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Porter-Cable 698 Bench Top Router Table | List Price: $300.79
Discount Price: $155.78
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Brand: Porter-Cable
Binding: Tools & Hardware
Features: - Bench top router table with 3-5/8-inch table hole for 3-1/2-inch router bits
- 12-7/8-inch table legs allow for 1-1/2 to 3-1/4-horsepower routers; quick-adjust split fence design
- Constructed of machined-aluminum
- Includes table and miter gauge; router sold separately
- 19-3/4 by 16-3/4; 35 pounds; 1-year warranty
Fair buy for the price. [Posted on 2007-01-21]
If you have limited space, and will be doing small projects from time to time, this is a decent quality table. If you will be doing production work with your router table, I would look elsewhere besides this model. The first thing I noticed, was when I installed my Porter-Cable router into this Porter-Cable table. The 3 retaining screws seemed to have some alignment issues. A little tweaking, and everything finally went together okay, albeit a bit on the tight side. I use my router for free-hand work as well as a table router. I am considering purchasing a 2nd router so I don't have to switch my router in and out, as it is a bit of a hassle. The 2nd thing I noticed, was the the limited fence adjustment capacity. 3 1/2" - 4" inches is about all you can expect to get between the 2-piece fence and the center of your bit. Some of my projects require a working depth of 6" inches or more between the fence and center of bit. By removing the fences, and clamping a straight-edge guide where you need it, 6" inches can be acheived, but at the loss of the dust collection shroud. Overall, it is a sturdy enough untit when bolted to a solid base. I noticed no deflection in the cast-aluminum table plane as far as straightness goes. Bottom line... fair buy for the price.
Porter Cable creates a star performer [Posted on 2007-03-25]
One of the best designs in its class. I was kind of skeptical when I first took a look at this Porter Cable router table,but soon realized after assembly just how well made the table was. The design of the base no matter how precarious it might look without braces is extemely stable. The heavy cast aluminum top contibutes even more to its stability. Having owned various router tables over the years, this tops the grade. Comes with a nice beefy on-off switch,front mounted to the base. An easily adjustable sturdy fence with safety guard and dust collection tops out the quality features that Porter Cable has designed in. If you need rugged portability and your limited on space, this table could be just what your looking for.
Great starter/hobby table [Posted on 2007-04-16]
I bought this and the Porter-Cable 895PK router kit. Being that this is my first router and first router table, take what I have to say with a grain of salt. That said, I am pleased with the overall quality of this table.
The assembly was easy, the parts seem well made, and the appearance is quite nice. Everything is flush, level, etc. all around the table. It is pretty solid and only moved a little during use of a 3.5" panel bit. It was rock steady with smaller rail & stile bits. This movement is easily corrected by attaching it to the workbench (as stated in the instructions.) The switch could have used 2 outlets, one for the router and another for the shop vac. Again this is easily corrected with an inexpensive power strip.
The split fence did create some challenges in getting them aligned. They are also kind of short making attachment of feather boards a bit tricky. I plan to remove the wooden facings and attach a single piece sacrificial fence to both sides to compensate for this. Should be an easy fix as well.
There are some draw backs to this setup. First I found the dust collection to be less than perfect. The fitting is just slightly wider than a standard shop vac hose reducing affective suction of the vac. Additionally the inserts let a lot of dust fall under the table. Since there are only two table inserts you have very little control over that. I will be looking for additional inserts that better meet my needs.
The most frustrating part of this table is the pre-drilled holes for mounting and adjusting your router base. I bought the 895PK because it came with a 2 1/4hp motor, a plunge base, a fixed base, and a wrench to adjust your bit height from above the table. The problem is that the table does not have pre-drilled holes for this router base. When I contacted PC about this issue, they told me I could drill out the top of the table to allow the adjustment wrench to have access to the base. I do not intent to drill the table top at all. Had I known this I would have probably bought the 893PK or 894PK kits.
Overall I think this is a decent product. It seems to be designed/marketed to hobby and small woodworking projects or to people who need a highly mobile router table. I did not have any expectations that this unit would be as nice or have as many features as the larger, much more expensive tables out there. The lack of pre-drilled holes in the table are the only thing that keep me from giving this table 5 stars. This will serve me well until I build a custom table.
Good product for the money [Posted on 2008-01-27]
Overall a good product for the money. Being only a home user, I don't have the time, money or space to outfit a professional workworker's shop. Assembly was very straight forward and easily adapated to my Porter-Cable 890 Series router. The adjustable fence, dust collection tube and solid top will be a dramatic improvement from my 20+ year old Sears router table. This table was clearly designed before P-C introduced the 890 Series router as the table top was not drilled to accept the "above the table adjustment" knob that comes the 894 router bundle. A paper template was included to allow me to drill the two holes to accomodate the adjustment knob. I also spent some time cleaning up the groove edges of the table top as some rough metal edges could catch the wood sliding across. One last tweek, the plastic guard can be rotated up and out of the way but the bottom edge would need to be rounded off instead of square to not interfere and scratch the top of the wood fence. I think the Porter-Cable router & table combination perfectly fit my budget and usage.
This worked great! [Posted on 2008-07-09]
My husband made me a book case and needed a router table to add a detail to the front of the shelves and outer boards. This table was perfect with his porter cable router. My book case is beautiful!
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