Router motor

[Greg Hines, MD]

It seems like there are hundreds of posts about router table motors. Just a quick addition to say that Woodcraft has the Portamate 3 1/4hp motor on sale for $130. I did have to have them find it on their website to get the discounted price.

Doc.

[Ben Rivel]

Wow, that's $170 LESS than the industry standard Porter Cable 7518! Sounds way too good to be true. Any one owned one of these motors for years and can comment as to how it held up?

[Matt Day]

31% of the Amazon reviews give it 1 star. Sounds iffy to me.

[Greg Parrish]

I just bought the PC one a month or so back and when I questioned them about the PM one they indicated smaller bearings, less bearings, less weight/mass, etc. didn't say it was bad just that it wasn't built to same level as the PC. That said, I'm sure it would work okay in most setups.

[Bill Graham]

It looks like Woodcraft is no longer carrying the router and was selling off stock: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/portamate-pm-p254-3-1-4-hp-variable-speed-router-motor




(https://www.woodcraft.com/products/portamate-pm-p254-3-1-4-hp-variable-speed-router-motor)

[Curt Harms]

MLCS sells what the probably the same motor.
https://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/u-turn-lift.html#router_motor_anchor
At $219, I don't know that it's worth the risk though.

[John Sanford]

Jessem has just come out with a similar motor that appears to be single speed, with a SEPARATE switch box AND speed controller setup. This allows you to mount the controls where it's convenient for you, rather than having to fart around under the router table to change speed.

Details here: http://www.jessem.com/pow-r-tek-motor.html

[Matt Day]

That’s a slick setup John, but at $350 it’s quite a bit more expensive than the motor the OP posted.

[Nick Decker]

My take: The PortaMate is a lot cheaper, and untested over any length of time, like the big Porter Cable of old. The big Porter Cable now, according to numerous reports) is prone to problems with its speed controller. Jessem may be moving in the right direction by offering a large motor with a separate speed controller, but the motor seems to be the same aforementioned (untested) PortaMate.

Looks like a crap shoot to me.

[Greg Parrish]

My take: The PortaMate is a lot cheaper, and untested over any length of time, like the big Porter Cable of old. The big Porter Cable now, according to numerous reports) is prone to problems with its speed controller. Jessem may be moving in the right direction by offering a large motor with a separate speed controller, but the motor seems to be the same aforementioned (untested) PortaMate.

Looks like a crap shoot to me.

I liked the concept of the Jessem setup but wasn't sure how it would compare. For some reason I think I read that the motor was a Mikwaukee router though.

[George Bokros]

I liked the concept of the Jessem setup but wasn't sure how it would compare. For some reason I think I read that the motor was a Mikwaukee router though.

If it is a Milwaukee motor it should be a horse.

[Nick Decker]

I liked the concept of the Jessem setup but wasn't sure how it would compare. For some reason I think I read that the motor was a Mikwaukee router though.

There appears to be some truth to that. I sent an email to Jessem and received this response a few minutes ago:

"Our router is manufactured in China but we certainly looked at the PortaMate router however this router was designed here in house using specs from when we had a partnership with Milwaukee years ago."