# Centering bit in bushing



## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

I am trying my hand at floating tenon joinery.

I have a DW621 plunge router which seemed to have a very nice bushing design. The the metal ring that holds the bushing is press fit into the router base. There is no adjustment possible. However, because the metal ring is pressed into a resess in the actual metal base of the router I assumed that it was centered on the shaft.

Unfortunately, the bit is not centered on the bushing and there does not seem to be a way to adjust it.

Am I missing something?

Has any run into this problem?


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

peb687pmr said:


> I am trying my hand at floating tenon joinery.
> 
> I have a DW621 plunge router which seemed to have a very nice bushing design. The the metal ring that holds the bushing is press fit into the router base. There is no adjustment possible. However, because the metal ring is pressed into a resess in the actual metal base of the router I assumed that it was centered on the shaft.
> 
> ...


Hi Peter - Welcome to the forum

Picture would be handy as I'm not familiar with that router but it sounds as if the base plate itself needs to be centered. To do this you would install the bushing and centering pin then loosen the screws holding the base plate to the base and move the base plate until it's centered. The issue could be that the mfg elected to use flat head screws with cone shaped countersinks which will pull the plate back out of alignment as they are tightened. The fix here is to bore the screw holes slightly larger and then counterbore the holes and switch to pan head screws. I'm sure there is a more detailed procedure in one of the stickys but that's the general idea.


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## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

*Bit centering*



jschaben said:


> Hi Peter - Welcome to the forum
> 
> Picture would be handy as I'm not familiar with that router but it sounds as if the base plate itself needs to be centered. To do this you would install the bushing and centering pin then loosen the screws holding the base plate to the base and move the base plate until it's centered. The issue could be that the mfg elected to use flat head screws with cone shaped countersinks which will pull the plate back out of alignment as they are tightened. The fix here is to bore the screw holes slightly larger and then counterbore the holes and switch to pan head screws. I'm sure there is a more detailed procedure in one of the stickys but that's the general idea.


I know what you are saying. On my other routers, the bushing goes in the baseplate, which can be adjusted. On the DW621 the bushing ring press fits into the cast aluminium base of the router, not the phenolic removable base plate.

Initially I thought that this was a good idea because the centering was controlled by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, it is not centered and I cannot see a way to adjust it.

When I get home I will take a picture.


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## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

*Here are some pictures of what I am talking about*

As I hope you can see from the pictures, the metal ring that hold the bushing press fits into the housing. As far as I can tell there is no adjustment.


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## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

*Here is another picture*

For some reason this picture did not attach.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Peter

Pickup a Milescraft base plate and get right around that error on your DeWalt.

Amazon.com: Milescraft 1201 Base Plate / Bushing Set for Routers: Home Improvement

==


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## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

I took a look at the Milescraft baseplate and I had a few thoughts:
1) It seems to be a better fit for bases that are round, the DW621 is more rectangular.
2) I really like the dust collection feature built into the DW621. I am afraid that I would lose that ability with the Milescraft plate.
3) I am already tooled up with bushings and mortise jigs for the DW621 and I am do not want to retool and respend if I don't have to.
4) And finally, I was hoping to hear from some one who has a DW621 that could possibly shed some light on why the shaft is not centered in the machined base of the rougter. Initially I felt that it was a good design because there was no adjusability in the bushing ring. Who better to align the shaft than the manufacturer? So, I can't help wondering if I am missing something.

Anyway thank you for the replies.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Peter

You're Welcome

Below you will see a shot of the 611 DeWalt with a MilesCraft base on it,the round plate and it fits just fine and you will not block you pickup system and the real plus you can use up to a 2" OD bit without removing the base plate or your guide system..

==


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## Quillman (Aug 16, 2010)

Not missing anything. Centricity is guess & x golly with your system.
Sometimes right on, however, and I've inspected many 621's from many countries of origin.
Take the guess work out of it? Then investigate an adjustable plate.


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## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

Well, you make a good case. I will take a closer look and the Milescraft system.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

I think I would be on the horn hollering at deWalt. :angry:


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## dogtreadmil (Apr 25, 2012)

my question is also same


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## PeterinCT (Mar 25, 2012)

I will give DeWalt a call. Other than replacing the base or the whole unit, I cannot see what can be adjusted.

I was hoping someone else had the same router and could weigh in.


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## malb (Sep 15, 2008)

peb687pmr said:


> Who better to align the shaft than the manufacturer? So, I can't help wondering if I am missing something.


Someone working for bread money in a far off third world economy is going to 'align' the shaft and the base for perfect concentricity when assembling the base to the motor assembly?

They can't because the base has been machined a few stages up the line from them when the motor assy was in a different part of the factory or different factory. The people working on the line would have no understanding of your use or needs for the machine and no way to tweak it to meet those needs. 

The engineers who designed it all probably only know/care about getting maximum throughput through their CNC machines, they don't work with wood or understand why they even have to allow for template guides.

At least with PC style guides mounted in the baseplate, you can go to recessed flathead screws, slightly oversized holes and have something that is user adjustable.

If all else fails file the outside of the guide adaptor plate down a little all round so it is not a press fit in the recess, and then centre up with a pin and lock the adaptor down with the mounting screws and recheck. You should be able to get is spot on in one or two tries.


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