Routers Reviews

Well if Porter Cable have discontinued this router it truly is a sad day. "Little Round Top" has been around for as long as I can remember and I have used mine for millions of tasks over the years with absolutely no problems, issues, or down-time. Original switch, cord and brushes still intact and no sign of wear or tear. Look up the word "reliable" in the dictionary and you will see a picture of this router.

Yes it is wonderful that there are high-powered, variable speed, multi-use routers on the market with a plethora of attachments. But many times you need a small, powerful router bigger than a laminate trimmer and smaller than a plunge router that you can easily handle with one hand. And the fact that the base was interchangeble with the 1 3/4 HP PC router (including the plunge base for it) was an added bonus that I have taken advantage of uncountable times over the years.

Fairwell old friend, hopefully PC won't "replace" you with some piece of junk made in China.

I came online here to pick up yet another plunge router ( I`ve gone through four in maybe 8 years) and happened across this old friend. 15 years of almost daily use building (professionally) over 750 guitars and other instruments - and, additionally, an almost house full of furniture to boot- and this little pal of mine just keeps going and going. Nary a repair, not a single moment of down time. To top it off, I`ve as yet not needed to change the brushes even. While most P/C tools are usually good this one has been just amazing! If only the plunge routers ( not one a P/C, I might add. Something that`s about to change) had been this good.
PS A home improvement enthusiast. LOL! Not a chance!

Follow the manual, to a point. The box joints are cut with the board mounted in the front clamp but you have to mount a board under the back clamp. The manual says that this board should be at least 1/4" thicker than the board you are cutting box joints on. I didn't get why it had to be 1/4" thicker until I made my first cut and thank goodness that I followed the manual because the extra 1/4" is to keep you from running the router bit into the metal base of the jig.

I was using 3/4" stock and the only way I could get a 1" inch board (actually it was a 3/4" board and a 1/4" piece of plywood) clamped through the back clamp was to remove the bushings under the clamp knobs, otherwise I couldn't thread the clamp knobs. This worked great and the board was still clamped tightly.

To get the pins and tails offset correctly between two pieces, the manual shows you how to rotate the boards, basically the manual has you cutting a pin on the top left of a board and a tail on the bottom left of a board or vice versa. This way if you cut both ends of four boards you could flip the pieces around to get them all to fit and make a box. I wasn't making a box and the way the manual had me adjust the boards I was cutting pins on both edges of the boards so no matter which way I flipped the boards I was always going to have a 1/2" of a board sticking up and a 1/2" of another board hanging down. When I went to adjust the edge guides to realign the pins and tails I discovered that the edge guide moves exactly a 1/2". That allowed me to push the edge guide all the way to the left to get a tail on the left or push the edge guide all the way to the right to have a pin on the left. (This will make more sense when you use the temple, I promise.) Using this I marked each board as either pin or tail. I setup the template to have a pin on the left and cut all the boards marked as pins. Changed the template to cut a tail on the left and cut the rest. It was quick and easy and the alignment was dead on.

The bottom line is that it make take you a few minutes to figure this out but once you do it is easy to use and the box joints fit perfectly and look great.

If you think the dovetail template is easy, this is easier. There are only two things to set, and both are easy: 1) depth of cut, 2) left-to-right position of the board for finger layout.

The finger joints fit together great. I get much smoother cuts than with my table saw box joint jig.

This is the only 3/16" drywall cut-out tool on the market!I use it to do "ALL" my cutting.It speeds up the job and last for a VERY LONG time!Not too much worries about them breaking.Just remember to hold on tight and be careful not to miss a box or vent.I use it for everything:boxes,vents,doors,windows,ect.If you have not mastered cutting out bowes with the stanard 1/8" bitts then I would deffinitley NOT RECOMEND you using this 3/16" bitt on boxes or vents just yett.The finishers will thank you for waiting untill you gain more experience.Lots of luck.I NEVER PURCHASE another 1/8" bitt or use a saw again!!My job is completed faster and thus I make more money by the hour.

Portercable is the only manufactuer of the size 3/16" drywall router bit.It fits all drywall cut-out tools(rotozip,portecable,dewalt).It cuts out doors and windows faster than backcutting & using a hand saw.It also cuts out vents and boxes.It does the job faster than any 1/8" bit on the market.The 1/4" window/door bits are not usable with boxes & vents, where this 3/16" bit is.The bit has a very long and durable lifetime.The best router bit on the market.Only the real drywall profesionals are even aware of it's existence.Be one of the 1st.

When I bought my P-C 690 I should have gotten both plung & fixed bases. Now I have a realy usefull tool, in this lightweight router.

Porter Cable's 6931 Plunge router base is an excellent buy. It adds versatility to the #693. I highly recommend purchasing this item for anyone that does not want to go to the expense of purchasing an entire router just to have the plunge feature.

The saw, extension table and router lift was delivered in 6 packages which weighed a total of 400#. FedEx couldn't get their truck up my 100 yard uphill driveway, but the driver put the extire package on a hydraulic jack and unloaded it with his liftgate. We pushed the load up my driveway and unloaded all in the garage. He waited until I inspected all the packages. With the exception of a 6 inch rip in one of the boxes, every package was in tact.

I spent an entire Saturday assembling everything. (And that included many breaks!) The instructions were not difficult to figure out. A few more pictures might have been helpful. Everything fit like it was supposed to with the exception of the blade guard. The part of the guard that attached to a hex bolt under the table didn't fit. I used a file to reshape the slot on the guard to make it fit. I only needed an assistant to help mount the motor, table wings and extension table.

The assembled saw is a fine piece of equipment. The steel table and wings are flat and with no imperfections. The motor is quieter than I thought it would be. The fence is accurate, true and heavy duty. The router lift allows you to use the saw fence with your router if needed.

All in all, I'm happy with the saw from the delivery to the final assembled product. I'm looking forward to much leisurely woodworking with it.

This saw is plently powerful for a novice like myself. Would like to see it shipped in better boxes. The instructions could be written more clearly with better illustrations. An expert could probably assemble the saw in 2-2.5 hours. It took me considerably longer. The steps on setting up the fence were easier to understand and accurate. Apparently the rail system for the fence has recently changed. Make sure you have the correct rails for the saw. I had to exchange mine. Once the fence is installed (take your time here)the tape measure and fence are extremely accurate. A mobile base certainly helps. The dado insert does not fit with all dado's stacked (13/16"). I may try a zero clearance dado insert instead. You will need some assistance when installing the extension table or several 4-5" C clamps. The table top is well machined, smooth, and the miter slots fit and travel well. The fence locks smoothly and glides across the rails well esp. with a coat of paste wax on the rails. Very happy with the product and would recommend it to others. I have'nt used the router kit yet so I can't comment on that feature.

This is one of the best set of bits I've owned. I was skeptical about ordering tools online, ordered this set anyway as a gamble and was pleasantly surprised by how happy I am with them. Upon calling Woodline to express my happiness I learned more about their lifetime warranty, and it actually is a lifetime warranty, no fine print (but I doubt I'll ever have to use it) and was pleased with their friendly customer service.

Like many of you I have purchased many router bits over the years and I have been dissapointed more times than not. However, after the speedy delivery of my 30pc set from Woodline (I recieved the set only 2 days after I ordered IT!) I was amazed with the quality of the router bits. The carbide is superior to anything I have used before and the bits cut so smooth without any burning or chatter. I have used everything from expensive Italian imports, US made, Taiwan, and Chinise, and I will never use anything other that Woodline router bits again! Bob Mcowski - Devoted Woodline User

I was a little leary about this order only due to the low, low price for this particular set of router bits. Don't let that stop you, in fact, if available, I plan to order another set to have on hand when this set has to be sent in for sharpening. These are good quality bits at an incredibly low price, I will definately be looking for other items this seller has to offer.

Excellent quality

Bought this to add on to my Accusquare rip fence I purchase last year (which is another 5 star product) that is attached to my 1967 Rockwell table saw. It was shipped to me quickly in seven days and well packed. Easy to put together and no other product like it. Well built for $49.00 and is a great addition to my router/saw table set up. Exept no other after market fences. Accusqaure is the way to go!!!!

I bought the T-50 50" Double Grip Bench Clamp with T-track for a large acrylic project. Cell cast acrylic sheets, 1/2 and 3/8" thickness, were cut with the T-50 as a guide for my circular saw. The T-50 is light for its size, is easy to allign and clamps well - lots of force and without losing my allignment. It held the acrylic well while the cuts were made - even 48" cuts while clamped on smooth acrylic edges. I was able to hold very close tolerances on all cuts, exceeding my expectations.

I have also used the T-50 on additional projects - including particle wood and plywood - usually as a router or saw guide. It has performed well on all occasions.