Great router find

[Steven Triggs]

I was at sears today and found the Craftsman 17543 router kit with fixed and plunge bases. It comes with the motor, the two bases, a nice case, and a cheap, but useable, edge guide.

Having looked it over pretty carefully, I'm convinced it is made by PC and is like the 890 series. The motor isn't quite as strong, it is listed as 2HP-11amp, instead of 2.25HP-12amp. However, they appear to be the same mechanically.

The Craftsman kit is $109.99, and I was able to get 15% off of that because of a sale they are having today (I don't know when the sale expires).

If this is in fact comperable to the PC 890 series (which sells for around $240 on Amazon, what a deal!

In case interested:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Portable+Power+Tools&pid=00917543000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Routers+%26+Laminate+Trimmers&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

[Corey Hallagan]

I have been told it's kind of a hybrid of PC and Black and Decker parts all into one router. Pretty good price.

Corey

[Brad Townsend]

Thanks for the heads-up Steven. If it is comparable to the 890 kit I have owned for two years now, you paid about what it's worth. I suspect however that your plunge base works better than mine and therefore, it's a pretty good deal.;)

[Steven Triggs]

Thanks for the heads-up Steven. If it is comparable to the 890 kit I have owned for two years now, you paid about what it's worth. I suspect however that your plunge base works better than mine and therefore, it's a pretty good deal.;)

Oh, wow.:( I thought the 890 series was considered to be very good. Now you've got me worried. What problems/complaints have you had with it?

[Corey Hallagan]

Steven, their have been lots of problems with the 890 series plunge base and some of them were recalled.

From PC (This was back in March) Porter Cable has recently pulled their router bases from the supplier delivering sub standard quality and has moved them to another supplier whose components should start shipping on our products within the next two months. In fact, we have thrown the tooling for the plunge base in the trash and have redesigned and retooled a totally different product to address the quality issues with that item. Additionally, the screws on the sub base can be relaxed to reduce the flex on the sub base - in some cases, they are over-tightened to the point that the plastic actually puckers toward the base near the screw holes and away from the edges of the sub base (concave). The .025” could easily have been the resulting effect.

If yours is ok Steve I wouldn't worry about it but some guys had very bad problems with them. So that is why the 890 series get's mixed review. The 690 series is a classic. As far as I know Steve, that Craftsman set up has been trouble free... it's a good price and like I said, made for Craftsman from the B & D/PC collective parts bin. It's a good value I think.


Corey

[Brad Townsend]

Oh, wow.:( I thought the 890 series was considered to be very good. Now you've got me worried. What problems/complaints have you had with it?
What Corey said.:)

Personally, the plunge action on mine is very stiff and tends to bind. Others have complained of the base action racking from side to side as well, though I have not experienced it with mine. My 890 motor is now mounted in the table, where it does fine. My hand routing is done with a DW618. In spite of some cosmetic resemblence, your Craftsman plunge base could be very different from the 890 on the inside and work just fine. Anyway, for that price, you can't go too far wrong. Would be interested in a review after you have had a chance to play with it.