# It's a good Day for Porter Cable



## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I was catching up with the magazine reading today, and there was an article in the July WOOD magazine. they ran a comparison test of 6 cordless routers and 9 corded ones, trim routers.
The Porter Cable left every other one in the dust. The Bosch came in tied for last, in the corded tests. The Milwaukee came in 1st and Bosch came in Last in the cordless.

The things I took away from this article are:

1.All the corded routers are made in China except the Bosch and it is made in Hungary,and the Dewalt is made in Mexico
2. All the cordless are made in China, except Bosch is made in Malaysia.
3.All the cordless routers are sold bare, Batteries and charger not included. Extra +$230 for the batteries and charger.
3. All the battery routers run on a small battery or large battery.
The cordless routers run $130-$200.
4. The cordless tested were ,Milwaukee, DeWalt, Ryobi, Makita, Ridgid, Bosch. In that order.
5. The Corded were , Porter Cable, Ridgid, DeWalt, , Makita, Grizzly H7790, Grizzly 7791, Drill Master 62659, Bosch Colt PR20EVS, MLCS Rocky. In that order.
7. Bosch and MLCS were tied for last.
8. The corded routers run from $35-$130.
Herb


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

They didn't test the Harbor Freight because it would have made the rest look sick.
Herb


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Well this is very unsettling. I was so depressed I threw both of my PC7815’s in the dump today and ordered Bosch .
I just can’t win Herb


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Well this is very unsettling. I was so depressed I threw both of my PC7815’s in the dump today and ordered Bosch .
> I just can’t win Herb


You shouldn't have done that. That is what made the Bosch tank!!!
HErb


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Herb Stoops said:


> You shouldn't have done that. That is what made the Bosch tank!!!
> HErb


I’m not serious Herb :grin:


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Herb Stoops said:


> I was catching up with the magazine reading today, and there was an article in the July WOOD magazine. they ran a comparison test of 6 cordless routers and 9 corded ones, trim routers.
> The Porter Cable left every other one in the dust. The Bosch came in tied for last, in the corded tests. The Milwaukee came in 1st and Bosch came in Last in the cordless.
> 
> The things I took away from this article are:
> ...





Herb Stoops said:


> They didn't test the Harbor Freight because it would have made the rest look sick.
> Herb


you are trying to make a mes in my Wheaties, ain'ja Herb....


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

I know the PorterCable and the Dewalt are virtually the same routers except the Dewalt has variable speed, or at least they had been in the past few years. Of course, the variable speed might have a control circuit in it that limits its power enough to downgrade the performance compared to the PorterCable unit.

It's also interesting that they tested the smaller Bosch PR20EVS Colt 1.0 HP instead of the Bosch GKF125CEN Colt 1.25 HP. The PorterCable and Dewalt are both 1.25 HP and I'm not sure about the others you listed but it looks like that might be the reason why the Bosh came in so low in the test.

It is hard for me to believe that Wood did not do their research on the basic comparison points of the router choices. Lets test fruits, nice orange peach just picked from the tree at the perfect time, a perfectly ripened yellow banana, a purple plum that is sweet and juicy, and this old moldy apple from the bottom of the barrel. I don't think the apple has a chance.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

MEBCWD said:


> I know the PorterCable and the Dewalt are virtually the same routers except the Dewalt has variable speed, or at least they had been in the past few years. Of course, the variable speed might have a control circuit in it that limits its power enough to downgrade the performance compared to the PorterCable unit.
> 
> It's also interesting that they tested the smaller Bosch PR20EVS Colt 1.0 HP instead of the Bosch GKF125CEN Colt 1.25 HP. The PorterCable and Dewalt are both 1.25 HP and I'm not sure about the others you listed but it looks like that might be the reason why the Bosh came in so low in the test.
> 
> It is hard for me to believe that Wood did not do their research on the basic comparison points of the router choices. Lets test fruits, nice orange peach just picked from the tree at the perfect time, a perfectly ripened yellow banana, a purple plum that is sweet and juicy, and this old moldy apple from the bottom of the barrel. I don't think the apple has a chance.


run them all hard for a year or so and get back to us....


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

My take on this whole thing is ,I am not ready to chunk out around $430. for a cordless router with the battery and charger. No matter how good they are. Not when I can get one for $130 with a cord that will last all day and start any time I plug it in.
The Bosch Codless is a funny looking thing.
Herb


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Herb it's such a pretty blue color. Brushless drives that price up, so does the overpriced batteries.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Stick486 said:


> run them all hard for a year or so and get back to us....


This is very true . Reviews typically use the tool briefly, so who knows long term .
I googled problems with 7518 and found another site you were on back on 2017 .
Looks like you’ve had a ton of real experience with the pc7518 , and besides inferior bearings you discovered the warped chassis problem .
What I’m confused on is I thought you or someone mentioned to install ceramic bearings , but I thought those were the bad ones ? 
Im wondering if all the chassis and bearings were inferior back in 2014 , or was there a bad run ?
Apparently black and decker purchased PC and it’s gone for crap ever since ?


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I broke down yesterday, and ordered a cordless tool. It is called a shovel, but I don't know where it was made. I already have a nice cordless miter saw, it is an old Craftsman, in almost new condition, and works great. The rest of my power tools are all corded, and any future buys will also be corded.


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Herb Stoops said:


> My take on this whole thing is ,I am not ready to chunk out around $430. for a cordless router with the battery and charger. No matter how good they are. Not when I can get one for $130 with a cord that will last all day and start any time I plug it in.
> The Bosch Codless is a funny looking thing.
> Herb


The only justification I could (would) use is if I'm having to work on a job site that pays very well and power is an issue. Even so you'd have to have several well charged batteries just in case or at least power to recharge when needed. Convenience is nice but not at that price. My 1st cordless tool was a Panasonic drill and I bought it at a reasonable (at the time) price of $189 with battery and charger. When the charger died it would have cost almost as much to replace and then bought a new cordless drill which I think is exactly what they want you to do. It wasn't a Panasonic again just on principle. My drills were priceless to me as working on HVAC equipment, especially commercial rooftops units, where the doors may have many screws holding them on, made it easier on my arm muscles over the period of the day. Not to mention the many transformer boxes I installed on a "normal" zoning system. I had a $2k tool allowance a year and made sure that it went as far as reasonably possible but bought quality tools as they needed to last.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

sreilly said:


> The only justification I could (would) use is if I'm having to work on a job site that pays very well and power is an issue.


Exactly. Both my sons work in areas where there is no power, period. They would be lost without cordless tools. Me, I'm retired, and never worked with tools for a living anyway, but my shop is powered, and my power tools are corded. I have, and use often, a B&D power drill I bought in 1976/77. Corded of course, I don't know if they even had battery powered tools back then, wouldn't have bought one anyway. The only money I have in that drill is the initial cost, which was pretty likely around $20. Show me a battery powered tool that would last that long, and take that little $ investment. 

However, I am not entirely corded. I have a brace and bit, several hand saws, hammers, screwdrivers, 2 or 3 eggbeater drills, a manpowered miter saw, carving chisels, hand files, some hand planes, and likely a few other things I have forgotten. And all of them get use.


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## mark greenbaum (Sep 26, 2010)

I have bought my few routers based upon what the guys on the Guitar Forum have recommended. And I also rely on a former co-worker, who buy a router whenever it's a deal so he doesn't have to change bits. PC690 for the big stuff, and now the Bosch Colt corded for my binding jig operation and hand held smaller jobs. That cheap @$$ HF palm router is scary noisy, not variable speed and real piece of crap. I finally gave away my 2.5 hp Crapsman to Goodwill, and ran away as fast as I could. I bout it a pawn shop in 1985 for $15, and it served me well enough to learn how to do some things, but when the collet lets go in the middle of building my first LP guitar body, I was done with it. But with all the mistakes, I learned to press on, and overcome. I play Scrap Paul about 1 hour every day, and I am going to build a perfect one very soon.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

MEBCWD said:


> Herb it's such a pretty blue color. Brushless drives that price up, so does the overpriced batteries.


I have noticed that it is directional too, because of the way a person has to hold it. Kind of like a jig saw, even the base plate is square on the front.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I agree with all your comments. I might add we worked for for 30+ years on jobs without power in construction, and had a portable generator. Several tools at a time could be run off it. I do like cordless tools,Drivers and Drills especially, but they come with batteries and charger and sometimes more than one tool same brand uses the same battery,i.e. drill ,jigsaw etc. Usually different brand tools don't mix and match with batteries though, which can be a pain. The HVAC guys were the first ones I saw with battery tools, but the had to strap a battery pack nearly the size of a car battery to their back in those days. But everything has improved since then. I too bought my first battery saw off the internet,(Bosch) , and then had to turn around and buy a charger and Nicon battery for $150. more then found out they had upgraded to a new lithium battery and that battery wouldn't fit my saw. I notice that the batteries and tools are getting larger and larger, along with the batteries and the weight is getting heavier too. 
HErb


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

The only thing I feel works well with a battery is drills and the impact drivers . Couldn’t imagine using a corner drill this day and age


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

My extension cord has been going strong for likely 30+yrs. Never needs charging and the voltage has been the same all that time!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

FWW did a tool test on the cordless trim routers maybe a year ago. Milwaukee didn't have one at the time. It came out a few months later and then they reviewed it separately. They said that Milwaukee must have been studying what everyone else did wrong because they had corrected all the problems and had it been in the original test it would have won hands down. Milwaukee has put a lot of time and money into developing their 18V cordless line so I expect that batteries and parts will be available until long after I'm gone. I don't need a cordless one and I'm really happy with my DW 611 combo but I have been buying Milwaukee tools for the last couple of years and they haven't disappointed me yet. They have a good reputation for a reason.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> FWW did a tool test on the cordless trim routers maybe a year ago. Milwaukee didn't have one at the time. It came out a few months later and then they reviewed it separately. They said that Milwaukee must have been studying what everyone else did wrong because they had corrected all the problems and had it been in the original test it would have won hands down. Milwaukee has put a lot of time and money into developing their 18V cordless line so I expect that batteries and parts will be available until long after I'm gone. I don't need a cordless one and I'm really happy with my DW 611 combo but I have been buying Milwaukee tools for the last couple of years and they haven't disappointed me yet. They have a good reputation for a reason.


We use their 20v drills for doing pole changes . Imagine a 3/4” auger bit going threw a telephone pole using batteries . But it doesn’t flinch , and sure beats gets tangled up in a cord all day .
They’ve really come a long ways from what we can tell


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

The cord was a blessing when a 3/4" drill motor auger bit got stuck, it would wind you up like a cork screw before you could let go. They didn't have clutches and even if you got your finger off the trigger, the motor took a couple of rotations to wind down. They turned at 350RPM's and it could break your leg with the handle on the way around. They weighed a ton and took 1 or 2 men to use them.
Herb


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Herb Stoops said:


> The cord was a blessing when a 3/4" drill motor auger bit got stuck, it would wind you up like a cork screw before you could let go. They didn't have clutches and even if you got your finger off the trigger, the motor took a couple of rotations to wind down. They turned at 350RPM's and it could break your leg with the handle on the way around. They weighed a ton and took 1 or 2 men to use them.
> Herb


That’s when men were men :surprise:


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Herb Stoops said:


> The cord was a blessing when a 3/4" drill motor auger bit got stuck, it would wind you up like a cork screw before you could let go. They didn't have clutches and even if you got your finger off the trigger, the motor took a couple of rotations to wind down. They turned at 350RPM's and it could break your leg with the handle on the way around. They weighed a ton and took 1 or 2 men to use them.
> Herb


Didn't those come out about the same time loggers quit falling trees with crosscut saws and axes? I honestly think I would rather use my brace with an auger bit instead. I remember tearing the cord off an old 1/2" drill that got stuck and I was only about 20 at the time.


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