# Porter-Cable 892 in Table



## El Viejo (Sep 16, 2009)

Doe anyone have experience using the PC 892 in a router table? I am espcially interested in the ability to adjust the height through the table top.

El Viejo


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

El Viejo,

I use mine in a table, but I rarely adjust it from above. I'm usually down at eye level when making adjustments anyway, so I'm right at the adjuster.

The other issue is the motor clamp. It's faster to unclamp and reclamp by hand than through the table in my opinion.


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## jd99 (Jun 17, 2009)

I use the PC 892 in my table, and used to use the above table adjusting and clamping, but I upgraded to a woodpeck lift to hold the PC.

I didn't care for the slop in the PC above table adjustment.


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## scrollwolf (Sep 12, 2004)

I have one of my 892 routers mounted in the table with the OP plate that allows the use of above table adjustment. I seldom use it. 

Jack


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

I with most of the others. I get down to table level to make adjustments. I've used the above table tools PC gives you, but not anymore. Too much trouble.


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## floridagramps (Feb 16, 2010)

I bought pc 892 w height adjuster 4 years ago. Finally installed it in a router table last week and it worked great. It has some safety features that I am still figuring out..........for example the height adjuster won't function if the router swith is in the on mode.........there are 2 switches on the router and both have to be in the off position to use height adjuster


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## the_nite_owl (Oct 19, 2009)

I am right now waiting for the Woodpecker PRL-V2 lift.
My PC892 was mounted direct and I liked the above table adjustment sometimes except for two problems. 1. Like others said it is often easier to just drop down to eye level to make the adjustment anyway. 2. My router would bind on the side of the motor away from the worm-screw and be hard to raise and lower and it would cause it to tilt over towards the binding side. It stayed tilted even when I would clamp it down. Before clamping I would have to shake and jostle the bottom of the router motor (so much for above table adjust) to get it to straighten out and sure enough because of the excess tension on the worm-screw the router to move UP causing me to have to adjust it again. It would also because of this never be reliably fully 90 degrees to the table and my cuts would be off.

Now, I suspect that the tension on the clamp on my router was off a bit and that wood dust getting down into it helped bind it up because it worked fine the first couple times I used it and I loved being able to adjust from the top cause my knees are bad and the squatting is difficult. As it bound up it caused some blackening of the metal between the fixed base and the motor increasing the friction when adjusting. I think I could fine tune the clamp tension and get it working properly.

So if you are thinking of going this way as opposed to spending the money on a lift and you are already decided on the PC892 then go ahead and give it a try, you can always buy a lift to fit that motor later on. If you want a budget lift you will want to consider ifyou want the PC892 with the fixed base or get one with the plunge base depending on your preference in lifts and it's requirements. I just gave in and spent the extra on the new PRL-V2 by Woodpecker and will put that in my main router table. I am currently adding a router extension table on the end of my table saw and my other router plate will go there and be manually adjusted. I just have to pick up another router and I will get the PC894 (is that right?) that comes with both bases so I will have plunge router capability. On that setup I will have to just adjust manually but it will not be my primary routing table and will mostly be used when I need two bits setup to match like for cabinet doors.


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## irvin00 (Feb 14, 2010)

I use it with the height adjuster for above-the-table changes. It works perfectly well. This is the height adjuster I'm using:

Amazon.com: Porter-Cable 75301 Height Adjuster: Home Improvement

Good luck!


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## oliverc612 (Dec 3, 2009)

I have used my PC 89x router under my RT very successfully and have found that it works very well - with a few common common sense items. 
Be sure that you do not go back and forth with router height adjustment. - I make sure that when I am adjusting height, that if I have to adjust down, that I adjust quite a bit lower and make the final adjustment going in the UP direction to make sure that any backlash is taken out when adjustment is complete.
Make sure that the locking band adjustment is not too loose, as this may cause variations when the router is then locked in place.
Other than those, I have it very usable and quite reliable.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

+1 on your post, Oliver.. Backlash is an issue with any screw-driven mechanism, whether built-in or a separate lift. Some are worse than others, but it's a good practice... just like backing off the depth adjustment in a hand plane and then adjusting it forward to cut.


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