Okay, I'm a believer

[Mark Ohlund]

This is what I did when my 4 year old Craftsman router starting dropping bits into my wood. They gave me about ~$30 credit toward a PC, which has *never* had this problem.

[Tim Simmons]

Tim S.:

This is true. It does taper and get smaller as it goes up and CM said it should be a very small difference between collet and shaft but mine is squeezed so that the collet appears like someone took pliers and squeezed the 3 parts together. I never came close to tightening the nut that hard. I made sure I didn't overtighten because I could always tighten more but a stripped collet would be a bad thing.

Tim

[Tim Simmons]

Tim S.:

I will not be changing bits other than to replace it when it gets dull so that won't really be much of a concern for me. But yeah, 2 wrenches.... sounds like a job for Captain Ambi Dextrious.

Chris: Maybe if you grew up with a PC in your

[Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT]

Thu, Sep 4, 2003, 6:35pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Tim=A0Simmons) says: Well, maybe yours is different? I don't know.

I forgot to mention, if you're not pure at heart, this won't work. LMAO

Alternately, if you're behind on your sacrifices to the Woodworking Gods, it won't work either. Rule One: No sacrifices at home, as High Priest of the Woodworking Gods, all sacrifices, and the resultant paperwork, are handled by me. Rule Two: Send lots of stuff.

JOAT Failure is not an option. But it is definitely a possibility.

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 2 Sep 2003. Some tunes I like.

[Leon]

Sorry TOM,,, not Tim

Obviousely a Manufacture defect.

[Leon]

IT HAS BEEN A LONG DAY...

May I say again that I am sorry with my confusion of your name....

TIM not Tom... I think.. :~)

[RM MS]

Collet is abused and now tapered. Does not squeeze equally along the shaft of cutter. I, in the same shop, along with about 120 other tradesmen every day, share Craftsman, among other brands that are probably more popular here, and under conditions that you girls would probably consider to be "abusive", but here is my point: we don't have that problem. Ever. Never. The collet has been mis-used and now is conical. Been there, done that. Some day, it may be years from today, but some day you will finally be faced with no alternative but the truth. Take it or leave it.

[RM MS]

Do not EVER clamp a collet down without a proper sized tool shank in it. Also, the shank has to be fully engaged in the collet, or else it wll become distorted in a conical fashion, and will not hold tools properly.

[RM MS]

No, I would not avoid PC, just that, as I was once kindly reminded here: this is REC woodworking, and I am trying to bring REALITY to the certain faction of this Spenders Group that seems to look down on certain brands of tools. It's not the tools, girls, IT'S YOU who are making the mistakes. Mistakes are OK. Make a lot of them, I mean it. Because of them, you will develop methods and shortcuts and intimacy with your own tools that cannot be rectified by spending I don't care how much money on anything. Do more. Do it a hundred times. You Will Find The Way To Do It On The Stuff You Already Own.

[RM MS]

I am the troll? What are your credentials? See my post of 15 min. ago. Man, for so many people who don't like my attitude, I really have to wonder why they keep reading me. I sincerely think you girls tune in just to see what the pirate is saying. And it would never hurt you, either. Some day, if you are very lucky, you may, just might, see where the BS quits. Enjoy.

[RM MS]

Can't handle 2 wrenches? Please, Chris (and I am going to call you a name you are quite probably very accustomed to hearing) Dude: Ever hear of a "spindle lock"?

[Chris]

Er,.. Bob? I think that *is* his complaint - the PC doesn't have a spindle lock.

I happen to have both the aformentioned Craftsman router AND an old Rockwell router (same as the PC). I love the Rockwell EXCEPT for the fact that it doesn't have a spindle lock. I was able to purchase a

1/2" collet for it - something I COULDN'T do for my Craftsman.

-Chris

[Elmar]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man I can't count the number of threads on this board where if you don't buy JET, DELTA or others, you are buying JUNK.

Some people here have more money than common sense or SKILL! And if that offends you, you likely fall into one of these two categories.

The idea behind this board should be to HELP others. And help others with what they HAVE and don't knock them because they didn't spend $2k for a saw and fence.

This board has got to be the worst for that. One good thing about when I had my Ryobi Saw was the Ryobi tools forum. You should see what some of these WOODWORKERS have made with, what most people here think is, an underpowered or hobby saw. If they can do it with a $279.00 saw just imagine what they could do with the tools that the "Pros" here have?!?!?

And for God's sakes, if you HAVE NOT USED THE TOOL, don't say it's junk. If you have NO experience using it....SAY SO!!!

[Leon]

Yeah... some people believe the Incra fence is the greatest...

[Mark & Juanita]

In article , [e-mail] says... ... snip of generally insulting tripe

You're right, I figured out that the way to get my Craftsman pad sander to actually remove wood was to unplug it and use it as a manual sanding pad. Problem was, the weight of the useless motor used more of my energy than simply using a block of wood for the same purpose and to the same effect.

Bottom line, some of us are not zealots, but have been burned by tools that just absolutely do not work for the function for which they are sold. When we have found that, we try to share that information with others so that they don't waste their money as we did. Note, there is absolutely nothing, zip, zilch, nada, that I could have done that would have made that C*man sander perform for the purpose for which it was sold. It was not my technique, it was not my ability, it was the fact that this vibrating piece of screaming crap was not designed to perform its function. Not only did this piece of crap not work, I was convinced by my experience with it that electric sanders were pretty much worthless and was resigned to hand sanding all of my projects. It wasn't until my wife insisted that I get something to speed things along on a project that was important to our household (i.e. finishing the nursery) that I tried a PC 333 ROS. What a difference! This sander actually took off wood!

Had the same experience with a Sears Jig Saw, it tried to vibrate and scream the wood apart -- regardless of the blades I bought for it. OTOH, the Sears electric drill I have has performed for almost 20 years, the only complaint I have about it is that the chuck doesn't engage very well with the chuck key -- but that is a problem that can be worked around.

[Robert]

I've got a 1HP Craftsman router that I've had more than a decade, still works fine. I've got a newer 3.5HP Craftsman router as well and it's seen a lot of use in my router table. The big router recently quit, and after a little troubleshooting, I found the switch assembly was clogged with sawdust. I leave the switch locked "on" all the time and use a switch on the table to turn it on/off. A little cleaning, and it's working fine again.

I've got a Porter Cable router at home and an older Bosch and a new Dewalt router at work. All work fine. The new Dewalt has the similar style of height adjustment as my oldest Craftsman but has more slop.

All my routers work fine. All have pros & cons. Some features of the Craftsman work better than my other brands. Note that Sears sells a number of tools that all carry the same Craftsman name. Some are considered entry level, some are better. The two Craftsman routers I have never slip router bits, but may have a completely different collet system than yours.

Bottom line, don't be jaded on a brand by one bad experience. I could bore you even further with problems I've had with Jet, Black&Decker (aka Dewalt), Porter Cable, Grizzly, etc. None are perfect. Buy another brand, but expect to find other issues...

Robert

[Silvan]

Vibrating piece of screaming crap... I just want you to know that that one made me blow a cracker out my nose. It hurts.

[Patrick H. Corrigan]