Requiem for a Router

It was supposed to be a quick, one-day project:  a cargo organizer for the back of my wife Julie’s new Mazda 3 hatchback.  I cut the pieces from my last 1/2-inch maple board, left over from the bedroom set and milled box joints at the corners.  Now I needed a stopped groove near lower edge of each piece to hold a plywood bottom.

Simplicity itself, right?  I chucked my 15/64″ (undersized 1/4″ plywood) straight bit into my trusty Porter-Cable 690, set the fence, and started routing.  Then, maybe 3/4 of an inch from the end of the second piece, disaster struck.  The solid carbide bit had snapped (too much feed pressure, maybe?).   When I picked up the router to change bits, though, the router made rattling noises and chunks of black plastic started falling out of it.  So did the broken-off part of the bit.

The motor is completely dead.  I guess in addition to destroying the fan the bit shard also damaged some vital wiring.

This made for a sad evening, of course.  I bought that router in 1992 because the Skil plunge router I’d been using was just not up to table mounting  (or plunging straight down consistently, or using industry standard accessories) and had only a 1/4-inch collet, which was machined onto the end of the motor shaft.  The 690, with its rigid stance and easy, spiral height adjustment and multiple collet sizes and smooth operation, was a joy to use.  It’s also the Chevy Van of routers — everybody’s accessories fit it.

It is quite common, order generic cialis http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/08/23/amerikan-medyasinda-kaddafi-kaosu/ so don’t take it lightly when Norton Antivirus reports that it has blocked an attempt to install a program on my system. Exercise improves joint function in patients levitra 60 mg with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. That is the levitra for sale online reason, this type of medicine is called generic medicine. Relationship problems Posing serious challenges to the relationship Facilitate a discovery process in which both individual and shared goals are identified Promote intimacy by creating a safe space for communication Aid in re-establishing trust after crisis Reconnect clients with positive foundational relationship beliefs Provide support in the deconstruction of old, dysfunctional beliefs and the female viagra for sale subsequent embracing of new shared truths Identify and deepen understanding of emotional triggers,. The day I brought my 690 router home I put the Skil router in a box and it’s been there ever since.  Within a few years I bought the D-handle base and the plunge base to go with it.  I used that router for everything — joinery, pattern routing, straightening rough edges, trimming laminate, you name it.  Newer, sexier models came out with more horsepower, variable speed, soft start, but I wasn’t even tempted.  Eventually I did buy a DeWalt laminate trimmer for small hand-held use, but the 690 remained my workhorse.  Behind the table saw, it was the second most-used power tool in my shop.

And now, it’s gone.

Well, not completely.  I still have the dead motor; I’m too sentimental to throw it away right away.  I also have a new router, courtesy of Amazon Prime.  The next big project for me involves using a 3-1/2″ wide panel-raising bit, which the 690 could not have handled anyway, so instead of buying another 690 motor (easy to find) I got its big brother, a Porter Cable 890.  It’s 2-1/4hp, variable speed, soft starting, and — this was the main reason I picked it — it fits all of the PC690 bases and accessories.  The mounting screws are even in exactly the same pattern, so I could attach its base in place of the 690’s and use the new router in my table immediately.  Using the 890 base, it has a very nice microadjust mechanism that, by drilling an extra hole, can be used from above the table to fine-adjust bit height.  People pay $400 for router lifts to do that, and I got it as a $20 accessory.

I could still get another 690 motor, but I really don’t need it at this point.  The 890 can do everything the 690 did and then some; it’s just heavier and taller.  For handheld jobs with 1/4-inch shank bits, I have a DeWalt DW611PK compact router with fixed and plunge bases (a Christmas present to myself that I’ve been very happy with).  How many routers does one workshop really need?

 

No Responses to “Requiem for a Router”