I just picked up the Crafstman Combination Plunge Router set 17543.
The last one in a hard case had the handle broken, so I got 10% off for $91.79. All newer combos come with a soft bag.
Brought it home to inspect...........I found:
Depth scale on the plunge base was applied crooked.
The rotating turret depth stop wobbles.
The plunge mechanism itself is wobbly with excessive play.
The depth scale was an easy fix...remove and reapply.
The depth turret hold down screw has a machined step on it to lock it in place and to control the downward bearing pressure on the turret.
The problem is insufficient downward bearing pressure on the turret. The spring loaded ball bearing detent pushes up and exceeds the downard pressure applied by a small leaf spring. The solution is to add a thin washer to the hold down screw and apply Locktite and screw it down just enough to eliminate the wobble. Or use a longer screw and add a stiff compression spring like Porta Cable uses.
Now for the final issue....the plunge rods are slightly smaller than the bearings they slide on allowing for play in the mechanism. I went back to the store to check the display model and it too had a wobbly plunge! So it appears that sloppy quality is on the loose at Sears!
Question....Am I over reacting to the plunge slop? This is my first plunge type. Have any of you found this to be a problem?
This is the first complaint I have seen about these routers.
It is strange that so much is not right.
If it is really that bad, especially the plunge guides, get your money back.
Sears has a great return policy. I would do as Mike and Bob suggest, take it back and swap it out. Sounds like beer-thirty arrived before quitting time at the factory when that one was made.
I have to add that i don't remember hearing of a problem of any kind. So return it and get another. Don't repair it and then worry about the thing. In fact, Who knows what else may be wrong, I would guess that yours may have had a major accident, and got back on the shelve by mistake.
I went to 3 Sears stores and looked at 1/2 dozen routers and they ALL have loose tolerance on the plunge shaft bearings!!!!!
The red top model has absolutly no play.
So....are all you accepting the play as normal?
Or.....did Sears have a bad production run on the East Coast?
Its not a lot of play but you can feel the looseness when you lock the router in the plunge body, put it down on a solid surface, hold down the base and rock the upper sliding part with the slide clamp unlocked.
I want this router but the play is driving me crazy!
I will agree the red top combo is a better router more power and 3 bases in the kit,I have one also and I was lucky to get one on sale for 89.oo dollars..you many want to wait for the sale to come around aging should be anytime now..
Sign up at the Sears web site and they will send you a email when it's up and running ....
that's odd, i bought the same model a few months ago and it only has a little play in it. possibly it was made by a different manufacturer or changes were made between ours.. what really matters is that when it's fully down or locked the play is gone, unless you're going to rout with the router partially down without the lock on, or the stop set,(freehand depth) i don't see a problem. these appear to be similar to the porter cable 690 series.
i was going to edit my post, but it appears there is no "edit post" button!!. anyway, i was going to say i looked at the porter cable routers and can't find a model similar except for the motor, whoever makes these routers did changes to the craftsman over the porter cable model, but they are somewhat similar. i'll bet the motor would fit into a porter cable base.
When I fully depress the plunger I can rock it back & forth and hear the metal to metal clicking. The question is where is the bit prior to locking the plunge... since it is loose, it is not in a consistant place.
that could be a problem if the bit will be contacting wood right after being lowered, it would drift a few thousandths, i looked at mine and found the side without the lock don't have any play, and it don't have a brass bushing, the side that DOES have some play is the side with the lock, that has a brass bushing. a fix for that would be either disassemble the base by removing the lock ring under the cover, then you can drill and tap the bushing and put a brass screw with a locknut in the bushing and adjust it to take up the slack, OR have a machinist make a new bushing or rod that fits tightly. a machinist could also knurl the inside of the brass bushing to make it tighter too.
This post got me thinking. I had never really thought about play in the plunge mechanism. I checked my current plunge routers, DW 621, PC 7538, PC 690 plunge base and Hitachi M12V. None of them has any noticeable play on the plunge stroke. I had a early 1980's vintage Makita 3600 plunge router that did have some play, but I always assumed that was because it was old and well used. I was at the local tool stores (big box) and made an unscientific wiggle test of the plunge models they had. The DW618, PC 890, Ridgid and Milwaukee plunge bases did not have any perceptible movement in them. The Skill and Bosch 1617 did have some movement, with the Bosch having the most. Again, any movement detected was minimal, I would say measurable in the .000's and all routers "wiggled", other than my own, were display models.
Now I think that Bosch is the manufacturer for the current Craftsman line. How much movement does your router have?
i think you came close there, it's very close to the 1617ESVPK httx://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductCategory.aspx?catid=527]Router Combo Packs the play can be easily fixed like i mentioned previously.
The play is 1/64". The play is in the lateral (horizontal) plane and the vertical plane, in other words the play has 2 degrees of freedom. To me a router should be rock solid....this one os not!
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