Hi John.
Tools wear out, and sometimes there aren't enough of an old model to make enough profit to justify making parts. Sometimes the reserve of old parts just runs out. Many older tools were so rugged they lasted longer than the company, and the management sold the company to a larger one, which had no interest in keeping the old tools running.
That's why, at some point, you have to buy a new one. Sucks, but that's how it is now with what used to be honored American brands. Stanley tools just took over Craftsman and DeWalt. We'll have yet to see how that plays out. Will they revive quality of Craftsman, use DeWalt as their top of the line, or just exploit the reputations and remaining goodwill of those brands.
I think one of the big problems behind all that is that management folks don't do any woodworking. They don't use their own products, so they don't notice the decline, they're too busy cutting costs. There's the story of the farmer who cut costs by mixing a little sawdust in his mule's feed, didn't notice any problem, so added more and more sawdust, cuttng cost again and again. Worked out really well until the mule died.
BTW, welcome to the Forum. Consider curing the problem by getting a Bosch 1617 router. Great machine.
