Porter Cable Router Question

[Justin Thomas]

Hello everyone. I was hoping you all can help put my mind at ease. My wife is buying me a Porter Cable combo router kit for my birthday. It is the 895PK, but I noticed that my local Lowes has only the 893PK (have not checked on HD yet).

They both look the same (fixed/plunge bases, 12amp, 2.25HP, etc) so what is the difference in them? I'm going to replace a 30+ year old Sears Craftsman router (seems I keep reading about the Sears being the one that's always replaced around here), that's pretty much bit the bullet.

This seems like a cool place with some very knowledgeable people. Thanks for any help and suggestions.

[Al Willits]

Nice to see ya on this forum too... :)

I think the main difference is the micro adjustment knob, something I use when I run my router on a router table, makes height adjustment much easier, and cheaper than the after market adjusters.
Not sure if there's any other difference though.

Usually cheaper as a kit than buying it seperately with out the adjuster.
You have a Rockler or Woodcraft in your area?
I ought mine on sale from Rockler.

Al

[Justin Thomas]

LOL, howdy there stranger.

All I have is Lowes and Home Depot. I think I'll just have to order it online. I might drive by those two places anyways and see if they have it, if not then I'll probably order from CPO or elsewhere.

Does Rockler and/or Woodcraft sell online?

[Paul Greathouse]

Welcome to the Creek, Justin

Rockler and Woodcraft both have online stores. Just search their name with your favorite search engine. Another online option is eBay. Even if you don't buy from them, its a good place to do some price comparison.

You can also check out pricegrabber.com. It's a website that will pull up prices from alot of the major online sellers. It has a unique function, if you input your zipcode it will show your cheapest option from a list of sellers. If there is a long list of sellers with different shipping costs, this function saves some time comparing total cost to you.

In the end you probably won't find a huge difference in the online prices verses the big box stores for that particular router combo but its worth looking anyway. Another plus to buying at one of the big box stores is thier liberal return policy. I've had excellent tool return experiences at both Lowes and HD.

[Al Willits]

Appears they do, I haven't as theres a few in our area, but try the site and see if any are close.

http://www.rockler.com/index.cfm

Al

[Curt Harms]

I understand you're buying a fixed base/plunge combo. The original plunge bases had problems with sticking and not plunging well. Porter Cable recently introduced a new plunge base that looks very much like the one for the DeWalt 618 combo. That plunge base gets fine reviews. I'd make sure I was getting the newer style plunge base, and I'm not sure how to do that. I think the part numbers for the old style plunge base and the new style plunge base are the same (which seems dumb). One way might be to ask if the plunge base has through-the-column dust collection. The old style base used a 1" connection on the base, the new style is through the column. The new style plunge base is pictured below.

The 894 would be my choice if I were buying, right hand picture. The grip vac handle isn't a D handle in that it doesn't have the switch built in, but the dust collection works pretty well as long the the entire opening in the base is covered like dadoing. It doesn't work well for edge work, there's just too much open area and not enough air flow.

HTH

Curt

[Justin Thomas]

I understand you're buying a fixed base/plunge combo. The original plunge bases had problems with sticking and not plunging well. Porter Cable recently introduced a new plunge base that looks very much like the one for the DeWalt 618 combo. That plunge base gets fine reviews. I'd make sure I was getting the newer style plunge base, and I'm not sure how to do that. I think the part numbers for the old style plunge base and the new style plunge base are the same (which seems dumb). One way might be to ask if the plunge base has through-the-column dust collection. The old style base used a 1" connection on the base, the new style is through the column. The new style plunge base is pictured below.

The 894 would be my choice if I were buying, right hand picture. The grip vac handle isn't a D handle in that it doesn't have the switch built in, but the dust collection works pretty well as long the the entire opening in the base is covered like dadoing. It doesn't work well for edge work, there's just too much open area and not enough air flow.

HTH

Curt


I just ordered it from Amazon about 5 minutes ago. Judging by the pics on Amazon, it looks to be the old style base. I planned on getting a refurb, but changed my mind at the last moment. This is brand new and cost about $258 with free shipping. That was cheaper than Lowe's price for the 893PK (which doesn't include the above router table height adjustment).

I'm going to gamble, since you mentioned the plunge base model numbers never changed, and hope mine is with the new base. If not, I'll just return it. I have (knock on wood), had great customer service from Amazon in the past. A few months ago, I bought 30GB MP3 player and returned it in exchange for the 60GB model. No questions asked on their part.

Wish me luck and thanks to all of you for the help and suggestions.

[Justin Thomas]

Update.

Well, the PC came in today. I'm pretty excited about it and hope to fire it up this weekend. Here's a couple of pics.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a243/yesfan70/Woodworking/PorterCableRouter002.jpg?t=1192658762


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a243/yesfan70/Woodworking/PorterCableRouter004.jpg?t=1192658873


Below is the pic I saw when I was looking at this kit from Amazon.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51A5QF91VAL._AA280_.jpg

The plunge base looks to be the new style and both bases have the clear sub base. Now all I need to do is start on a decent bit collection.

I want to thank you all for the advice and suggestions. I think my first project might be a router table. I also want to upgrade the sub in my surround sound setup and might go the DIY route. Home theater is another hobby of mine (I'm better at it than I am woodworking).

Thanks again everyone. :D

[Brian Weick]

Justin, Can't go wrong with PC - I love my 7518 - and you will love yours as well, just be carefull on how much you fall for her, you'll just have to leave it in the shop, your significant other may object to you taking it into the bedroom for the evening ~ :eek: LOL
Nice router! :D
Brian

[Mick Zelaska]

I also had a problem with a sticking plung base on the PC. I solved the problem with a little silicone spray on the rails.

[Gary Keedwell]

I also had a problem with a sticking plung base on the PC. I solved the problem with a little silicone spray on the rails.
Please be careful with the silicone....I have a basement shop and keep my silicone in the garage. :)
Gary

[Al Willits]

Same here with the old base, a little dressing here and there and they work fine, nothing I'd send it back for.
Not a problem for you though with the new style base.

Hang around for awhile, you'll get all the info ya need to build them speakers, maybe another DIY post coming..:)

Next step, a router table....Upgradists has struck again...:D

Al

[Jim Andrew]

Maybe you won't like this post, but I have a couple of those 30 year old Craftsman routers too. Also have 2 - 1 3/4 hp porter cables, but the router I like best is my Hitachi M12V. It has a built in speed control, and runs so much smoother in my router table than the PC's. I have to use a speed controller on the PC's and they lose power when you slow them down.