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Read more Porter-Cable 690LR 11 Amp Fixed Base Horsepower Router
If you've got a lot of routing experience, you already know that the PC 690 series is pretty much the defacto standard general purpose router.
However, since you're here reading reviews on this router, I'll assume the reader is either looking for their first router, or is perhaps upgrading from a wobbly old hand me down of some sort.
Look no further. You will never regret buying this particular router.
It is the perfect router for general use, and one that no craftsman should be without.
Most first time buyers and upgraders have a tendancy to want the biggest baddest do-all tool they can get, for fear that they may get stuck on a project someday without enough power.
This router isn't the first choice for spinning large panel raising bits. It CAN do it if it absolutely needs to (with several gradual repeated passes). And it's not going to rip through ebony with a big bit the way a router with twice the power might.
But what it will do is everything else - and do it very well.
One problem with larger routers is weight. You'll hear that mentioned a lot, and probably think "yeah, but I'm pretty strong, I don't care how much it weighs". However, whether your built like Arnold or Pee Wee Herman, a lighter router like this gives you much better feel and feedback, which gives you better control. Think of it like a pencil. If you're going to sketch a detailed drawing, a lightweight pencil will give you better results than a heavy lead pen, regardless of your strength.
Another consideration with this router is the tools popularity. Even your grandchildren will have no problem finding accessories and/or replacement parts for this tool by the time it gets passed down to them. You certainly won't have any trouble.
But then there's the case... Why must manufacturers make a great tool and give it such a )#(*$)#(*$ 10 cent plastic home? The case is enough to house JUST the router and its wrenches. It's so tight you can't even fit the instruction manual back in without sitting on the case to close it.
AND - the case's handle is on the top half of the clamshell style case. If that plastic (finger hurting) snap latch ever decides to let go while you're carrying it, you'll be glad that you COULDN'T fit anything but the router in there.
I find this situation so annoying that I had to mark the router with 4 stars instead of 5. The router itself is a 5 - but the case brings it down. I'd be happy if they just gave you a spot for two or three of your favorite bits, but you don't even get that. (this may not matter if you do all your work in your shop - but I do most of my work on site)
And finally - complaints you see here regarding the the power switch. Don't worry about it.
Is a trigger switch safer? Maybe, maybe not. You can get that on the d-handle base if you want it. But - and this is especially important if you're new to routers - the top mounted switch almost forces you to use the tool properly. You really have to think about what you're doing, and it will keep you from doing something stupid the way you might with the ease of a trigger switch. (like starting the motor while you're bit's too close to the wood).
I personally think it's MUCH better to learn with a router like this and then try a trigger later once you've developed the habits for proper router use.
To sum up - if you're new to routing, this router's simple no frills design will make you a better wood worker. This isn't a tool you have to "settle" on and upgrade later. This will most likely remain your go-to router, no matter how advanced you get.
When you use it a few times, you'll then understand why getting that 3 horse behemoth plunge router with all sorts of bells and whistles first would have only made you miserable. They have their place, but that place is AFTER you get a good solid general use router like this one for handling 95% of the tasks you'll ACTUALLY need it for.
(and certainly check out the various configurations of this router - the plunge base, and d-handle are good options to have, but if you're keeping it cheap for now - you really can't go wrong with this basic model, buying the other bases in the future).
Of course if you plan on mounting this thing on a router table and leaving it there - THEN I'd say go for the most horsepower you can get - otherwise - this router can't be beat.
I have several Pc 690 routers. All of which are genuine Porter Cable. This is the first 690 I have bought since Dewalt purchased PorterCable/Delta. This is a single speed fixed base router rated at 1.75 h.p.
Upon handling and unpacking the router I notoiced that the instruction manual was a foldup sheet typical of Dewalt versus the book that you used to get with Pc tools. The handle grips are slightly different and rubber coated which is fine.
Upon inserting a bit and starting the router I immediatly noticed that the router was very smooth. Very pleasant to use.
The base is shaped slightly different than the other 690's I have and has a lever release which functions well. However it appears that this base does not have the retention groove to keep the router motor from turning all the way out of and falling free when it is inverted in a router table. My other 690 bases do.
Overall I am very pleased and would purchase again.
It's a great basic router. It works great. I bought a clear base seperately though because it's hard to see your work with the black one supplied.
This is a great router but I should have ordered the part number that gets you the router plus the hard case.
What can I say? When buying routers, you can't go wrong with Porter Cable. It works like a dream, which I knew it would. I love the "cinch" style locking device for the base height adjustment as opposed to the screw type...much easier. Nothing to do with the router itself, but the price on Amazon.com was great...$119.00, and the shipping was super fast. Very pleased with everything.
Have only used it once, but like it very much. Most of my power tools are Porter-Cabe
Bought my first Rockwell router in 1974. I own 3 of these and have jigs made to accept the base, and many specialized bases to fit this router. It's more efficient for me to set up a router and leave it for a designated job. When I'm doing a run I can have as many as 5 different routers set up. This PC has a different base lock that seems to work very easily, along with the newer style chuck that makes for easy bit removal.
This router is awesome! I am hooked on buying tools via Amazon because I got a real Porter Cable router for a great price. The router is solid, has worked perfectly for me thus far, and is really smooth. You can tell it's a quality tool just by the sound of it and the silky feel. Really, nothing else to report, and I think that's how it should be for a tool like a router. It just works every time, plain and simple.
I needed a couple of routers to go with my Leigh dovetail jig and these were the most inexpensive good name routers I could find. I bought 2 of them and set one up for tails and one for pins and just leave them set up for that one task. They perform flawlessly and now I can just grab them and know they will give me a perfect joint every time.
Being a do-it-yourself homeowner, over the years I've owned many tools. However, until purchasing this Porter Cable 690LR router, I had never owned a router before. I had always wanted one but could never justify making a purchase. Heck, my idea of fine woodworking usually entailed 2x4's, wood screws, and glue. But there came a day recently when I decided to take on the project of making cabinets for my kitchen. For this project a router was an absolutely essential piece of equipment for making dovetail and dato joints in hardwood and hardwood plywood. It was also necessary for decorative finishing like chamfering and rounding edges, etc.
After doing some research, (after all I knew nothing about routers), I decided to take a chance on this Porter Cable product. From the reviews, it seemed like a solid product, so why not? After receiving it from Amazon, I was very impressed with the quality of the tool. It was very simple and well made. It came with both a 1/4" and a 1/2" bit collar to hold either 1/4" or 1/2" shaft size bits. It also came with two stamped steel wrenches used to tighten the nut on the collar to the nut located on the bottom of the motor part of the assembly. When tightened, these two nuts securely hold the bit in the router. It has a fixed aluminum base which has two handles, a built-in clamping mechanism, and a plastic screw-on bottom plate that allows the base to smoothly glide over wood. It also has a top assembly which includes the motor, on/off switch, and on the bottom the part that the base slides and rotates over. If you don't know about routers like I didn't, fixed base routers cut at fixed depth as opposed to plunge routers which can plunge into the work for applications like making letters in wood signs, etc. However, cut depth on fixed base routers like this PC 690LR is completely adjustable with an infinite amount of settings within its range of depth. It adjusts by releasing the easy to use clamping mechanism on the base by and rotating the base relative to the top.
For routers, as long as your router has enough power for your application, and this one absolutely did for mine, accuracy and ease of cutting depth adjustment is THE most important aspect of fine router woodworking in projects like making cabinets, etc. With this PC 690LR router's accurate turning and clamping mechanism, I would have to say that depth adjustments of less that 1/64th of an inch and perhaps less than 1/128th of an inch are absolutely possible. I was very impressed with the extreme accuracy of depth adjustment obtainable with very little effort in this tool. Needless to say, the dovetail joints fit perfectly together and dato joints were cut excellently-very tight with no variations.
The base on this router has a black band on its top that you can see in the pictures. It is a rotatable dial graduated in 1/64th of an inch increments designed as a reference guide to allow for changes in depth adjustment.
This router does not have a variable rotation speed setting-rotation speed is fixed at 27,000 RPM. You can easily attach this router to a factory made router table or, as I did, to a make-shift router table made of plywood and set on top of my table saw base stand. This is accomplished by removing the three screws that hold the plastic base plate onto the aluminum base, removing the plastic base plate, and by using the same 3 screws or 3 longer screws to fasten the aluminum base of the router to the bottom side of the router table top. (To more easily accomplish this and other things like tightening the nuts, the aluminum base of the router easily detaches from the top motor assembly after the clamping mechanism is quickly loosened.)
To cut 1/2" dovetail joints you will need to purchase a 7/16th" router template guide bushing adapter that fits into the bottom of the plastic base. This will slide into the 7/16th" template guide that you will use in a dovetail machine or by itself (I used only the template guide screwed to a 2x6 as I didn't want to spend the big bucks for an official machine) to cut 1/2" dovetails.
To sum it all up, this is a terrific router because of its quality, accuracy, and easy to use features. It is well worth the money Amazon is asking for it. You may find cheaper and for that matter, more expensive routers on the market that I know will not work better and many probably not nearly as well. But if fixed base router applications are in your future, this is the router to get.
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