Broke a router bit... and broke my PC 690 router

[George Bowen]

I was cutting some 1/4" dado's for drawer bottoms in red oak this afternoon on my router table. Halfway through the second side piece the resistance stops and I hear some chatering. I shut things down and see the bit sheared off right at the collet. I then open the door to look and see if the bit is in there. I see the bit but also shards of black plastic. My router plate is black phenolic so I start inspecting the plate thinking it had chipes our somewhere. It looked fine so i pulled the router body out to change the bit and black pieces of plastic drop out of the of the router.

I thout it might have been the top casing from a router bit piece bouncing around inside the router table. But there were loos pieces inside the router body.

I start to take the router apart and the top two star head screws break off flush with their mounting points, one I can back out but the other is slightly under the cast frame, I miight be able toget it from underneath though.

ANyway, a bit of a rant, but It looks like just the internal fan busted apart, the motor looks clean and everything else ok, besides the two top screws.

Am I ok just replacing that piece, looks like I can get it for under $10 online. The router is just over 1 year old, I doubt warranty, if it would be covered, would come out under $10 even if the part is "free".

Thoughts? Are these things easy to service and repair?

Thanks in advance.

[rob mason]

Wow - bet that was scary. Glad you werent using it freehand.

[Peter Quinn]

I don't know anything about repairing a PC690, but that sounds scary. For clarity, are you thinking the bit broke and took out the router, or the fan broke and took out the bit? If the fan broke I'd be checking the warranty, if the bit broke I'd be checking the bit's warranty.

I broke a knife on a shaper head once (completely due to my own stupidity, so different situation), took me about 2 minutes to reach up from under the bench I had jumped under and actually shut off the machine. Pieces of HSS were found in different parts of the shop, amazingly none in me!

What brand of bit was that?

[Bruce Wrenn]

First,did you buy the router on a credit card that doubles the warranty? Most do, as long as you have the paper work. Second, is the fan available as a separate part, or do you have to get a complete armature. To remove the collet, you will need either an electric, or air impact wrench. Take off collet nut, put socket on collet, with gun in reverse, and go for it. Usually takes a couple tries. Collet has to be removed before removing armature. To install collet, only hand tighten, as the forces of cutting will finish tightening it.

[Rick Fisher]

That sounds scary. I think when something like that happens, if your not bleeding, it wasnt a tragedy.

The worst I have had is a bearing come off, which actually flew around and dented the garage door.

I use 1/4" shank bits on my router table, but this is a good reason to stick to 1/2".

[David DeCristoforo]

"Glad you werent using it freehand...."

Actually, if he had been using it freehand, the router would have been "right side up" and the broken pieces would not have fallen into the router housing and knocked off all the fan blades!

[Gene Michael]

This is the second time I've heard of a bit breaking and damaging a PC 690. The other incident was on the Rockler web site under feedback for the 690. Makes me wonder if this model is more susceptible to this type of damage than other routers. It also drives home the lesson - only use top quality bits! I had a cheapie come apart once, but I was using the router as hand held and the preces of the bit fell away from the motor. Hope you're able to get your router back up and running.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I was routing a dado with a straight bit in a home made router table and like you the resistance just stopped. I shut the router off and looked to see what was wrong and found the bit had snapped off flush with the collet head. I never heard or luckily felt anything and to this day have no idea where the bit went. Needless to say that ended the night's work.

I was telling a friend who has many years of woodworking experience and he didn't seem to think it was a big deal. He said it had happened to him before and he found the broken bit lying close to his router table. ....Maybe no big deal for him but I'd just as soon not have anything running around loose that's a couple feet from me and going 22,000 rpm.

[Frank Drew]

I broke a knife on a shaper head once (completely due to my own stupidity, so different situation), took me about 2 minutes to reach up from under the bench I had jumped under and actually shut off the machine. Pieces of HSS were found in different parts of the shop, amazingly none in me!

Years ago a fellow wrote in FWW about the knives coming loose in his shaper; he said the sound they made cutting into the table was like a 747 coming in on its belly!

[David Eisan]

Hello there,

Was your 690 made in the USA or Mexico?

Thank you,

David

[George Bowen]

I bought the 690 at Rockler, not sure if it is made in US or Mexico, I'll have to check.

The bit was a cheap bit I ordered from HF I think when I got a bunch a clamps. So no warranty or out any money on the bit.

I'm going to call Porter Cable anyway to see what they say.

Bruce, thanks for the info on pulling things apart. I can buy just the fan, although the parts diagram only shows it as one unit, there is a seperate part number not linked to the diagram for thhe single fan unit that is about $9.50 at some parts suppliers on line.

[Jim Mackell]

I also broke off a 1/4 inch bit while routing a dado in red oak. That stuff is hard! Scared the living daylights out of me.

I found that with red oak or ash, you MUST take small bites in multiple passes to avoid overstressing the bit. It's small and no matter how tough the carbide is, it's under incredible amounts of stress.

Little bites, little bites.

[John Sanford]

You broke the bit due to taking too big/fast of a cut. The bit chunklet proceeded to follow gravity down through the fans, trashing them. I did the same thing to my PC 690. The 690 was designed for upright handheld use, "back in the day" before router tables became popular. As a result, the ventilation openings for the fan are much larger than those in later 1.5-2hp routers, thus allowing the evil conspiracy of snappage and gravity to take out your router. IIRC, the fan blade is pressed onto the armature, its probably not worth the $$ to fix.

Do yourself a favor, and get a router that is designed with table use in mind. I know the Bosch has small vents at the business end, and believe that the PC 693 does as well.

[Howard Acheson]

"Glad you werent using it freehand...."

Actually, if he had been using it freehand, the router would have been "right side up" and the broken pieces would not have fallen into the router housing and knocked off all the fan blades!

Yup David, you're right. When mounted in a router table, a router is "upside down" and a broken bit will fall directly into the router air intakes and take out the fan blades. It's a risk when using cheap bits.

[AL Ursich]

That is interesting.... I use my 690 for a router table..... Time to change to another.... Thanks for the heads up....

AL