OL

"Owen Lawrence"

24/01/2006 8:07 PM

My poor router bearings

I was SO happy getting my Freud FT2000E router. Finally I had lots of
power and a machine that should be sturdy enough to withstand any of my
hobby use. I spent much of last year building my router table, and finally
put it to good work on my window sill project.

I've probably got less than 2 hours of run time on this thing. More
like one hour. Light passes, too; I did NOT stress this baby. Imagine my
disappointment when it started making this huge noise last Saturday. Today
I paid the $90C repair bill for the new bearings it needed. (Of course the
warrantee expired almost exactly one month ago.) The repair man told me
he'd press the manufacturer to honour the warrantee if it was the armature
or something like that, but not for bearings because they wear out, and
they're really strict about their policies. "Especially if it's hanging in
a router table, because the dust settles on the bearings, and even though
they're "sealed", they're not really sealed, and the dust draws the oil out
of the bearings."

Does any of this sound reasonable to you? I'm doing this hobby for fun,
not for profit, but let me tell you the fun goes out of it really fast when
it gets this expensive.

- Owen -


This topic has 21 replies

JJ

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 6:23 PM

Tue, Jan 24, 2006, 8:07pm [email protected] (Owen=A0Lawrence)
lamenteth:
<snip> "Especially if it's hanging in a router table, because the dust
settles on the bearings, and even though they're "sealed", they're not
really sealed, and the dust draws the oil out of the bearings."
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Does any of this sound reasonable to you? <snip>

Nope. I had a Craftsman router hanging in a router table, for
years. It quit, not due to bearings, and I opened it up. Not a bit of
dust inside.



JOAT
You only need two tools: WD-40, and duct tape. If it doesn't move and
it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.

OL

"Owen Lawrence"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 10:01 AM

>> I've probably got less than 2 hours of run time on this thing. More
>> like one hour. Light passes, too; I did NOT stress this baby.
>
> An hour's use in a year?!

I thought someone might take me to task over that. For most cuts it's only
running for a few seconds (say less than 30), and I spent a long time just
building the router table. My reality is that I divide my free time into
many many pieces, and woodworking is just one of them.

- Owen -

bb

badger

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 10:02 PM



no(SPAM)vasys wrote:
> Owen Lawrence wrote:
>
>> Does any of this sound reasonable to you? I'm doing this hobby
>> for fun, not for profit, but let me tell you the fun goes out of it
>> really fast when it gets this expensive.
>>
>> - Owen -
>>
>
> I've had my FT2000E sitting in the router table for about 10 years. The
> bearings are fine.
>
Older stock, better parts!

AD

Andy Dingley

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

26/01/2006 1:51 AM

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:02:27 GMT, badger <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> I've had my FT2000E sitting in the router table for about 10 years. The
>> bearings are fine.
>>
>Older stock, better parts!

I bought mine about 8 years ago. If I'd bought it a year earlier I'd
probably have got the AEG instead. They built a near-copy on the same
lines in the same factory (a few other tools too) but the AEG seemed to
have a slightly better standard of finish. My SDS drill and biscuiter
are AEGs rather than Freud but they seem to have pulled the router
model.

Mine lives in the table almost all the time and I've never had a squeak
out of it. Still, there's always the weekend...

Lr

"Leon"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 7:39 PM


"Mike Berger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I think a lot of readers are probably unaware that you're
> talking about *Canadian* currency here. Those are not
> prices in US dollars! It may be high by US standards, but
> not as significantly as people seem to think.

I am thinking the indicated Canadian Tax on the sum of charges should be
enough for some one to realise Canadian currency.



> Owen Lawrence wrote:
>
>> We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that
>> bearings are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:
>>
>> Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
>> Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)
>> Labour: 28.00 (Seems fair)
>> GST: 5.43 (Welcome to
>> PST: 6.20 Canada)
>> Total 89.17 (OUCH!!)

RK

"Robert Krecak"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 10:42 AM

Owen,
What you describe is a very common occurrence when a router is used as a
shaper, especially with large diameter router bits on a table. I own a heavy
duty Milwaukee router that is used in my router table. I keep several extra
shaft ball bearings and replace them as needed. It is actually pretty easy
and the bearings cost less than $10 each. They don't last too long in a
router table application before you begin to hear bearing noise. I also own
a heavy duty shaper and use it for operations that remove a lot of material
like raising panels, cope joints for door frames etc. Unfortunately, if you
look at the diameter and width of most router bearings you'll see that they
are not really made for use with large diameter bits on a router table.

Bob
"Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was SO happy getting my Freud FT2000E router. Finally I had lots of
> power and a machine that should be sturdy enough to withstand any of my
> hobby use. I spent much of last year building my router table, and
> finally put it to good work on my window sill project.
>
> I've probably got less than 2 hours of run time on this thing. More
> like one hour. Light passes, too; I did NOT stress this baby. Imagine my
> disappointment when it started making this huge noise last Saturday.
> Today I paid the $90C repair bill for the new bearings it needed. (Of
> course the warrantee expired almost exactly one month ago.) The repair
> man told me he'd press the manufacturer to honour the warrantee if it was
> the armature or something like that, but not for bearings because they
> wear out, and they're really strict about their policies. "Especially if
> it's hanging in a router table, because the dust settles on the bearings,
> and even though they're "sealed", they're not really sealed, and the dust
> draws the oil out of the bearings."
>
> Does any of this sound reasonable to you? I'm doing this hobby for
> fun, not for profit, but let me tell you the fun goes out of it really
> fast when it gets this expensive.
>
> - Owen -
>

RM

"Rob Mills"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 12:39 AM


"George M. Kazaka" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>>>I have never seen any router bearing costing more than about 12 bucks <<<


That's what I would think. It's been 10 -12 years since I've bought any but
think I never paid more than $5 or $6 then. At that price I usually replaced
both just because I had it opened up. RM~


RM

"Rob Mills"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

24/01/2006 8:48 PM


"Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>>> I paid the $90C repair bill <<<

OUCH!! If you have a bearing supply in town such as Allied Bearing take the
bearing to them and they will give you an exact match. They are easy to
replace and more than likely just the bearing on the business end was bad.
RM~

Ds

Dan

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 2:00 AM

On Tue 24 Jan 2006 07:41:35p, "noonenparticular" <[email protected]>
wrote in news:[email protected]:

> I know this doesn't help you now, but I could have helped you avoid this
> experience as my father had the *exact* same thing happen to his freud
> router.
>
> I guees at least they're consistent.

Okay, that helps. I've been trying to decide whether I want to dedicate the
Hitachi or the Freud to the router table. Guess it'll be the Hitachi.

Dan

TT

"Toller"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 4:01 AM

> I've probably got less than 2 hours of run time on this thing. More
> like one hour. Light passes, too; I did NOT stress this baby.

An hour's use in a year?!

MB

Mike Berger

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 10:53 AM

I bought the Freud FT2000, and looked it over when I got home.
The specs were similar to the Hitachi M12V, and a lot of people
didn't like the 1/4" sleeve adaptor for the collet on the Hitachi.

I didn't like the fit and finish, so I returned it and ordered
the Hitachi instead. The Hitachi M12V seems to be decent.
It certainly "felt" better than the Freud. I haven't had any
trouble with the collet adapter, which I use frequently.

Owen Lawrence wrote:
> I was SO happy getting my Freud FT2000E router. Finally I had lots of
> power and a machine that should be sturdy enough to withstand any of my
> hobby use. I spent much of last year building my router table, and finally
> put it to good work on my window sill project.

MB

Mike Berger

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 10:55 AM

I think a lot of readers are probably unaware that you're
talking about *Canadian* currency here. Those are not
prices in US dollars! It may be high by US standards, but
not as significantly as people seem to think.

Owen Lawrence wrote:

> We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that bearings
> are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:
>
> Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
> Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)
> Labour: 28.00 (Seems fair)
> GST: 5.43 (Welcome to
> PST: 6.20 Canada)
> Total 89.17 (OUCH!!)

DP

Doug Payne

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 12:32 PM

On 25/01/2006 11:55 AM, Mike Berger wrote:

> I think a lot of readers are probably unaware that you're
> talking about *Canadian* currency here. Those are not
> prices in US dollars! It may be high by US standards, but
> not as significantly as people seem to think.

The cost before taxes is still over $67 US at today's rates. That's an
OUCH!! no matter where you are (I'm in Canada too).

> Owen Lawrence wrote:
>
>> We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that
>> bearings are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:
>>
>> Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
>> Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)
>> Labour: 28.00 (Seems fair)
>> GST: 5.43 (Welcome to
>> PST: 6.20 Canada)
>> Total 89.17 (OUCH!!)

ni

"noonenparticular"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 1:41 AM

Owen,

I know this doesn't help you now, but I could have helped you avoid this
experience as my father had the *exact* same thing happen to his freud
router.

I guees at least they're consistent.

jc

"Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was SO happy getting my Freud FT2000E router. Finally I had lots of
> power and a machine that should be sturdy enough to withstand any of my
> hobby use. I spent much of last year building my router table, and
> finally put it to good work on my window sill project.
>
> I've probably got less than 2 hours of run time on this thing. More
> like one hour. Light passes, too; I did NOT stress this baby. Imagine my
> disappointment when it started making this huge noise last Saturday.
> Today I paid the $90C repair bill for the new bearings it needed. (Of
> course the warrantee expired almost exactly one month ago.) The repair
> man told me he'd press the manufacturer to honour the warrantee if it was
> the armature or something like that, but not for bearings because they
> wear out, and they're really strict about their policies. "Especially if
> it's hanging in a router table, because the dust settles on the bearings,
> and even though they're "sealed", they're not really sealed, and the dust
> draws the oil out of the bearings."
>
> Does any of this sound reasonable to you? I'm doing this hobby for
> fun, not for profit, but let me tell you the fun goes out of it really
> fast when it gets this expensive.
>
> - Owen -
>

OL

"Owen Lawrence"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

24/01/2006 10:57 PM

> "Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>>> I paid the $90C repair bill <<<
>
> OUCH!! If you have a bearing supply in town such as Allied Bearing take
> the bearing to them and they will give you an exact match. They are easy
> to replace and more than likely just the bearing on the business end was
> bad.

We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that bearings
are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:

Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)
Labour: 28.00 (Seems fair)
GST: 5.43 (Welcome to
PST: 6.20 Canada)
Total 89.17 (OUCH!!)

It adds up fast. Thing is, there was no way *I* could have known that a
single new bearing was all that was needed. (One router I had just
disintegrated inside; plastic fan bits got in the works. No way I could
repair it myself.) If it happens again I'll recognize the (awful) sound and
probably know what to do. I sure hope it doesn't happen again, though. At
least not for a very very long time.

At this point I'm not really planning to change the way I work. I plan to
add a vacuum attachment eventually, but my experience so far shows that most
(not all, of course) of the dust stays above the router table. I vacuum it
out manually once in awhile, but I really don't do so much woodworking that
it should be a big deal. I tell the story here just in case I really am
doing something wrong by not having a vacuum howling in harmony with my
router. It'll take some convincing, though. Freud even sells a router
table, and not a word was mentioned about it at the wood show where I bought
it.

- Owen -

RM

"Rob Mills"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

24/01/2006 10:41 PM


"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>>> My Bosch hung in the router table for ummmm over 14 years.<<<


My 1601 (think that's the #) is just about that old (maybe older) and still
going strong. I blow it out after every use and add a drop of oil to the
business end often.
Just purchased a Craftsman/Bosch twin base router, suspect (hope) it
will also hold up as well. I'm like Owen, don't use them on a regular basis,
sort of run hot and cold but enjoy while using. RM~








OL

"Owen Lawrence"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

26/01/2006 1:09 AM

"Juergen Hannappel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>
> [...]
>
>> We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that
>> bearings
>> are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:
>>
>> Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
>> Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)
>
> What kind of bearing? I recently bought two (low-cost, not really SKF)
> ball bearings with 30mm inner diameter and one small one with 30mm
> outer, all sealed, for 20EUR....
> --

One says 6005RS, the other 6201RS. Now that I have all this great knowledge
(thanks to you guys) I can fix my router really cheap.

Education costs, no matter how you get it.

- Owen -

nn

"no(SPAM)vasys" <"no(SPAM)vasys"@adelphia.net>

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 3:33 PM

Owen Lawrence wrote:

> Does any of this sound reasonable to you? I'm doing this hobby for fun,
> not for profit, but let me tell you the fun goes out of it really fast when
> it gets this expensive.
>
> - Owen -
>
>

I've had my FT2000E sitting in the router table for about 10 years. The
bearings are fine.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
[email protected]
(Remove -SPAM- to send email)

Lr

"Leon"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 4:13 AM


"Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> Does any of this sound reasonable to you? I'm doing this hobby for
> fun, not for profit, but let me tell you the fun goes out of it really
> fast when it gets this expensive.



Absolutely not. My Bosch hung in the router table for ummmm over 14 years.

GM

"George M. Kazaka"

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

24/01/2006 10:40 PM

I have never seen any router bearing costing more than about 12 bucks and
have never seen both bearings go at the same time,
appears you got a raw deal on both ends,

Over a lot of years I have had a few routers have bearing failure within a
couple of months but for the most part I beat them to death over a long
period of time.

I am a pro with approx. twenty five or so routers of various sizes in my
shop at any given time and probably have purchased more than 150 routers
(wild guess) probably more.

Bearings in just about every woodworking machine or tool I have every
repaired have been reasonably priced.
I usually only buy them at a bearing supply house

Good luck,
George

"Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> "Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>>> I paid the $90C repair bill <<<
>>
>> OUCH!! If you have a bearing supply in town such as Allied Bearing take
>> the bearing to them and they will give you an exact match. They are easy
>> to replace and more than likely just the bearing on the business end was
>> bad.
>
> We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that bearings
> are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:
>
> Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
> Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)
> Labour: 28.00 (Seems fair)
> GST: 5.43 (Welcome to
> PST: 6.20 Canada)
> Total 89.17 (OUCH!!)
>
> It adds up fast. Thing is, there was no way *I* could have known that a
> single new bearing was all that was needed. (One router I had just
> disintegrated inside; plastic fan bits got in the works. No way I could
> repair it myself.) If it happens again I'll recognize the (awful) sound
> and probably know what to do. I sure hope it doesn't happen again,
> though. At least not for a very very long time.
>
> At this point I'm not really planning to change the way I work. I plan to
> add a vacuum attachment eventually, but my experience so far shows that
> most (not all, of course) of the dust stays above the router table. I
> vacuum it out manually once in awhile, but I really don't do so much
> woodworking that it should be a big deal. I tell the story here just in
> case I really am doing something wrong by not having a vacuum howling in
> harmony with my router. It'll take some convincing, though. Freud even
> sells a router table, and not a word was mentioned about it at the wood
> show where I bought it.
>
> - Owen -
>

JH

Juergen Hannappel

in reply to "Owen Lawrence" on 24/01/2006 8:07 PM

25/01/2006 9:03 PM

"Owen Lawrence" <[email protected]> writes:


[...]

> We do have a bearing supply store in town. My experience is that bearings
> are expensive. Here's how my bill broke down:
>
> Bearing 1: 16.18 (One ringy-dingy)
> Bearing 2: 33.36 (Two ringy-dingy - snort snort)

What kind of bearing? I recently bought two (low-cost, not really SKF)
ball bearings with 30mm inner diameter and one small one with 30mm
outer, all sealed, for 20EUR....
--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
mailto:[email protected] Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23


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