Frustration with JessEm

[Frank Drackman]

In late March I started a thread about improving my router table setup. My current situation is a homemade table & fence with no dust collection. I have some breathing problems so I have been working on improving all of the dust collection in my shop. After getting great advice from the members here I ordered a bunch of new components. I decided to start with the INCR CleanSweep dust collection box and the CleanSweep plates. I added a table & lift but decided to build a new fence. It all arrived by the end of March.

I ordered a JessEm Pow-R-Tek motor & remote control box though my local Woodcraft store knowing that it was out of stock until mid-April. A few weeks ago the store notified me that it was scheduled to ship on April 19^th. On April 18^th I checked the JessEm website and it still listed mid-April as the ship date. On the 19^th I checked the website and it now said end of June for the ship date. I checked the Woodcraft website and it still said shipping on April 19^th.

I called JessEm and was routed to the customer support voicemail. I left a very polite message asking them to call me to discuss what was happening. I thought that maybe they had fulfilled all of the orders and were OoS waiting for the next shipment in June. Never heard back from them. Yesterday I heard from Woodcraft that they now had a June 14^th ship date.

I can’t begin to understand how JessEm operates. If they were going to slip the ship date from mid-April to the end of June they had to know before April 18^th. Never returning a phone call is also really bad. I will continue to try to contact them. I will update if I hear anything worthwhile from JessEM.

[Matt Day]

I understand you’re frustrated that you aren’t going to get your router when you thought you would, but this type of thing happens all the time. Jessem is at the mercy of their supplier and likely something happened that’s out of Jessem’s control.
Yes they could have called you back, but just call back again when they’re open and talk to a human.

[Brian Behrens]

Frank, this is a blessing in disguise. Trust me when I tell you that you do not want that Jessem router. I also took a chance on it. The first one I got lasted about an hour then died. The second one I got lasted maybe 3 hours, and also died. Jessem was good about replacing the first one. I gave up and went back to a Porter Cable 7518, which happened to come with a brand new Jessem switch. The Jessem switch was wired wrong, new out of the box. Jessem makes many awesome products but I would stay away from this router. I noticed that Incra stopped selling the Jessem router on their website, although they still sell a lot of Jessem products. That is what I call a clue. If you really like the router, buy the MLCS version which is identical, and comes from the same assembly line in China, but costs less, however it does not come with the fancy digital speed control.

Also, the 1/4" collet that came with the Jessem would not hold a bit. Really poor quality control. Scratch that - non existent quality control on this router from Jessem. Despite being "out of stock", Jessem had a replacement router to me within a few days. I hope they have called an actual stop on selling this thing until it is improved. Or maybe I had bad luck three times in a row with Jessem. When the router was working for brief periods, it did nothing to impress me. I find the PC 7518 has more power when raising panels.

I purchased these items from Incra and learned that Incra customer service is FANTASTIC. I was very impressed with how Incra handled the situation when they could have easily told me to deal with Jessem (which I did, several times before asking Incra to help).

[tom lucas]

I'd cancel the order and look elsewhere. It's just a motor. A lot of other choices available for immediate delivery.

[glenn bradley]

First of all, my apologies for all those folks on here who just love Jess-Em. They do make a top notch product. The historical reason I have never been able to do business with them is the long rhythmic cycles of their customer service level. At times they are golden and then for extended periods you can't even get a human on the phone or even an email response. I stay shy of Laguna for the same reason; good company, good products, historically flaky relationship with their customer base. I don't want the time I need help to be in the middle of one of their down periods. We have other folks on here who shun other companies for perceived or actual issues. I guess these are mine. .

[Frank Drackman]

I'm not sure if JessEm manufactures their own products or uses contract manufacturing but I have managed both small & large scale production in U.S., Mexico and multiple locations in Asia. I can’t envision a scenario where they didn’t know until April 18^th that the router wasn’t going to ship on the 19^th and that the delay was going to be until the end of June.

Having someone at the factory supervising the production and managing the schedule is completely in their control. Manufacturing isn’t a black box where components go in the front door and finished goods magically pop out the back door without lots of intermediate milestones. I understand that there are delays in transportation & clearing customs but if the product was coming from Asia it needed to be on a boat or plane before well before April 18^th. Before it was put on a truck to get to the boat or plane, it needed to pass quality control and packed for shipment and a bunch of other milestones.

Communication is completely in JessEm’s control. They missed many steps where they could have communicated product delays to their customers. Not returning a phone call after using the usual outgoing message that customer support is extremely important to them, and they will promptly get right back to you is really bad.

I called twice during their stated working hours.

I understand you’re frustrated that you aren’t going to get your router when you thought you would, but this type of thing happens all the time. Jessem is at the mercy of their supplier and likely something happened that’s out of Jessem’s control.


Yes they could have called you back, but just call back again when they’re open and talk to a human.

[George Yetka]

I agree ditch that motor and get the PC.
I have their excel table and it is amazing but the motor itself is the PC. I am more than satisfied with all of their stuff but as far as a motor goes I wouldn't expect them to produce the best one, they are good at machining not winding motors.

[Frank Drackman]

There don't seem to be a lot of great choices for a large variable speed motor to use in a table. I own a bunch of PC routers that have performed great so the motor on my list was the 7518. I have two friends that recently purchased the 7518 said that they wouldn't buy it again. Both say that they quality is much lower that previous PC routers and directed me to the JessEm Pow-R-Tek.

Frank, this is a blessing in disguise. Trust me when I tell you that you do not want that Jessem router. I also took a chance on it. The first one I got lasted about an hour then died. The second one I got lasted maybe 3 hours, and also died. Jessem was good about replacing the first one. I gave up and went back to a Porter Cable 7518, which happened to come with a brand new Jessem switch. The Jessem switch was wired wrong, new out of the box. Jessem makes many awesome products but I would stay away from this router. I noticed that Incra stopped selling the Jessem router on their website, although they still sell a lot of Jessem products. That is what I call a clue. If you really like the router, buy the MLCS version which is identical, and comes from the same assembly line in China, but costs less, however it does not come with the fancy digital speed control.

Also, the 1/4" collet that came with the Jessem would not hold a bit. Really poor quality control. Scratch that - non existent quality control on this router from Jessem. Despite being "out of stock", Jessem had a replacement router to me within a few days. I hope they have called an actual stop on selling this thing until it is improved. Or maybe I had bad luck three times in a row with Jessem. When the router was working for brief periods, it did nothing to impress me. I find the PC 7518 has more power when raising panels.

I purchased these items from Incra and learned that Incra customer service is FANTASTIC. I was very impressed with how Incra handled the situation when they could have easily told me to deal with Jessem (which I did, several times before asking Incra to help).

[Brian Behrens]

I got a response from Jessem when I made a video of the router seemingly possessed - varying rpms on it's own by thousands of rpms while under no load. I put the video on YouTube and set it to private, as I was not even considering nuking them in public until they had a chance to make me whole - their response after viewing the video was quick. I was actually shocked that they stepped up and took care of me. At the end of the day though I had no faith in the router and did not want to try a third example.

It's a shame, because I have a lot of Jessem stuff and love it all, especially the doweling jig. I know there are murmurs of reduced quality in the pc7518 as well - but so far it has outlasted the Jessem router(s) I tried, by far. Only time will tell. One more note and I will step down - this experience happened within the last month. This is not something that happened when it first came out. The bottom line is that there is not a lot of real world testimony on this router and I believe it is a crapshoot if you decide to invest in it. I have many tools that have been in service for me for 15 years or so - my Hitachi miter saw, which I have built several houses with and made probably 100,000 cuts on it - has never missed a beat. Nor has my 20 year old rigid sander that has probably thousands of hours on it. No they are not the best tools out there, but they WORK, and that is important to me! I know the PC 7518 has a long history of WORKING, and that is all we can hope for these days. A bling bling digital rpm display is cool. It's not so cool when it's stuck on zero.

[Frank Pratt]

The Milwaukee 5625-20 is a good choice in a large router.

[Robert Engel]

Sorry for your experience. As mentioned, it is most likely a supplier issue.

I've had no issues contacting anyone at Jessem. Everyone I've spoken to is both knowledgeable about the product and polite. Perhaps the call load is high due to the delay in shipping?

Also, I've been using the Jessem router w/remote switch for about a month without any problems. Plenty of power, the speed control is quite handy.

In my shop, DeWalt has eclipsed PC in both product line and quality. Since purchased by Black & Decker, IMO PC is just not what it used to be.

[Thomas McCurnin]

I have had a Porter Cable 7519 for probably 25 years now. Its a huge 3 1/2 horse beast with variable speed that continues to run like a champ. They are still sold on eBay for about $100. Yes, you have look under the table and adjust the speed. Yes, it takes two wrenches to change bits. But it is an amazing router. It is perfect for a table.

[tom lucas]

Like Frank recommended, the Milwaukee 5625-20 3.5 hp router is on my wish list. but I'm certain there are others that will fill a need just as well.

[Orlando Gonzalez]

I also recommend the Milwaukee 5625-20 for table use. It's the one I have and have had no issues with it. They also have Service Centers in West Bath and Lewiston, if they are close to you.

[Ben Rivel]

Stick with the tried and true. Pick up a Porter Cable 7518.