Last night I was setting up my router table to make a profile cut on some drawer fronts and the bit is big. I did everything right except I forgot to tighten the the moter to the base on my Porter Cable Speedmatic that I just bought a couple of months ago. When I turned it on the router unscrewed from the base so fast there was nothing I could do but watch it fall to the concrete floor with a huge bit spinning.
Lucky for me on the way down the spinning bit took a chunk of wood out of the rail from the leg assebly and forced the router to fall on switch and turned it off. The router bit made it out ok for the most part and the router is running the same as it did befor the fall. I made my cuts with the same bit and the cuts are smooth as they should be so I guess the fall did not cause any excess runout.
I cant even explain how sick I felt after I watched my new router fall to the ground with a spinning bit.
Replies
Tre, Count your blessings, then install a setscrew or ledge to prevent that from ever happening again.
Everyone reading this should take heed. You showed a lot of guts putting the tool back and running it right away.
I,ll bet if that had happened to Jaimie, SHE, would have hesitated
Stein.
Steinmetz,
Eventually I would like to put a lift in but until then your right I will put some sort of ledge to prvent it from happening again. I was thinking about that last night.
Thanks for the advise.
The gods must be smilling down on you....... what luck!!!
Dear trebark,The other thing that can happen is that the router move up and dig through the work, ruining it, or hurting a hand.So, the best measure is to make sure it is tightened.Best of all.-mbl-
"I,ll bet if that had happened to Jaimie, SHE, would have hesitated." You bet wrong Stein. You're talkin' 'bout a girl who literally knows the meaning of "Get back on the horse and ride." Applies to WWing too.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Gurl, I was under a false impression that you were scared of lathes and old washing machine motors. Please forgive me for jumping to conclusions. I worry about you up there amongst the bears and wolves
in the 'woods' Wood Chick? I love it! Babe in the woods? Steinmetz
"red-neck wedding cake"
Too funny!!! Jeff Foxworthy should see this!!
Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, #### IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
HEY MACK, I was at that weddin' See the bride and groom' Ed.
It seems like if you spend enough time in the shop theres bound to be a wake up call to make you realize how violent and dangerous a tool can become when not used properly.
Thanks for all the responses and shared stories.
Hope they live happily ever after!! "WISH IN ONE HAND, #### IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
wow that damn scary now did one hand try to stop or grab it while the brain said i don't think so. i think i would have gone and shut the lights for the evening
Thomas B. Palumbo
CUSTOM WOODWORKING
Have a router table safety chapter from my first book, original manuscript, no pix, only text. But might be worth a read. Email [email protected] for freebie attachment.
Thanks for the safety tip. I think it's great that people will share their mishaps with others.
Trebark, condolences from Tree Chick here. I'm sooooo glad you weren't hurt, and also glad-glad the tool and bit survived. We all need a little wake-up call occasionally.
My PC 690 has the old knob-tightened system, and I had read about people losing the motor, even when they thought they'd tightened it. So, I strategically placed my big ol' shop vac right under the router. Of course, with my luck it'll just redirect the flying router somewhere bad, LOL!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Don't make the mistake I made. I was using a wing cutter with a 1/4" shank attempting to take too big a cut. The shank fractured and the wing cutter had a 180 degree area to travel. Fortunately for me it did not go through my gut but instead went into the wall and was stopped by the cement block. I did not repair the hole but keep it as a reminder to work SAFELY.
Here's my router-dropping story. Got a new edge-spline bit (has a bearing and makes a dado along an edge for splining boards together) with a 1/4" shank. Put it on my cheap B & D router and holding the handle, turned on the router in preparation for routing. The router was torn from my hands as soon as the motor went on, and fell straight for my feet and the concrete floor. I danced the flying router fandango and the works hit the floor once, bounced and hit again, at which point I was able to jerk the cord from the AC outlet. The shank had bent 90 degrees, and the cutter had eaten into the bottom plate of the router, then the collet let go and the damage stopped.
I took the bit back to the store and everyone oohed and aahed over the elbow macaroni-shaped shank. They sold me a 1/2" shank, I put the cutter on it, got a new Porter-Cable 690 router and have used the combo for over 20 years now to cut splines. I am always cautious starting up any tool now, though, and handhold a router over my bench with the base away from me when I start. My router table has a shelf about 6 inches underneath that should catch the motor if it loosens in the base. Never did figure out why the B&D router took off in the first place, and I still have it and loan it out to folks who ask to borrow a router and I suspect will be tool-grinders. (A former employer introduced me to the router with the words, "See this tool? It wants to eat you". I've seen that he spoke truly.)
Don
Your lucky, about 5 years ago the same thing happened to me, except I reached down to turn it off at the exact moment it fell. Took doctors about 3 or four hours to put my hand back together. Also the router hit the concrete running so I had shrapnel wounds all over my body. The porter cable was retired from router table and replaced with bosch which won't "spinout" By the way I did have base tightened but the torque from really large champhor bit caused router to rotate out of base. James
You're not alone in losing a router. Another thing to watch is when plugging in any tool with a toggle or locking switch. Sometimes just picking them up will inadvertently lock or turn on a switch. I've seen some routers take a ride and belt sanders go like a dragster and they weren't in a race. I always hold on to such tools when powering up, I've seen a few switches go bad and stick in the on position even when switched to off. Glad nothing was hurt, I doubt you will forget to tighten the bolt for quite some time.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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