Mike

A very good question Ken. I will take a plate from my 690 to the store and compare it. I know you can drop a 890 series motor into a 690 series base so I would think they are the same size. After reading the complaints on Amazon's web site it seems there are many quality control issues with the 890 series. Reports of the height adjustment rack breaking in half, the screws that hold it to the case snapping off flush to the case, base plate problems and in one case smoke after only an hours use. I realize some people are dishonest and would claim a defect like the broken screws when in truth the reason the screws failed was because they dropped the router. But there are more problem reports than I would of imagined for what has always been a top quality brand.

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Mike
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kp91

Ken,

The 890 plates I have fit the 693 router I have. In fact, the clear one that was on my plunge base is mounted on the old 693 router. I've checked both of mine, they're flat (except from some of the scratches from wear and tear). I don't know how much warp would be necessary to cause a problem, being that there are a bunch of holes in the middle for air flow, etc.

Like I mentioned before, I usually put a larger acrylic sub base on (about 7 inch square) with flat sides for following a straight edge guide. I only use the factory subplate when I need the template guide.

hope this helps

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Doug
1 John 1:9

Hamlin

Doug, this is good news then. I agree with you about the acrylic. I would think that even with acrylic, you can take it to a machine shop to have the center hole machined to accept bushings/guides.
I still believe that it's PC's or B&D's responsiblity to take care of the problem. If a company can't stand behind it's product, then they have lost me as a customer. This is also true if they try to give a person a big "run around".

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Ken

"A VETERAN"
"Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life". That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it." -Author Unknown

Mike

I got a reply to my request for customer service yesterday. One of the clerks named Stacie suggested that the router had been dropped and needed to go to a service center for inspection. She then marked the problem "Solved". I replyed that the problem was not solved, the router was not dropped and mentioned the new 693PK on the shelf with the gap between the plunge base and the sub base plate, the rocking fixed base plate, the 40% of customers who reported problems on Amazon as well as the 60% who loved their new router. This is a serious quality control problem.
Benny, please take the sub base plate off your router and set the base on a table and let me know if it is flat. The reason Oak Park started selling a centering disk is because the 890 series routers have such poorly machined bases. Lets see what the reply is this time.

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Mike
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kp91

Ken,

My 894 kit was one of the first ones, I think before the merger. Dunno if that has anything to do with it, but you never know! (best of all, the first $200 of the price was ofset as a performance bonus from my employer, and back then PC and Amazon.com gave you free height adjuster and a couple other goodies) It was an awesome deal, and it's been a great router. Best of all, all of my PC 690 series stuff is interchangeable with it.

I sincerely hope that PC hasn't slid down the food chain being bought out. I've had nothing but happiness with my sanders, routers, and especially my biscuit joiner. I've always thought that they were worth the extra price over other brands, it'd be a shame if it were no longer so.

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Doug
1 John 1:9

Hamlin

Well, as I said before, I don't know much about PC. I do know that many tool co.'s will have some that can interchange. I only asked, in perhaps maybe Benny knows someone nearby that may happen to have a spare plate from another series?
I too sincerely hopes that PC hasn't gone down the tubes with the merger. After reading Mike's post, it would seem that even customer care has dropped too.
It's sad that as companies merge, the first thing that goes is customer care and or quality control. To have a 40% customer dissatisfaction.... doesn't sound good at all.

For your scratches, if you take a dab of oil, and lightly rub it into the piece, then polish out the oil. This will remove any dirt or debris that's in the scratches making them much less noticable.

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Ken

"A VETERAN"
"Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life". That is HONOR, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it." -Author Unknown

Mike

Just a quick update. My assistance request has been refferred to the product line manager. No response from him yet. I checked out an 892PK on the shelf at Woodcraft and it has the same problems.

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Mike
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Benny LaBaw

I really thank all of members for helping me.
You all are very kind to me. I think it is enough for me.
And especially I appreciate, Mike san, what you have done for me.

I ask you all members to help me if I post next time.

AxlMyk

I looked at one at the local HD the other day.. It seems the plastic is softer than my bases.. There was a huge gap on the 690 I looked at.. I was able to move the gap wider with a finger nail..

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Mike - Retired FoMoCo Tradesman
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Mike

It has taken long enough but here is the official reply from Porter Cable:

Dear Mike,

Porter Cable has recently pulled their router bases from the supplier delivering sub standard quality and has moved them to another supplier whose components should start shipping on our products within the next two months. In fact, we have thrown the tooling for the plunge base in the trash and have redesigned and retooled a totally different product to address the quality issues with that item. Additionally, the screws on the sub base can be relaxed to reduce the flex on the sub base - in some cases, they are over-tightened to the point that the plastic actually puckers toward the base near the screw holes and away from the edges of the sub base (concave). The .025” could easily have been the resulting effect.

Regards,
End User Services

I sent a reply asking if they were going to do a recall or what steps had to be taken to get a defective unit repaired or replaced. I will post the reply when I get it. Please share this information with everybody you can.

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Mike
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