Porter-Cable 690P 1-1/2 HP Router
by Porter-Cable
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Product Details
Manufacturer: Porter-CableModel: 690P
Accessories:
- Porter-Cable 42187 2-1/2-Inch Hole Sub Base
- Yukon Tool YTRB24 24-Piece Router Bit Set
- Freud 91-100 13-Piece Super Router Bit Set with 1/2-Inch Shank and Freud's TiCo Hi-Density Carbide
- Porter-Cable 42000 9-Piece Template Guide Kit
- Kreg PRS3020 True-FLEX Featherboard - Twin Pack
Description of Porter-Cable 690P 1-1/2 HP Router
Porter-Cable's 1-1/2-horsepower router is popular with woodworkers for good reason. It's reliable, powerful, and exceptionally smooth running--not to mention versatile. Although the 690P comes with a two-handle fixed base, the motor is interchangeable with Porter-Cable's excellent plunge base or D-handle base. Both matching bases are available separately for much less than the cost of a new router, and switching bases for different applications is a quick and easy operation.We really appreciate Porter-Cable's new autorelease collet design, which prevents bits from getting frozen in the machine. It'd be great if Porter-Cable could come up with an alternative to needing two wrenches for a bit change, but this minor inconvenience is far outweighed by the tool's overall quality. In fact, Porter-Cable's focus on simple, quality engineering is the reason for this model's long-lasting success. The router doesn't offer electronic variable-speed control or enough power to effectively double as a shaper, but it is among the smoothest-running routers we've tried, producing consistently clean results. For most applications it offers all the versatility and muscle you could ask for. --Brian Trinen
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Porter-Cable 690P 1-1/2 HP Router
Customer Review: Look in the dictionary under "router"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the one. Mine is six or seven years old now and has been used for everything from trimming siding around a shed window (don't ask!) to cutting mortises for a craftsman bedroom set. I even stupidly used it with a panel raising bit for some cabinet doors (something I now do with a 3HP variable speed router).I like this router because it is reliable, powerful, reliable, easy-to-use, reliable, and lightweight. I replaced the original collets with the newer style "always-release" collets, a change I heartily recommend. I suppose they now come with the newer style collets. I bought a spare base and leave it mounted in my router table all the time. It takes just a second to spin the router into the table. I like the looks of the newer routers with their built-in dust collection, but -- having used a sander with a dust hose -- I wonder how practical they are. It seems that it would be much harder to handle with the dust hose.
My only dislikes are the 2-wrench collet removal system and the a-little-hard-to-get-at ON/OFF toggle switch. Some kind of self-locking mechanism that works with a single wrench would be nice, and I'd like to see a bigger, easier ON/OFF.
It's pretty much one of the perfect tools in my collection.
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