By mnhunterguy from Minneapolis on 1/18/2008

[...] love the router

I purchased the PC 890 series (895 to be precise) to mount in my router table. I chose this particular model for it’s above the table adjustability and because of the good luck I had with PC tools in the past. BAD MOVE! Where should I start, the plunge base is sloppy, sloppy enough that your chances of making two identical dado cuts is about 1 in 10 at best, depending on the accuracy you are looking for. And it is very, very hard to plunge, and almost impossible to control coming out of a plunge. I tried oiling it to make it work smoother, but to no avail. It jerks and catches, and when it finally lets go it tends to shoot up out of control and flop around. My biggest pet peeve is with the fixed base. The gear on the side of the motor, which adjusts the motor up and down when mounted in the fixed base, is attached with screws that are tiny, when the gear gets a little dust on it, it sticks and jerks the screws out and breaks the gear loose, stripping the screw holes at the same time, Porter cable had no fix for this. So I ended up epoxying the thing on. The clamp lever that fastens the motor in place after you set you height has broken twice. The reason is because the lever is made of cheap metal and, since it is used every time you change a bit or height, it seems to wear out and crack. They are cheap to replace at about $3.00 a piece, if you can afford 3-4 weeks down time while waiting for a replacement. The second time, I ordered 4 of them to have on hand, it will break again, guaranteed. Do yourself a favor, if you are looking for a router with above the table adjustability, check out the freud, Hitachi, or Ridgid. Stay away from these.