1-3/4 Peak HP Variable-Speed Router w/Soft Start – 690LRVS  Product Reviews

"Great router and the variable speed is a must for using larger bits which can burn the wood if used at too high a speed. Top notch Product! Have used this model in my furniture business daily now for over three years and still going strong. Also, it is much quieter than the old dewalts and milwakees that I used for years."

"I just got one of these, and it's my first PC router. When I saw how you adjust the depth of cut I thought, "You've got to be kidding." In all the pictures it looks like you turn an adjustment ring to adjust the height of the motor in the base, but that ring doesn't actually adjust anything. All adjustment is accomplished by rotating the motor in the base. The motor has four small round pins that ride in two spiral grooves in the base, so turning the motor adjusts the height. The ring just has marks denoting the height adjustment corresponding to the amount of rotation of the motor, and the ring turns so you can zero it on a mark on the motor. Here are the problems I find with this approach: - The switch and cord change location based on the depth of the cut. Maybe I'm just weird, but I like having the switch on a power tool located in the same place every time I use it. - The weight of the motor is enough to cause it to rotate down in the base when the locking clamp is off. This is partly because, IMO, the pitch of the groove is too steep. - When I turn the motor in the base it makes kind of a grinding sound because the grooves in the base aren't machined very smoothly. Definitely not impressed. - There is no "fine" adjustment mechanism. All adjustment is done by turning the motor. Another consequence of the steep pitch in the adjustment groove is that fine adjustments are tricky. Rotating the motor 180° lowers it 1". That's 2.8° for 1/64". 2.8° isn't much, and in a router I think of 1/64th of an inch as a course adjustment. When the locking clamp is off, the motor is fairly loose in the base, so this thing really doesn't give me a feeling of tight control over the height setting. I'm kind of mystified as to why no one has commented about this adjustment mechanism. Now I know that people are referring to PC routers when they review other routers by other manufacturers and like that they don't have to rotate the motor in the other brand. I just don't know why no one has mentioned it here. In a separate issue, I wouldn't use it without first sanding the base smooth to remove flash from when it was molded. If I didn't, it would scratch my wood as I slid the router over it. Also not impressive. I expect to be able to use something like this right out of the box without fixing it. The reviewer who said he could hardly tell it had a soft start must have had a defective one because it's very noticeable to me. No jerking at all and much nicer in that regard than the old 1hp 1/4" router I'm replacing. I'm sure it's very powerful, the soft start is great, and the variable speed seems nice as well, but several brands offer power, soft start, and variable speed. The height adjustment on this is just crude IMO, and that makes me think I'd get frustrated with it in actual use. So I'm going to try to find something I like better and there's a good chance this one is going to be returned."

"I wanted a non-plunge router for my router table and this fit the bill. It has all the power I need and is easy to adjust from under the table. This is my first 'soft start' router and I like this feature."

"I chose this one because of the favorable reviews, but it wouldn't start out of the box. I took it to the local PC distributor and they offered to exchange it. After a week, I called for status and they said it was on backorder until mid Nov. Bummer, but they did refund my money, so I'm buying another one...I'm hoping the product lives up to its reputation. This is the 2nd time I've purchased an item from Amazon where the motor did not work out of the box...the other was the motor on a Delta jointer. It took 4-6 weeks to get a new motor...tough sledding when you're trying to work on a project! Revised 1/14/07 - I was able to buy a new router - same model. It's performed very well so far with a fair amount of use. The switch is sealed and is not very large, so it's difficult to tell if you've switched it on or off immediately. This could be a safety issue, but eventually I'd like to set up a switch that I can mount on the side of the cabinet so I don't have to reach under the table to turn it on/off. I haven't had an issues with frozen bits getting stuck in the collet and it's easy to switch between 1/2 and 1/4 shank bits. Variable speed is a nice touch to avoid burning."