Old Hitachi M12V bearing finally gave out

[Ole Anderson]

Building my router table a dozen years ago, I went with the big green Hitachi M12V 3.25 hp router (with the matching Woodpeckers lift) when you could get them for around $125. Replaced the VS control once. Recently I was getting some vibration then all of a sudden I noticed it stopped spinning almost immediately when turned off. Pulled it apart and one bearing was almost totally seized up. New ones on order, waiting to get big green running again for $25 in parts. I guess spinning those big panel raising bits will do a number on your bearings after about a hundred panels, plus all the other related routing done on the table in over a dozen years.

[David Eisenhauer]

I remember when the M12 was usually touted as being the "Best Buy" or something to that effect in the 1980's when the WW magazines would do their big router comparison reviews. The 1980's saw the emergence of Japanese power tools for the amateur or home shop market with Hitachi and Makita going head-to-head on most all items. The M12 was said to be the best for use in a router table.

[Judson Green]

its a great router. my first one, after years of use, would flake out and stop running. Seemed like the variable speed control was malfunctioning, i disconnected it and tried running it as a simple on/off router but the problem didn't subside. Got a replacement just before it was discontinued, kept the old one for parts.