6004RS bearings are made in China!
::
:: The imported, non-detachable power cord is sufficiently long at 10
:: feet, and has a rubberized strain relief 3" long at the motor
:: housing.
::
:: The top power switch is relatively easy to operate, and shuts the
:: router off when set upside down on a flat surface while running (who
:: the hell does THAT?), but the lower switch is simply a plastic
:: mechanical slide that links to the upper switch and is quite
:: difficult to operate from the hole in the fixed router base. It is
:: completely unusable in the plunge base (great planning, guys!).
:: This same plastic slide is also what 'locks' the collet pin from
:: engaging while the power is applied. I can guarantee that running
:: the router up to max height while the switch is ON WILL break this
:: slide. This means that using the auto collet lock in a router table
:: combined with a remote power switch is problematic.
I don't know much about motors and nothing about varish or pressure impregnated
windings. If someone can explain the need for this to me, I would appreciate
it. I have never used a router at full plunge depth and I can see no situation
where I would need to. The slide could possibly break if this occured and the
auto lock was turned on. It is easily turned off. Since the collet lock does
not work on the plunge base, I don't think I will be too concerned with this.
:: Overall
:: ----------------
:: I'm not sure whether I will actually use thing or return it - but I
:: DO know that it makes my WELL used army green $65.00 B&D RP200 look
:: pretty good in comparison - dual bronze bushings on the plunge rods,
:: no discernable play in the plunge mech, easy to operate power switch
:: on the handle, good balance, and built in dust collection. It's main
:: problems are low power and a 1/4" collet.
::
:: It has been my experience that Chinese ball bearings don't hold up,
:: and that varnishing the windings in a high speed motor is mandatory.
::
:: I bought this because it was supposedly Made In USA / PC quality -
:: but it's not like anything I am familiar with. It is an assemblage
:: of Chinese pot metal and cheap labor, and I fear the only thing Made
:: In USA was the marketing department and the placement of the handles
:: and knobs on the router bases.
::
:: The included CD is a mix of heavy marketing propaganda and a couple
:: of extremely basic plans from Canadian based Oak Park Enterprises,
:: LTD.
www.oak-park.com
::
:: 101 - Heart Frame
:: 102 - Book Ends (Incorrectly Identified as a Dovetail Book Stand)
:: 103 - Magic Boxes
::
:: Also included is a series of hokey video clips that demonstrate
:: building a very simplistic benchtop router table from the 'stars' of
:: Public Television's 'The Router Workshop' - sponsored by?
:: You guessed it, Porter Cable.
::
:: Form your own conclusions...
::
:: Greg G.
That made in the USA is a label I used to look for all the time. I kept buying
American made cars when everyone was telling me that they were junk. After my
wife got a foreign car, I realized that what everyone was telling me was right.
My American made car can not compare to her car. I really hate to admit this.
I think The Chinese have made tremendous improvements in quality control over
the last ten years and Made in China may not be so bad anymore. I don't know
what parts of this router were made in the USA. I would not describe it as made
of "Chinese pot metal and cheap labor". It's becoming a global economy whether
we want it to or not and we need to accept this change. I had no problem running
the CD but its content was not anything special.
I appreciate the time Greg took to do his review but I think that anyone
interested in a new router should take a look at this one and draw your own
conclusions. It has its faults and good points like any other product.
I would also like to thank everyone on this newsgroup for all of the excellent
answers to questions and the never ending humor that is always present here. I
think woodworkers have been blessed with more common sense and humor than the
rest of the population. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas
Neal