If you are a serious woodworker, this is by far THE best router table to buy. I bought the complete table, fence, stand, casters & micro-adjuster. Every little piece of hardware was accounted for and very neatly packaged. The reliability and accuracy of the fence make it very easy to use. And if you don't want to drill the insert yourself, for 3o bucks, Kreg will drill it for you, shipping included.
The assembly instructions were written in simple, easy-to-understand English and not like the 'Chinglish' from other manufacturers who outsourced their products. This router table examplifies American ingenuity & workmanship. It's definitely a 5-star rating. (3 box set) Kreg PRS1040 Precision Router Table System
The 3 star rating is not meant to reflect the usefulness of the product or the accuracy of the work one can perform with it. It is a reflection of the robustness of some key components.
The stand is very sturdy as is the laminate coated table top and the actual aluminium fence. There are some weak areas. The phenolic insert accepts either of 2 reducing rings. These rings are held in place by screws which are threaded into very small, very fragile threaded holes in the phenolic insert. It is extremely easy to strip the threads in the phenolic insert by over-tightening. There is no positive "stop" when the screws are in far enough. Exercise extreme care when installing the reducing rings.
More disappointingly, the aluminium assembly which attaches the fence to the levered glide (and the glide itself) which attaches to the guide on the side of the table are extremely fragile. The assembly is held to the levered glide by 4 machine screws with brass washers. I stripped the threads in the aluminium parts tightening one of those screws, using a hand screwdriver gripped by my fingers only (i.e. I did not grab the screwdriver with a "fist grip"). I'm a lawyer and I am not noted for my death grip. There are 2 nylon screws which take the slop out of the levered glide. When I assembled my table one went in perfectly while the other cross-threaded as it entered the second piece of metal.
This is not the first tool I have had to assemble from a myriad of parts. It is, however, one of the most fragile.
The fence is billed as being similar to a table saw fence. In my view, that is a bit of marketing hyperbole. The fence does have a locking lever at one end like a table saw fence. Engaging the lever does not, however, lock the fence perpendicular to the side of the table. There is a tall twist knob at the opposite end of the fence that you tighten after aligning the fence properly. It certainly isn't a bad system, just not as effective as a table saw fence.
Sweet table! I'm not a master woodworker or great furniture maker, but this table is one of the greatest additions I've made to my shop in quite awhile. Smooth operation, easy to use and accurate. You won't be disappointed. The only item I'll add is a router lift.
Let me get the zero stars for Amazon out of the way first. To be fair, I have bought a bunch of stuff from Amazon - my first stop for shopping. I've only had to return one other item, and that return was handled perfectly, since I just dealt with their computer system. But this time, I had to deal with their customer service people.
I ordered this item, using the Amazon Prime free shipping program. It arrived right on time. There were three boxes in the shipment, one for the stand, one for the table top, and one for the fence. All three had obviously been dropped, presumably by UPS, on a corner. During assembly, it came to light that the table top was smashed on the corner where it was dropped. I contacted Amazon to return it, and the past 2-1/2 weeks has been a nightmare of really bad customer service. First of all, they sent me a UPS paid return label. For one box, not three. I sent an email and asked for them to fix that. They sent me another one, same deal. I then called customer service. Fast forwarding to today, of the five times i have spoken to the Amazon customer service, on only two of those times have I been able to understand the person on the other end of the phone. The rest of the time, it has been someone with a very heavy accent who mumbled.
On the first call, they told me to put the whole thing into one box and send it in a single shipment. I reminded them that it was unlikely that UPS would pick up a box that weighed in excess of 200 pounds. So they said that they would have UPS pick it up at my office. Except that they didn't tell UPS to do so. Call #3 got them to actually tell UPS to pick it up. At the wrong address, and only one box. Call #4 got cut off after waiting for 15 minutes to get transferred to a supervisor. Finally, on call #5, I talked to a very delightful lady who seemed to understand what needed to be done. We'll see -- they are supposed to pick it up tomorrow.
When the return process first began, they entered a new order for a replacement. It was scheduled to be shipped in June. I can't wait that long, so I told them to give me a refund. Sure hope I get it. In the meantime, I bought this router table at the local Woodcraft store. Paid more, but I have the table in my shop now.
Now about the Five stars rating for the product itself. This is a really great router table. I gave this review four stars, because Kreg was partly at fault for the damage mine received. If they had designed their packaging better, the damage probably wouldn't have happened. The padding in the box was a piece of styrofoam 1/4" thick and some corrugated cardboard. MDF is not that sturdy. It needs at least 2" of foam padding.
But the table itself is wonderful. The stand is built like an Abrams tank, and the table is a nice size. The fence works exactly like they say it does. Square and easy to use. So the product gets five starts, Kreg gets four stars, and Amazon gets zero stars for bad customer service.
Update 5/7/08: I've used the router table quite a bit now. It is still as great as I noted above. I've started to build cabinets and drawers in the stand below the table top, but find there's not a lot of room for that. The sawdust collection is pretty good above the table, but the floor quickly gets several inches deep in the stuff that falls through the opening in the top. Part of my cabinet plans below the table include a fix for that.
It is now about two weeks after I wrote the above review. Five additional contacts with Amazon just resulted in UPS going to the wrong address again to pick it up. But a conversation with the UPS guy at my office may have broken the stalemate. He said he'd be back this afternoon to pick it up. Grand total contacts with Amazon customer service are now in excess of ten, and the latest advice of the pickup says I may be charged for the return shipping costs. For a damaged item.
Update on 6/25/10: Now that I've used this router table for a couple years, I still love it. But, I managed to misplace the two plastic rods that are used to move the left side of the router fence out for special work. I contacted Kreg to buy some new ones. Maybe I am cynical, but I was surprised to have them tell me that they would be happy to send me a new set at no charge. We talked for a few additional minutes and I got some tips on using my router table. Friends, if you don't have a jointer but find you need one, this table's for you! Use those plastic rods to move the left fence forward, put in a long straight-cutting bit, align the left fence with the bit, and you've got a jointer. Works great. I jointed about 150 linear feet of 8/4 oak and edge-glued it with perfect results. I may still buy a jointer, but that purchase has gone down in priority. Thank you, Kreg, for wonderful customer service and product support.
And let me add one more item: Woodpeckers ([..], many items sold on Amazon) sells an aluminum plate to install a Porter Cable 121 portable oscillating spindle sander into a router table. I bought one of the plates and the sander. I now have a table-mounted oscillating spindle sander that is the rival of anything Delta or others sell, without taking up nearly as much of my shop space. Fantastic setup. - Carpentry - Porter Cable - Router - Kreg'
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