# Sommerfeld Router Table



## blackbeered (Jun 21, 2008)

Heads up to anyone considering Marc Sommerfeld's router table ... DON'T !

Being a cabinet-maker, you'd think he'd have some regard for the tolerances in the product bearing his name.

Here are just a few of the frustrating flaws [design and manufacturing]:

[1] the table top is composed of three sections which are +/- 0.060" different in length;

[2] the three sections mate via side-to-side tongue-and-groove ... but once tightened, there's an unacceptable crown front-to-back ... on my table the rear edge is 0.060" lower than the centerline and the front edge is 0.030" lower ... each section appears to be perfectly flat so the flaw is with the T&G tolerances/design;

[3] in the manufacturing process, the pilot holes used to insert the wire for EDM cutting the sections to length creates a surface flaw [a sharp "mound" on the worksurface] which must be ground down to be usable.

These are just three of many flaws and they should be enough for any prospective customer to choose something else.

I've called and written Marc ... but he's turned a deaf ear. 

Bottom line ... you'd do better planing and jointing up some 2x12's.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

This is very surprising news. To date all the input on anything Sommerfeld sells has been very positive. Marc also has a track record of outstanding customer service as reported by forum members. I assist members with vendor problems from time to time. You are welcome to send me a private message or email with a detailed record of the dates of purchase, contact attempts and replys if any. I will need your name as on the order along with your city and state. We have found that all vendors have been reasonable when we contacted them. Sometimes it helps to have 16,224 forum members asking with you.


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## Tale Gunner (Sep 24, 2004)

Mike said:


> This is very surprising news. To date all the input on anything Sommerfeld sells has been very positive. Marc also has a track record of outstanding customer service as reported by forum members. I assist members with vendor problems from time to time. You are welcome to send me a private message or email with a detailed record of the dates of purchase, contact attempts and replys if any. I will need your name as on the order along with your city and state. We have found that all vendors have been reasonable when we contacted them. Sometimes it helps to have 16,224 forum members asking with you.


Its great to have a team like yours to support us in the fight! Sometimes it just takes a person with a different aspect to get the point across.


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## daleh (Oct 18, 2008)

*same problem different opinion*

I had a similar issue with my table. Many of the center pieces Mark got were crowned. Mark sent me a new one, let me keep the old one and sent me a free shop apron to boot. I am going to rin the old piece thru a drum sander and am sure it will make an excellent backup table.

It did take a while to get it resolved but the shop was polite and professional. Additionally he did not charge me any shipping costs. I would buy from them again. The table top is not perfect, nothing is but in my opinion it is the stoutest thing out there for the money, short of a solid cast top.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

All vendors can get bad parts from their suppliers. The important thing is how they respond to the problem. It seems as though Mark takes excellent care of his customers. If fairness to Mark, member *affromma* never responded to my offer of assistance, and has not posted anything else on the forums since this thread.


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## blackbeered (Jun 21, 2008)

*I Can Only Say My Standards and Expectations Are Higher*

In all due respect to "Mike", you're a forum moderator and not a mediator.

I "deal direct" when I have an issue with anything ... no middlemen, no posturing. This country's going in the crapper because there are fewer and fewer honorable men/companies, standards are lower, and more consumers are tolerating mediocrity.

As for following up on my earliest posts ... after repeated attempts to call and write Mark and his staff, they cut off all communication. No call backs, no e-mail responses .. they won't even fill any more of my orders. That's their choice ... but please don't tell me that's what you expect from a professional organization.

And for anyone who bought the three-piece table and Triton router ... I hope they took my advice and called Triton before following Mark's instructions.

I scrapped the piece of junk I got from Mark [it made three decent fences for my other tools in the workshop]; the new, 1-piece cast iron table I'm using is wonderful.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

I must stick up for Marc Sommerfeld, I have two of his older router table and they are they are the best..  and he his a GREAT guy... 
I also don't care for the new one Marc is selling but he wanted to move away from CMT and make and sale his own brand name..the bottom line will always make people change things...I will say you can get more with sugar than you can get with vinegar 

=====

I'm sure he will get the bugs out of his new system but it will take time I'm sure..


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## daleh (Oct 18, 2008)

I migrated ot this tabel after looking at several others locally and online and building my own. I have now made an entire walk-in closet, laundry room cabinets and bathroom vanity using this table. Mine is dead flat from center to edge and end to end which to me is where it matters. The triton router had a bad bushing, which Triton fixed without any issue. I am going to run a engineers edge across the entire surface and see what I get. Either way the real world results I am getting are quite good. I do not find the table mediocre. I will say if I could have afforded shipping to Ak I would have liked a cast iron table.

Oh well, nothing is perfect but it seems you are having issues with Marc. You mention calling Triton. Did not see you address any issues with the router. Did I miss it?


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## blackbeered (Jun 21, 2008)

*Triton Installation*

In the guy's video showing the installation of the Triton router to his top, he says [1] remove the router's baseplate and [2] mill out a portion of the aluminum frame to accommodate fitting the offset wrench.

When you speak to Triton about this, they'll tell you they STRONGLY suggest that you don't do either.  [They'll tell you why.]

Since this guy "third rail's" anyone who doesn't hug and kiss him , Triton seems to be saying ... "we'd rather lose the few dozen sales this guy brings us than have customers dissatisfied, or worse yet injured, by our product." Now that attitude tells me Triton's a world-class company. :sold:

Why don't you call them yourself?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi affromma

Once the router is mounted in the router table you will not need the ears/tabs to hold the guides..

JUst one more thing that just gets in the way from changing the big bits out .


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affromma said:


> In the guy's video showing the installation of the Triton router to his top, he says [1] remove the router's baseplate and [2] mill out a portion of the aluminum frame to accommodate fitting the offset wrench.
> 
> When you speak to Triton about this, they'll tell you they STRONGLY suggest that you don't do either.  [They'll tell you why.]
> 
> ...


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## daleh (Oct 18, 2008)

I believe it. There's not a manufacturer on the planet that would suggest modifying their product like that. That in itself does not make the modification a bad one or even dangerous. I have compleely modified my 1998 SkiDoo Summit snowmobile to include machining out the bulkhead and adding 9 inches of suspension under it. Bombardier would have said "do not do it". Well after many years of pounding the chasis through the rough terrain in Alaska, I would say my capability in engineering my own modifications to the machine were more than safe and adequate and frankly an improvement on the original design for my particluar use. Additionally, I machined out the base of my Makita 3612 (?) and again, was not worried about it being a safety issue. Some of these things are common sense and sometimes you just need to consult an engineer. Both of which are easy to do. Finally, I did not hug and kiss. I was firm and vocal about my displeasure but at no point did I ever feel like I was being mistreated. That may be just my experience and obviously yours is different. I give Sommerfeld a thumbs up in customer service:sold:


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## bjg (Apr 26, 2018)

Recently purchased the three piece top from Marc Sommerfeld. He was upfront with me regarding the issues mentioned and made several suggestions on how to eliminate the issues. He is also in the process of making a new table to avoid the issues discussed. He's selling out of what he currently has (at a significant savings) to make room for the new table. I haven't had any problems with mine and the end result of the things I have made using Marc's router table has been satisfying, and that's what really matters.


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