# New DeWalt 625: play/racking in the pillars: is this normal?



## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

Hi there,

Just bought a brand new De Walt 625EK-QS and noticed a tiny bit of racking play in the pillars. Is this normal or should there be absolutely zero play?
I took a Trend T7 back the other day for the same reason, though that was far worse and no-one argued with it: money back straight away.

Also on the DeWalt: the speed control knob looks and feels cheap, wrongly sized and badly fitted. Am I alone in this?


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## Rebelwork Woodworking (Sep 11, 2004)

You have to have some play just to move it up and down.

Still trying to understand racking...


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, @Pete de B 

I would suspect there would be slight "wriggle room" in the posts to allow for smooth plunge.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

Thanks for the reactions guys - that makes sense.


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

Rebelwork Woodworking said:


> You have to have some play just to move it up and down.
> 
> Still trying to understand racking...


Thanks!


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

jw2170 said:


> Welcome to the forum, @Pete de B
> 
> I would suspect there would be slight "wriggle room" in the posts to allow for smooth plunge.


Thanks!


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

old55 said:


> Welcome to the forum.


Thanks!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I think it depends on how much slight is. I'd do some test cuts in hardwood to make sure it's not showing up in miscuts. Not a problem if you can fit pieces precisely, but if not, you want to return it as soon as possible.


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## Rebelwork Woodworking (Sep 11, 2004)

Like I said I'm confused on raking. I have two DW625 routers and I'm lost on this one.....


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

I'll try some test cuts soon Tom - for now I'm waiting for a 1/2" collet to arrive (my worktop jig is made in China - for the US market - yet sold in Europe), so there is a compatibility glitch: DW625EK-QS comes (here in Holland anyway) with a 12mm collet. I shall overcome....

Yesterday I 'tested' some routers in the tool stores to see how much play they had. I don't what the salespeople thought I was up to, but the results were interesting: 
Europe's 'ultimate' brand was about the same as my deWalt (though the 1000-ish W variant was pretty much perfection), whereas a hobbyist's brand was better than expected. Yet another brand (which should know better) was dreadful. Lost indeed.

Having said all this, a perfect joint with a plunge router is a big ask, I would think, when joining two long kitchen worktop pieces. The end result must be flat, but this flatness depends on a end-grain joint (40mm in section - and _both_ halves) being absolutely square in the vertical. (If it were a simple joint made with a circular saw I could cut both halves such that: the error in one was cancelled out by the opposing board. But that's not an option with a 'hockey-stick' joint of course...)


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## Rebelwork Woodworking (Sep 11, 2004)

I've looked at both routers and can feel nothing loose.


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

Just stumbled on this - not my issue exactly, but a comment (from Denis Lock) on pillar play and a possibly way to deal with it:








Why does a plunge router leave a mark when it plunges...


Using a straight bit or a spiral bit, either one, I was routing out some long and wide, but shallow mortises earlier, and I had to hollow it out a row at a time. I would plunge the router in until the depth stop hit the turret and then lock it down. From there I would slide it along using an...




www.routerforums.com


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## Rebelwork Woodworking (Sep 11, 2004)

I don't think that's pillar play. Sounds like plunge bit play...

As far as returning the Trend, employees don't get payed enough to argue a router.. They will just just take it back and move forward. You've had the problem with two routers in a row from two different manufacturers...


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## Pete de B (5 mo ago)

Rebelwork Woodworking said:


> I don't think that's pillar play. Sounds like plunge bit play...
> 
> As far as returning the Trend, employees don't get payed enough to argue a router.. They will just just take it back and move forward. You've had the problem with two routers in a row from two different manufacturers...


Trying to send a short video of the pillar play I have in the router but this server won't accept .mp4 files. Anyone know what format does work?


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