Looking for experienced opinion on the PC 892 router

[Eagle55]

Posting this request to help me with a router purchase decision. I have been wanting to get the PC 892 router for the shark but concerned about the reviews I saw on Rockler. Saw some 5 star reviews where one guy was VERY pleased after having cut 1 or 2 jobs. Yet the 1, 2 or 3 stars seemed to be posted by those who had used it for less than a year and had brushes thrown from the router and bearings worn out and the variable speed function quitting to name some of the problems quoted. Just wanting to get some more encouragement as to the quality of pairing with the shark. Will it last and go the distance with the demanding performance required by the shark. It is being offered on sale by Rockler at an exceptional price and with free shipping so my inclination is that it is the time to buy it but don't want to buy something with the expectation that it will only last a year or less. For those who would sway me to a Bosch or other brand router, I'm not really interested in hearing how superior it is compared to the PC because I have already got my Precise Bits collets for the PC and really don't want to loose my savings and have to purchase more tooling to duplicate that which I have already purchased. I also don't want to hear how great the 892 is if you have a grand total of 3 hours of carving with it. I am concerned not with how good it IS but how good it will be 2 years from now. I realize that long term I am going to need to become proficient at replacing bearings of almost any router I use but I'm not sure that I want to do it several times a year.

Roger

PS the "limited edition" new shark is being offered on sale with an exceptional price for those looking to get into a new machine. Great time to buy your wife an Xmas gift to go in your shop for her to learn woodworking on. Ho Ho Ho

[rungemach]

Hello Roger

I have a couple of PC 690's an PC892. and also the Bosch.

Since you want to stay with PC, I would suggest that when you replace the bearings, look for a high quality lower bearing. The lower bearing does most of the work and directly impacts runout. My newest 690 came with a lower bearing made in China as opposed to previous ones that have been made in Japan. The chinese bearing was very loose and of low quality. I have never seen a new bearing that bad. I replaced it right away with a high quality bearing and the runout came back into a reasonable spec and it is cutting well. I use a Super-PID speed control on that unit and usually run it at about 20,000 rpm as opposed to full out. It runs quieter that way and cuts very well.

So you may find that the original bearing needs replacing immediately or quite soon after you start using it. If you replace it with a high quality bearing, you can have good results and probably a lot better life over a factory supplied chinese bearing.

The PC design uses a separate thread on collet receptacle that is removed and replaced to get at the bearing. That can be a good and bad thing. The good is that if you damage the inside of the collet receptacle, you can replace it. The bad news can be that if the receptacle is not true to the armature shaft , you have runout that cant be easily eliminated no matter how good the collet or nut may be. So be careful when replacing bearings to be sure you don't upset the concentricity of the receptacle and shaft connection. IE. use good tools, watch the torque you apply, and work in a very clean environment when reassembling.

The Bosch has the collet receptacle surface machined into the armature shaft, so it could run truer (if cut true), but it is not replaceable if damaged.

Hope this info helps.

Bob

[Eagle55]

Bob,
Thanks for the insight on the bearings. I also have one of my PC690 that is down right now from "sharks disease". I have been planing to replace the bearings and just haven't gotten around to it. I was planning to buy the factory bearings that are available as replacement parts from PC. How do I find a better quality of bearing ie, how do I know what to look for regarding part number etc? Dealing with the PC690 now and likely the PC892 if I can afford to buy the one on sale this month at Rockler. Thanks for the input

Roger

[BillK]

Roger,

I'm not familiar with the bearings in this router. All you need to know is the ID, OD, and width to get a basic size. Judging by the speed range, I would assume the radial internal clearance is C3 as in most of these designs the bearings are preloaded axialy. Sealing, and grease are other questions. I would assume EMQ (electric motor quality) bearings. Maybe they are ABEC 5 bearings which would be a good replacement bearing.

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