Porter-Cable 690 router quality?
Houghton123
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
Thinking about getting another P-C 690 router – yes, I know the design is primitive, but one of my routers is a mid-50s P-C Model 100 still going strong after 50+ years, and I like durable tools. Any sense of whether the new ones are still holding up as to quality?
Replies
The 690 is still a great workhorse.
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It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Great working tool but needs a better accessed switch for easy turnoff.
Theres always the 690D with it's handle mounted switch.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
I liked my old B&D with the switch on top, so you could set it down and it would turn off. I don't like holding the 690 with one hand and trying to switch it on or off.
For all around routing I prefer the 690. I switched a few of mine over to D-handles for the convenience of the switch at my finger tips.
Doug
I'm not sure if the newer ones are even made in the US, but my 690 is about 14 years old and is still going as strong as it was when it left the factory in Tennessee. If the new ones are of the same quality, you can't go wrong with one.
Just like McKenzie, my 690 is 16 years old and it's been used, abused, and used again. Strong as the day I brought it home. They are a standard workhorse in the industry and I'm thinking of getting another just so I won't have to go through as many setups. They go on sale from time to time for around $100.
amazon has had them as low as 85 recently, keep an eye out there.
I own three PC690s. I dropped one once onto concrete and the base cracked, but otherwise no problems. I like lever lock on the newer fixed base better than the big wing nut on the older models.
I like lever lock on the newer fixed base better than the big wing nut on the older models.
Can the newer lever lock replace an old wing nut set up on an older router? I have replaced the wing nut on my old 690 twice in the last 16 years. Never liked that feature much, and would like to replace it with something better.
Dave
After wringing off the third thumbscrew on my 690, I went to a bicycle shop and bought a seat post cam clamp for about 10 and adapted it to the router. I think all I had to do was file a flat on the side of the nut, and it fit perfectkly. Works great."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Could you post a pic of itMartin
Sure, next week. Visiting daughter this week."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
This is the bicycle seat clamp that I put on my 690. The handle came with a bend in it, so it fits nicely around the body. I think the only two changes I made were adding a jam nut, and filing two flats on the factory nut so I could grip it with pliers. And I think I had to use a smaller washer than what came with it.
View Image
View Image
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
That's pretty slick, I've resulted to using the wrench to keep mine tight, hand tight just doesnt do it any more.
The bicycle seat cam lock is a good suggestion. Alternatively, and more simply, if you've got a 1/4-28 tap, you can buy a 1/4" rod connector nut (these normally come in coarse thread), retap it to fine thread, and use a 7/16" wrench on it. I suppose you could also put one of those big plastic knobs with a male 1/4"-20 thread in the other end of the rod connector nut - never tried that approach, but the rethreaded rod connector nut works a treat if you're willing to need one more wrench to operate the tool.
Lee Valley also sells the toggle handles..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Can the newer lever lock replace an old wing nut set up on an older router? I have replaced the wing nut on my old 690 twice in the last 16 years. Never liked that feature much, and would like to replace it with something better.
Doesn't appear so -- you'd need to get the newer base with the lever lock. Or take one of the other approaches described above.
Edited 12/29/2007 12:19 am ET by DocOtter
"yes, I know the design is primitive"
................ I don't think it is. I think it's ingenious- simple light and effective and hard to improve on. Too many of the newer tools including routers seem like marketing guys designed them- if you can't dazzle with brilliance, baffle 'em with bs. More power, variable speed, depth adjustment from the bottom etc etc ........ all those features sound nice but they add weight and hurt balance. The new 690's have some "improvements" which I don't care for. There's a sealed rocker switch which lacks the positive feel of the old toggle switch (it feels like mush), the old thumb screw has been replaced by a cam action clamp which I find harder for these old arthritic paws of mine to operate and it has more power but it now runs at 27500 rpms iirc vs the 24500 of the older 690's. The newer 690's are a bit taller and fwiw, now made in Mexico. Still a great router- if my current 690 became history i'd replace it with another 690. I like the Model 100 even more- I have two and can't figure out why Black & Decker discontinued the Model 100 along with some other tried and true tools like the 310 router.
Edited 12/27/2007 11:23 pm ET by jc21
http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-690LR-Fixed-Horsepower-Router/dp/B00005QEVQ/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1198815790&sr=8-1
For $93, you can't beat it.
Well, that's not true. Last week you could get the same router with a free random orbit sander for only $86. But $93 is still a good price.
Mine just showed up today. That makes 3, including one stuck permanently in a plunge base. They are virtually indestructible. The one I use most did hard time as the router table motor when I taught woodshop.