Scheppach dedicated bench router - Part 2

[Hermit]

I had to start a new thread for this - due to a technical hitch we still can't reply to old threads.
The original thread, started by SAISAY, is here: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f20/scheppach-dedicated-bench-router-153079/

I bit the $ bullet and ordered one of these. Been on back-order for a bit, but it's on the way now and should be here tomorrow.
I'll add my 2c worth to the reviews when I've had a bit of a play with it, for anyone thinking of buying one.

Wolffie, if you read this, you mentioned you had 3 collets, an 8mm, a 1/4" and a 1/2". In the H&F listing, only a 1/4" and 1/2" are mentioned. Did you buy the 8mm collet separately, or did it come with the machine? If you bought it separately, can I ask where you got it please?

Maybe the package has changed over time, too, since Avery also said in the original thread that the plastic fence was warped, whereas now they come with an aluminium fence.

I've read all of the reviews that I could find, pluses and minuses, but still feel that for the price it's good value. Ordered mine during the recent sale, so it only cost $295 delivered from Sydney to Nowra.
Will sure beat my Dremel router table. Just finished cutting some rabbet joints for a box on that - what a pain.

[Avery]

I wonder if I can get a new aluminium fence as a spare part? It would have to be better than what I am using now.

I'll be off to H&F in the morning.

[Hermit]

I wonder if I can get a new aluminium fence as a spare part? It would have to be better than what I am using now.

I'll be off to H&F in the morning.

Worth a shot. After reading your post in SAISAY's thread, I double-checked H&F's web page, just to be sure. It definitely says it has an aluminium fence.


Fine adjustment aluminium fence

[Hermit]

Worth a shot. After reading your post in SAISAY's thread, I double-checked H&F's web page, just to be sure. It definitely says it has an aluminium fence.

It arrived a short time ago. Just unpacking & setting up.

Avery, it is an aluminium main 2-piece fence, but the brackets it attaches to are plastic. The main fence is extruded aluminium with plastic end-caps. Both fence pieces are nice and flat with no bows or twists. Everything else except the cast iron table and pressed table extensions are plastic, including a very cheap plastic mitre guide, identical to that on my cheap $120 6" disc/4" belt sander. I'll try to get a better one of those, aluminium if possible.

Also, like your's, the extension tables were well and truly stuck to the polystyrene packaging, but eventually came unstuck. I'll need to use solvent to clean the last of the polystyrene from the extensions.

Everything else appears to be in good nick, ready for assembly. Interestingly, the manual describes it as a 'Vertical Spindle Moulder'.

[Avery]

I guess I should have been more precise in my original post.

The fence is aluminium, but the fence screws onto supports made of a plastic. This is the part that is warped. I have had to put shims between the aluminium and plastic to get the infeed fence to be straight relative to the outfeed fence

[Hermit]

I guess I should have been more precise in my original post.

The fence is aluminium, but the fence screws onto supports made of a plastic. This is the part that is warped. I have had to put shims between the aluminium and plastic to get the infeed fence to be straight relative to the outfeed fence

It crossed my mind this morning that might have been the case. I edited my post earlier and added that the brackets were plastic, to clarify. Didn't want to send you rushing off to H&F thinking your problem was solved, for no reason.

I'll see how mine goes. Been out shopping for a couple of router bits, will continue assembly now.
Quite confusing working out which bolts, nuts and knobs go where, but I'll figure it out as I go. I reckon if I use all the ones that I know go in certain places, the ones left should be easier to locate. The assembly instructions are pretty pathetic.

[Mr Brush]

Hermit - don't be too upset; the manuals for most Scheppach gear are pretty crappy.

Just keep fiddling around until it looks like the picture on the box, and hope you don't have too many parts left over. I speak from experience (Scheppach Basato 4 bandsaw....) :D

[Hermit]

Hermit - don't be too upset; the manuals for most Scheppach gear are pretty crappy.

Yeah, I also have a Scheppach oscillating spindle sander and Scheppach Decoflex scrollsaw.
Not just Scheppach, most Asian goods have miserable pseudo-English manuals. I can handle that. Had plenty of practice. Pseudo-English is my second language.



Just keep fiddling around until it looks like the picture on the box, and hope you don't have too many parts left over. I speak from experience (Scheppach Basato 4 bandsaw....) :D

I have most bits figured now, after a number of trips between the shed and the PC in the house, checking the website pics.

So far, I've found a few problems. I'll list them all later, but first, like Avery, once assembled the outfeed fence tilts off backwards at an angle relative to the infeed fence. Quite a bit, too. Shimming will sort it out I imagine, but not sure how well. I'll be making my own fence I think, for accuracy.

This thing is surprisingly noisy, too, especially at full speed, but when I build a rolling bench for it, I'll mount it on rubbers which should help a bit. Dunno how much, though, it's now sitting on a very solid 300lb+ workbench that has no vibration.

Something that concerns me that I still have to check is the actual motor power on it's label. They're sold as a 2HP machine, but the manual says "Acceptance Potential P1 1500W, Output power P2 850W".
Not sure how this translates into regular English - my pidgeon isn't completely perfect. Maybe power at low speed is 850W and 1500W at high speed.

As mentioned, later on I'll make a full list of problems encountered, for those considering buying one.

One tip - don't use white spirits to wash off the polystyrene remains stuck to the table extensions - it softens the paint almost instantly. :D

[Hermit]

Well, toward the end of the day, there's a misaligned fence, with the outfeed several mm behind the infeed and at an angle as mentioned earlier.

Also an Allen head screw that holds one of the fingerboard uprights is missing and one fingerboard bracket was welded together on an angle in 2 planes and is unusable as it is. I think I can bend it into shape.

There's severe rust pitting in the middle of the mitre slot, right where it would get the most use, but the mitre guide is still pretty firm passing through.

Next is a cracked plastic outer guide that holds the workpiece against the fence that will need to be replaced, not sure what it's called.
I'll have to take some pics for H&F. I'll post them here as well.

Surprisingly, the fence was very close to square in the vertical plane, but not quite good enough to use for some things as is, even if I shim to get the fences aligned.
The entire plastic fence bracket assembly is crap and not worth the plastic it's made from. It even flexes a bit with work pressure applied. The aluminium fence pieces are OK though.

Got a couple of rubber washers left over, haven't figured where they go yet, and two leftover M4 Philips head screws. I'll re-read the manual and see if it sheds any light.

As mentioned by Avery and others, the table extensions will need some work as well before the mitre guide will slide cleanly all the way across, but that's not too worrying for me right now since I work with pretty short lengths of timber and will rarely need them.

I didn't expect much for $300, but was still disappointed overall. Brings back memories of when I bought my bandsaw last year, although this is fixable at least. I had nightmares over that one.:C

It's not really H&F's fault, it's poor manufacturing, packing and handling. H&F usually sort problems as quickly as possible, but I already know that there's nought they can do about the fence, apparently they're all the same - I'll have to make a new one, with inherent dust chute and fingerboard brackets. :(

So in the end, H&F can take care of sending the missing Allen head screw and replacing the cracked plastic guide, then the rest will be up to me.:~

I won't bother testing it until I get the fence halves into alignment, so that I can then use it while I sort out a new fence that actually works properly. I'll chop the original fence bracket up to use it's dust chute etc.

Enough for now - off to get some snapshots.

[Hermit]

I have some pics of the faults, but first, I have two more important ones to mention.
The first is a bow in the table from front to back.

After seeing this, I thought I'd clamp on a timber fence and at least give it a trial run cutting a groove with a 3.2mm straight-cut bit. This instantly showed the next fault.

After unclamping the height adjustment mechanism, there is a fair bit of forward/backward movement in the motor, and therefore the router bit, such that if multiple passes are made in the same line at increasing depth, they aren't actually in line with each other.
ie. I made one pass at about 3mm deep, then wound the height up another 3mm and made another pass. It was out of line with the first cut!:((

I'll start with the pic of that, since it's the most serious fault so far. The cut on the right is the one I'm talking about. I then did the same again, but after making the first pass and raising the bit height, I carefully re-aligned the bit with the groove before re-clamping the height adjuster, then clamped the height adjuster and made the second pass. It then worked out OK, as seen in the cut on the

262478

Damned annoying. Even my Dremel router table was better than this.



Next pic is the bow in the table:

262479



Next up, we have the fence misalignment. This was taken after I'd made all possible adjustments, but without shimming to get them in line yet:

262480



Now, it's the poor weld on the fingerboard bracket. I can bend this straight, I think. I can't attach it yet, though - it's the Allen head screw that's missing. Goes up into the bottom of the vertical tube.:

262482




The last fault shot shows the cracked plastic guide and the rust in the mitre slot:

262485



All said and done, I'm not real happy right now and strongly recommend others not to buy one of these. Riddled with problems. My other Scheppach machines were well worth the money, but not this one. It's one big repair job straight out of the box.

[Mr Brush]

I'm quite used to the fences on lots of cheaper machines being out of whack (e.g. my Carbatec disc sander), but for the price of the machine you grit your teeth, cuss a bit, and make your own fence to suit.....

However, after viewing your pics of the other defects, I'd be sending that one back to H&F as "not fit for purpose". It's supposed to be a bench router FFS - you'd get better results just buying a router, bolting it upside down to a scrap piece of MDF, and making up your own simple fence from the MDF offcut. MDF may not be the best material to use......but it would still be flatter than the metal top of the Scheppach item.

I guess one problem with H&F is that their separate showroom/warehouse setup makes it difficult to check a machine out before you take it home. If they had to unbox 5 machines for you on the sales floor to check with a straightedge before finding one that was acceptable, then maybe they'd take this up with Scheppach or just cease stocking the stuff at all?

I feel your pain - nothing like getting a new machine home and feeling you've been had. Sad thing is that if you just take a replacement one from H&F, selected at random, it will likely be just as bad or worse.:((

[Hermit]

I'm quite used to the fences on lots of cheaper machines being out of whack (e.g. my Carbatec disc sander), but for the price of the machine you grit your teeth, cuss a bit, and make your own fence to suit.....

However, after viewing your pics of the other defects, I'd be sending that one back to H&F as "not fit for purpose". It's supposed to be a bench router FFS - you'd get better results just buying a router, bolting it upside down to a scrap piece of MDF, and making up your own simple fence from the MDF offcut. MDF may not be the best material to use......but it would still be flatter than the metal top of the Scheppach item.

I guess one problem with H&F is that their separate showroom/warehouse setup makes it difficult to check a machine out before you take it home. If they had to unbox 5 machines for you on the sales floor to check with a straightedge before finding one that was acceptable, then maybe they'd take this up with Scheppach or just cease stocking the stuff at all?

I feel your pain - nothing like getting a new machine home and feeling you've been had. Sad thing is that if you just take a replacement one from H&F, selected at random, it will likely be just as bad or worse.:((

I have to just live with it. I'm in Nowra, H&F are in Sydney, 2 hours away and I have no car. It was delivered here.

I'll pull it apart and fix the slack in the motor during height adjustment somehow. Hopefully I can simply make a shim to take up the slack. The bowed table will have to stay as it is. That was 50% of my problem with the BP305 bandsaw - I got to the third table-top before I gave up and accepted the inevitable. Still living with and cursing that one. I set the table to 0 degrees when working to the left of the blade, and about 3 degrees when working to the right. For bandsawn boxes etc, I fit an MDF second tabletop.

The fence I knew about, was forewarned by Avery and others, but that was all I thought I needed to do.

The killer is that I get better 'multiple pass' results with this:

262495

For accuracy I'll use the Dremel one when separating a box lid in a couple of days, then gradually sort the Scheppach's faults.
The main reason for posting the pics was so that others are forewarned before they buy.
You're right, I could have made a better one from MDF and fitted a normal router.
Not to worry. We live and learn.:D

[tdrumnut]

Hermit, if I lived closer I would pick both you and this piece of crap up, drive you both to Sydney, bend the manager at H&F over his desk and shove this machine ××××××××, well you know where. After all the probs last year with that band saw you do not deserve this. Sorry mate but you are too soft on this crowd. Make then come & pick it up & replace it with one that they have taken out of the box and made sure is right. They know what they are selling and it is poor quality and they should not expect customers to make repairs to new equipment staight out of the box. I know that there some truth in the old saying you get what you pay for but it still should be workable straight out of the box.
I've seen some of your work and to be honest for the money that you have spent and the time and extra money that you are going to put into this machine you could have done a better job making one yourself even purchasing a cheaper Ozito or B&D etc. type router.
I really feel for you mate and I hope that you resolve this to your satisfaction.

[Hermit]

Hermit, if I lived closer I would pick both you and this piece of crap up, drive you both to Sydney, bend the manager at H&F over his desk and shove this machine ××××××××, well you know where. After all the probs last year with that band saw you do not deserve this. Sorry mate but you are too soft on this crowd. Make then come & pick it up & replace it with one that they have taken out of the box and made sure is right. They know what they are selling and it is poor quality and they should not expect customers to make repairs to new equipment staight out of the box. I know that there some truth in the old saying you get what you pay for but it still should be workable straight out of the box.
I've seen some of your work and to be honest for the money that you have spent and the time and extra money that you are going to put into this machine you could have done a better job making one yourself even purchasing a cheaper Ozito or B&D etc. type router.
I really feel for you mate and I hope that you resolve this to your satisfaction.

Yeah mate, you're right of course, but I strongly suspect that they won't have a better one. This is par for the course with cheap machinery. At least I got it cheap at $295 delivered, would have been about $360 delivered normally, ($319 + deliv), but I twisted their arm during the last sale, explaining that I always miss out on their sales because they don't correspond with my pension advances. (I get an advance for each piece of machinery. Will be paying this off for the next 6 months.)

From reading reviews, I know that the fence that came with it is as good as it gets with this model and I already decided not to bother getting a replacement for the cracked plastic guide, too - it's junk, whether cracked or not. I'll make a decent one myself, from a sturdier piece of timber instead of thin brittle plastic.

I'm pretty sure I can sort out the play in the height adjuster with shim washers, no biggie since I already want to pull it apart to check the motor label and ensure everything inside is in workable condition and assembled correctly.

The bowed table is what irks me the most now, after last year's crap, but I'll bet they're all the same there too.

I'm just gonna grin and bear it. I'll make it into a nice machine in most respects. After all, it was only $300, about the cost of 10 router bits.

Deep down, though, I really wish I had bought a separate router and made my own table to suit.

I've learned over the last year, the hard way, that every purchase is a lottery in this industry. Never had this sort of s**t in either the electronics or motor industries, but such is life. H&F bottom shelf gear is all I can afford.

I will still email them tomorrow, with pics, and push for a further discount in the form of a credit, like with the bandsaw. Got $100 back on that to compensate for my troubles.
I'd email them tonight, but the BigPond mail server seems to be down right now. Can't send or receive, except using Webmail.

Thanks for the support.

N.B. With the bandsaw, it turned out that it couldn't handle a normal 1/2" blade at all - too much flex in the frame I think. I eventually put on a 1/4" blade and it started to purr like a kitten, so now I only use 1/4" blades for everything. I took about half of the bow out of that table the hard way in the end, with a file.

[Hermit]

On a lighter note, gotta love this troubleshooting section of the manual: -

262545

Can anyone tell me what 'blunt measurers' are?

'Careless milling picture' is a beauty, too. :D

Measurers are cutters, but what's the other one?

[A Duke]

They say you get what you pay for. That is not always true, if you buy cheep you get cheep and nasty, if you pay big bucks you have two chances, either you get a good bit of gear or you get ripped off by someone who has overpriced a piece of junk.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry over the trouble shooting page. Signs of the times I suppose.
Regards

[Hermit]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry over the trouble shooting page. Signs of the times I suppose.
Regards

I decided to laugh, figured it must be the joke section, intended to cheer up disappointed purchasers.

(Your other comment was quite true, too.)

[bj383ss]

Steve,

I am really disappointed in how this turned out for you. Especially the money you spent. Not to thrown stones at you but I bought a Craftsman 3/4hp router with two bases. A fixed and a plunge. I made a router table from scraps and mounted the fixed base in it. I made my own fence and bought some fence accessories from Rockler. All in all I have less than $200 in it. Here is a pic of it.

The top is an old desk lined with formica and is dead flat.

http://images20.fotki.com/v355/photos/4/1710564/9110177/Picture410-vi.jpg

http://images57.fotki.com/v80/photos/4/1710564/9110177/Picture411-vi.jpg

http://images57.fotki.com/v283/photos/4/1710564/9110177/Picture413-vi.jpg

http://images58.fotki.com/v612/photos/4/1710564/9110177/Picture382-vi.jpg

I made the fence from poplar and it adjusts via one bolt in the middle. Plus the plate in the middle can be changed out for different sizes bits. I have even run a 3" panel bit in this thing successfully.

I just think you should return this POS at their expense. It has some many problems straight out of the box. I understand you could make a new fence for it but the router moving as you do height adjustments. That pretty much makes it worthless in my book.

The router is one of my favorite tools. I used mine for about 2 solid straight hours yesterday routing an 1/8" roundover on a bunch of blocks I made for my boys.

Just my .02. I even have several plans for router tables if you would like including the one I have . Takes half a day to build.

Bret

[Hermit]

Steve,

I am really disappointed in how this turned out for you. Especially the money you spent. Not to thrown stones at you but I bought a Craftsman 3/4hp router with two bases. A fixed and a plunge. I made a router table from scraps and mounted the fixed base in it. I made my own fence and bought some fence accessories from Rockler. All in all I have less than $200 in it. Here is a pic of it.

The top is an old desk lined with formica and is dead flat.

.....

I made the fence from poplar and it adjusts via one bolt in the middle. Plus the plate in the middle can be changed out for different sizes bits. I have even run a 3" panel bit in this thing successfully.

I just think you should return this POS at their expense. It has some many problems straight out of the box. I understand you could make a new fence for it but the router moving as you do height adjustments. That pretty much makes it worthless in my book.

The router is one of my favorite tools. I used mine for about 2 solid straight hours yesterday routing an 1/8" roundover on a bunch of blocks I made for my boys.

Just my .02. I even have several plans for router tables if you would like including the one I have . Takes half a day to build.

Bret

Looks great, Bret, you did a good job on it. A fantastic setup.

I might return it yet, but only if they're prepared to send someone to pick it up, otherwise I'll expect a further price reduction, and a decent one, too.
It really is junk.

Usually with bad purchases, the buyer is expected to pay return costs, so I'll see how it pans out. I might take you up on your offer of plans, I'll just see what happens. I appreciate the offer.

To make things worse, I already need to buy a second, hand-held router, for dovetails among other things.

As good as my little Dremel is, it has serious limits. Managed to cut a set of rabbet joints with it for a box the other day, but it took forever taking 0.5mm passes, and my Dremel dovetail bit is a midget.

Incidentally, the manual's joke section did cheer me up, I had to laugh at it. (A $300 laugh!! :~)

[bj383ss]

Well whatever the outcome hopefully you will be happy with it. While looking for the pics from the post above I found one of the first router table I had. A little benchtop Craftsman with a 1/2hp router my dad gave me. It only held 1/4" bits and was not variable speed. I used the hell out of that thing until I built my big one. You may also notice my shop was in its infancy. LOL

http://images59.fotki.com/v1579/photos/4/1710564/9109731/Picture30-vi.jpg

Bret

[Hermit]

Well whatever the outcome hopefully you will be happy with it. While looking for the pics from the post above I found one of the first router table I had. A little benchtop Craftsman with a 1/2hp router my dad gave me. It only held 1/4" bits and was not variable speed. I used the hell out of that thing until I built my big one. You may also notice my shop was in its infancy. LOL
...
Bret

Looks like a neat little unit Bret, and double the power of my Dremel. Double the shank size, too.

Even in it's infancy, your workshop looked pretty good, with room to move. As you can imagine, my single car garage is pretty crowded these days. The workbench I built hasn't sagged yet, by the way. Could do with a new coat of poly, though. I'll have to snap a pic of the workshop for you when I get a chance.

Bought a lot of equipment in the last year too, (all from H&F): bandsaw, Scheppach oscillating spindle sander, Scheppach scrollsaw, 12" disc sander, 16" wide drum sander and now the Scheppach router table, the first Scheppach that turned out to be a dud. Paid H&F $2200 in total. A lot of money for me, out of the pension. I'll remind them of that tomorrow.

[Mr Brush]

Hermit - thinking on this overnight, you really should send this piece of junk back to H&F for a refund, and they can pay the freight. Its just not worth your time to fix up all the defects, and you shouldn't have to. Just get them to arrange a courier to pick it up.

Give them the option of replacing it with a CHECKED good copy, but as I said before I'm not sure that 1 in 10 of these things would be acceptable. Refund is the way to go.

[wheelinround]

:iagree: Steve along with the box add a list of complaints but make sure you also send Scheppac photos and notification I am sure they being the name on the machine will be very interested.

[Hermit]

I've been in touch this morning, by email then phone and it's going back. As you mentioned, Mr Brush, they're sending a checked one and they'll have this one picked up at the same time. I insisted that they ensure the replacement doesn't have the same issues, and that if they don't have a good one, I want a full refund.

I emphasised the importance that in particular they check the table for bows in both directions with light and straight edge as well as the play in the motor mounting.

Reminded them, too, that I still live with a bowed bandsaw table after two replacements due to their bad testing in the past.

Playing the waiting game again now.


Ray, I'll do what you suggest and contact Scheppach if I can find them. I think you're right - they probably will be interested in the feedback.

Edit: I just had a look and Scheppach have a website and actually can be contacted via a web form, unlike many manufacturers.
They have a 'Products' section, in which they have a vertical spindle moulder, which is what the manual calls this unit), but it looks nothing like this one and is a stand-alone unit, not a bench-top type. Makes one wonder, but I guess mine is just an old model.
I'll get in touch with them later.

[Avery]

This is just not right.

The machine should be fit for the purpose.

Hermit has had all the same faults that I have had plus a couple more.

We should be able to get together and do as tdrumnut suggested. I have only used my machine twice since have had it. It is a piece of crap and H & F know it but have refused to do anything.

[Hermit]

This is just not right.

The machine should be fit for the purpose.

Hermit has had all the same faults that I have had plus a couple more.

We should be able to get together and do as tdrumnut suggested. I have only used my machine twice since have had it. It is a piece of crap and H & F know it but have refused to do anything.

I reckon that once they check out a couple more , they'll be unable to find one better, so I'm all set for a refund. Then I'll make my own table. Mind you, if my bandsaw drama last year is anything to go by, it won't happen quickly.
That one was drawn out over 7 weeks and 3 different tables before I had any sort of satisfaction, and even then it was a $100 store credit and a free blade! It still didn't cut well until I accepted the fact that I could never use a blade wider than 1/4", and had to settle for the least bowed of the 3 tables - not a flat one. On the specs, it was supposed to be able to take a 3/4" blade. I've since seen another forum member with exactly the same issues with the same model bandsaw. I'll bet the poor bugger got one of the tables I rejected, too.

Unfortunately, all cheap machines, whether from Hare and Forbes or elsewhere are relative junk. In fact, many not so cheap ones aren't that much better, either. My $800+ H&F wide drum sander flexes, causing a few thou of snipe at both ends of the board, but I've learned to live with that, by putting slight upward pressure on the arm at the beginning and end of cuts. Getting quite good at that. :D Still have to hand-sand the last bit out though.

[Treecycle]

I am assuming you don't have any friends in the Engineering trade who could take your bandsaw table and machine, or surface grind it for you? If I lived closer I would be happy to help out.

[Hermit]

I am assuming you don't have any friends in the Engineering trade who could take your bandsaw table and machine, or surface grind it for you? If I lived closer I would be happy to help out.

No, mate, unfortunately not. I did make some queries locally, but all I found was a mob that could do it with a 'vertical borer', I think he called it, but it was going to cost an arm and a leg. Nowra isn't a good place for engineering firms, too small.

You'd be surprised how much I managed to improve it with a flat 'bastard' warding file laid flat on the surface and lots of elbow grease, but I tired of that before I finished. The further I got toward flat, the larger the surface that needed to be filed.

I've learned to live with it now, and just use my MDF top when things are critical, like making bandsawn boxes. For them an exact 90 degrees is critical, or the whole plan falls apart.

When and if I have the $, I'll buy a 14" Jet. May never happen though, on my budget.

[Hermit]

I just realised that my last email to H&F was still sitting in my 'Drafts' folder, unsent. :doh:

The bogpond mail servers had been playing up, as they are again right now, so I couldn't send it when I wrote it.
No wonder I didn't get a reply. Just sent it off.

[Bobpol2]

I have been watching this thread with more than a little bit of interest.
I have an order in for one of the Scheppac routers to be supplied when my re-built shed is ready in around 2 weeks. (See “Tornado, Bugger” in the sheds forum.) http://www.woodworkforums.com/f245/tornado-bugger-169232/
I am assured that new stock arriving will have addressed the issues raised in these posts.
I referred these posts to the supplier but got no comment there except to say that the problems are now fixed.
I did hear from an informed source that a lot of these machines had been returned faulty.
Hermit have you received a positive response to your e-mails or better still, have you taken delivery of a new fault free Scheppac router table?

Hoping for good news
Bob

[Hermit]

I have been watching this thread with more than a little bit of interest.
I have an order in for one of the Scheppac routers to be supplied when my re-built shed is ready in around 2 weeks. (See “Tornado, Bugger” in the sheds forum.) http://www.woodworkforums.com/f245/tornado-bugger-169232/
I am assured that new stock arriving will have addressed the issues raised in these posts.
I referred these posts to the supplier but got no comment there except to say that the problems are now fixed.
I did hear from an informed source that a lot of these machines had been returned faulty.
Hermit have you received a positive response to your e-mails or better still, have you taken delivery of a new fault free Scheppac router table?

Hoping for good news
Bob


I got no notification of your reply Bob. Not sure why not, I'm still subscribed to the thread and have received notifications for the other threads I'm subscribed to. I just happened to spot your post by accident.

I did receive a reply and satisfactorily sorted out the issues with a refund/store credit in the end, rather than returning the table. I've been busy doing other stuff and haven't made a new fence yet, but did fix the forward/backward movement in the motor during height adjustment.

With some shims in the right places, the fence can be set up so that both halves are in line. It could have been fixed by making a saw cut near the middle at the back, then either adding a metal strip with bolts or plastic welding it while holding it straight, but I'll make a timber one when I have time. The problem was a back-bow in the plastic bracket that holds the fence halves. Maybe they were being taken out of the mould while still too hot.

I replaced the cracked front plastic guide, (which will rarely be used anyway), with a small piece of timber. Pretty easy, and that won't crack.

Otherwise, it's working well and no other issues have raised their heads. The end result is that I'm satisfied with the outcome, and H&F did the right thing by me. I still had the option to return it if I wanted to, I should add, but I figured that to build a table and buy a 2HP router to suit would cost a lot more than I paid for the Scheppach.

[520tis]

Have been reading these posts with some interest as I purchased one last year. On the first trial cut with a finger joint bit, the machine began to rattle out the door. On opening up the rear I found the whole motor loose on its mount. This was apart from the obviously useless fences & pressed table extensions. I have kept the machine as I can make my own attachments and it was rather cheap.

[Hermit]

Have been reading these posts with some interest as I purchased one last year. On the first trial cut with a finger joint bit, the machine began to rattle out the door. On opening up the rear I found the whole motor loose on its mount. This was apart from the obviously useless fences & pressed table extensions. I have kept the machine as I can make my own attachments and it was rather cheap.


Again I didn't receive a notification of a new post in this thread. I checked and I'm definitely still subscribed. ???

The loose mount was what caused the motor and therefore the bit to move forwards/backwards during height adjustment on mine. I tightened the two Allen head screws attaching the motor to the height adjustment bracket, which cured that problem.

I turned it on it's end and removed the bottom plastic panel, not the rear. Maybe your's is slightly different. I couldn't undo the screws on the rear panel with the bottom on - nuts on the inside. Once the bottom was off I didn't need to remove the back panel.
It only took 5 minutes to sort that out and now it behaves as it should. I had no vibration though.

I'm pretty happy with mine now. Will be even happier still when I get around to making the fence, or repairing the original as mentioned earlier.

Edit: I just unsubscribed then resubscribed to see if that cures the notification problem. Bloody annoying.

[Treecycle]

Edit: I just unsubscribed then resubscribed to see if that cures the notification problem. Bloody annoying.

Did that fix your problem Steve?

[Hermit]

Did that fix your problem Steve?

Yep, that notification arrived instantly. :2tsup:

[Bobpol2]

For the members following this thread and with the permission of H&F I reproduce here a reply received to my e-mail expressing concern about the quality issues associated with the Scheppac bench top router.

Good Morning Bob,

Thankyou for your enquiry regarding the HF-50 bench top router and some issues that have been noted on the Woodwork Forum's website.

The issue of fence alignment I do believe it still requires some shimming to get it right. This, as the forum suggests, is largely due to the brackets and mounting of the fence to the unit, the design lends itself to requiring shimming during setup. To my knowledge there has been no change in design from Scheppach of the fence, mounting brackets are still plastic which can distort during the cooling process.

The issue of bowed table top - to my knowledge this has been corrected in the current shipment.
It is worth noting that at one stage we had to quarantine an entire shipment of around 150 units as the tables were bowed, and had to order more table tops from Scheppach to replace them all. The issue only came to light after feedback from customers, where we then checked the units, and found the problem.
The current shipment was immediately quarantined upon arrival and released only after checking for distortion of the table top. This was done in our Sydney warehouse. Current stock we hold is from this last shipment

Regarding spindle lock, the current shipment of machines has had a rework to add more spacers on the lower lock shaft, as the factory has not done this. This may have contributed to the issue as stated on the forum. Whilst carrying out this re work, checks are made to the motor mounting bracket for cracks and tightness of bolts that mount the motor to the bracket.

We have been working with the factory in an attempt to rectify problems as they become apparent with the machine. Generally, we only discover an issue with the machine from customer feedback.

However, these are still a lightweight machine, construction is light with plastic components and brackets used in several places on the machine, to keep cost of manufacture down and allow the machine to be sold for $319. These are by no means the most sturdy machine on the market. Unfortunately, with this Scheppach unit, there is still some work to be done out of the box to set it up and operate correctly.

Scheppach now has most of their smaller 240v range of equipment made in China under licence to Scheppach Germany, this was to allow Scheppach to remain competitive in the market against other Chinese manufactured goods, particularly in the Europe.

If I have missed anything or your require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact me

[Hermit]

Thanks for posting that Bob. It's good to hear that the bowed table issue has been resolved with the new batch. That was the most serious problem with the previous ones in my opinion, since while there's an easy fix for the other problems, the bow isn't as easy to work around, even though it's only important for some processes. It hasn't interfered with anything I've done so far.

I've got to say that aside from the issues mentioned, mine has performed well. I haven't struck the spindle lock problem myself, but keep it in the back of my mind.

I stuck with this unit because when compared to the cost of a stand-alone 2HP router and a table/lift to mount it on, the price is pretty good. Sure beats my Dremel router table. :D

[Bobpol2]

Well I decided to give the bench top router a chance and ordered one.
Unpacked it this morning and first job was to clean the grease off the table and check it for flatness.
Flat to within a few thou, can just slide a 2 thou feeler strip under the straight edge in one spot about 100mm long.

Not at all happy with the instruction book.
Badly produced, parts illustrations are not line drawings just black and white pics that have very poor definition.
The fingerboards and mounting of same do not even get a mention.
The table extension wings have provision for 2 mounting screws on each side and 3 on the end face.
Only 1 inhex screw is supplied for each end face.
Terminology is poor, looked everywhere for “clamping levers” only to work out that they mean knurled knobs with internal thread.
A “four-way socket wrench” is an allan key.

One of the round head bolts required to mount the fence has only a few threads for the knob, needs to be 5mm longer.
The extension wings were fitted but had to be removed again as there is no way that the mitre fence will slide from the slot in the table through the fence.
Problem seems to be in the pressing of the fence slots, the sides of the slots are not at 90º to the face.
I can fix this later but should not have to.
I have checked all the other reported faults and so far have not found any.
I have only run the motor so far, yet to make sawdust with it.

The plastic fence may be a future problem, only time will tell but a metal fence in the first place would have been better.

The machine seems to be good value for money and if they get around to sorting out the few remaining problems then it will be very good buying.

Just a by-note on the H&F manuals, the poor quality of the manuals seems to be common with many of their machines.
I unpacked and assembled the table saw, (H&F ST12D with sliding table) earlier in the week and found that the quality of the saw far exceeded the quality of the manual.
This is something that H&F should take care of.
It is not a difficult task, prior to retirement I was an importer of auto service machinery.
I took each manual supplied, turned them into English from Janglish and Chinglish, sent the corrected versions back and had the factory supply corrected manuals for all deliveries.
H&F should try the same exercise.

Now to fight with the manuals for the sanders and bandsaw.

Regards
Bob
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f245/tornado-bugger-169232/

[_fly_]

good to hear you reasonably happy.
Maybe I'll go have a look at one now (or next sale week).

[Glenrob]

Man am I glad I found this thread before I made the decision to buy one of these machines. I had been thinking of getting something better than my Triton router and bench combo and had only yesterday seen the Scheppach bench top dedicated router in a magazine and thought it would be a great alternative to using an inverted router in a table.
This lead me to searching Google for any reviews on the Scheppach Bench router which is where I found this story of woe from those gentlemen who have had to suffer the obvious failings of this machine. My heart goes out to those guys and I'm sorry they have been "duped" in buying something they thought was a good machine from a reputable vendor.
It's unfortunate that you guys have to suffer the inadequacies of this router so that others like myself are saved from going down the same road.

All the very best Gentlemen,
Bob

[Ross]

I bought one and after mucking about with the fence, and the intructions, I gave up and ordered an Incra Original Jig and the fence to suit. This solved the problem and with the the Incra you have the added advantage of being able to do dove tail and and box joints with a minimum of fuss.

Ross

[Hermit]

I bought one and after mucking about with the fence, and the intructions, I gave up and ordered an Incra Original Jig and the fence to suit. This solved the problem and with the the Incra you have the added advantage of being able to do dove tail and and box joints with a minimum of fuss.

Ross

Ross, with the Incra Original Jig and fence, is there provision for dust extraction?

[Ross]

Ross, with the Incra Original Jig and fence, is there provision for dust extraction?


No but on the Incra dvd they show a shop vac tucked behind the cut out in the fence. I don't think it would be difficult to rig something up.

I have my bench router mounted on a stand with a dc connected through the table underneath.

Ross

[Glenrob]

Hermit,

I've followed this thread on and off for a while now and have become slightly familiar with your machine (bandsaw and bench router) woes along with your own personal position. I know from my own personal experience just how difficult it can be for someone on a limited budget to get a decent set of tools and machinery for the hobby we all love and enjoy, let alone being on a pension at your age and time of life where things are supposed to be getting easier not harder.
Now I would be very pleased if you would take my offer and give it some very serious consideration. While I am myself (forceably) retired ill health, and I don't have a money tree growing just outside my back door where I can go and pluck a few quid off it anytime I please, I am neither struggling to make ends meet (yet) and I am able to purchase most things I need with a bit of judicial wrangling with my retirement funds.
And as such, if you would allow me to help you out in my own small way. I would like to offer you $500.00 towards getting yourself that new bandsaw a bit earlier than you might have planned.
So if you will please accept my meagre offer, you can PM me and I will make whatever arrangements that would suit you and we'll see about getting you up and making straight bits of wood a bit quicker.

Most Sincerely,
Bob

[Handyjack]

Hermit,

I've followed this thread on and off for a while now and have become slightly familiar with your machine (bandsaw and bench router) woes along with your own personal position. I know from my own personal experience just how difficult it can be for someone on a limited budget to get a decent set of tools and machinery for the hobby we all love and enjoy, let alone being on a pension at your age and time of life where things are supposed to be getting easier not harder.
Now I would be very pleased if you would take my offer and give it some very serious consideration. While I am myself (forceably) retired ill health, and I don't have a money tree growing just outside my back door where I can go and pluck a few quid off it anytime I please, I am neither struggling to make ends meet (yet) and I am able to purchase most things I need with a bit of judicial wrangling with my retirement funds.
And as such, if you would allow me to help you out in my own small way. I would like to offer you $500.00 towards getting yourself that new bandsaw a bit earlier than you might have planned.
So if you will please accept my meagre offer, you can PM me and I will make whatever arrangements that would suit you and we'll see about getting you up and making straight bits of wood a bit quicker.

Most Sincerely,
Bob

A Very Generous offer. :2tsup:
May you be blessed with good health and happiness.

[Hermit]

Hermit,

I've followed this thread on and off for a while now and have become slightly familiar with your machine (bandsaw and bench router) woes along with your own personal position. I know from my own personal experience just how difficult it can be for someone on a limited budget to get a decent set of tools and machinery for the hobby we all love and enjoy, let alone being on a pension at your age and time of life where things are supposed to be getting easier not harder.
Now I would be very pleased if you would take my offer and give it some very serious consideration. While I am myself (forceably) retired ill health, and I don't have a money tree growing just outside my back door where I can go and pluck a few quid off it anytime I please, I am neither struggling to make ends meet (yet) and I am able to purchase most things I need with a bit of judicial wrangling with my retirement funds.
And as such, if you would allow me to help you out in my own small way. I would like to offer you $500.00 towards getting yourself that new bandsaw a bit earlier than you might have planned.
So if you will please accept my meagre offer, you can PM me and I will make whatever arrangements that would suit you and we'll see about getting you up and making straight bits of wood a bit quicker.

Most Sincerely,
Bob

Hello Bob. What Jack said.
Your offer sincerely touches me. I really don't know what to say. You've partly restored my faith in human nature.
I won't take advantage of your generosity though. Besides that fact that I couldn't take it, I actually get by fairly well with the bandsaw. I've learned to live with it's idiosyncrasies and can get get most jobs done satisfactorily, from resawing up to 6" thick timber to bandsawn boxes. Not too bad for cutting veneer, either.

I made a new, decent fence for the router table and it now works pretty well too. I made the fence with a fixed outfeed, but adjustable infeed, so it's quick and easy to set up for edge-jointing now. Just set the fence so that the outfeed half is level with the cutter height, set the infeed a fraction further back to set depth and Bob's your uncle.
I made a coping sled to go with it too. Works far better than trying to do end-grain shaping with the mitre guide. You can see the coping sled and RHS of the fence in this pic:

281059


Bob, thanks once again for your extremely kind offer. The thought is much appreciated.

[Glenrob]

Hermit,

Fair enough. It is your decision to make or take, but if there's anyway I can be of some assistance to you please do not hesitate in letting me know. Nowra is only a short drive east from me. If I'm going up to Sydney anytime, I can let you know if you'd like to go for a drive and we could check out Hare and Forbes or Carba-tec if you'd like. It's not that much out of my way to head across country instead of going north from here. It's all much of a muchness.
I'm not sure how you're off for tools, but one thing I do have an excess of is chisels and I have been able to make old tools come up pretty good. This sort of harks back to my hot rod days when I used to be able to hand make lots of detailed items for my cars. My best friend who lives in Florida actually waited for me to visit him in the US just so I could drill the 'hood' of his Corvette for a pair of badges. He didn't trust himself to do it properly and I was the only other person he'd let touch his beloved Vette, much less drill holes in it. I think he called me "anal retentive" because I was so fussy in my details. You gotta know a guy really loves ya when he calls you that.:o

I'm not sure of your marital or home situation, but if you'd fancy a day/night here where you can stretch your legs we could cut some logs for you to take home and play with.
Whatever your decision, I'm here to help whatever way I can.

All the best,
Bob

[Hermit]

Hermit,

Fair enough. It is your decision to make or take, but if there's anyway I can be of some assistance to you please do not hesitate in letting me know. Nowra is only a short drive east from me. If I'm going up to Sydney anytime, I can let you know if you'd like to go for a drive and we could check out Hare and Forbes or Carba-tec if you'd like. It's not that much out of my way to head across country instead of going north from here. It's all much of a muchness.
I'm not sure how you're off for tools, but one thing I do have an excess of is chisels and I have been able to make old tools come up pretty good. This sort of harks back to my hot rod days when I used to be able to hand make lots of detailed items for my cars. My best friend who lives in Florida actually waited for me to visit him in the US just so I could drill the 'hood' of his Corvette for a pair of badges. He didn't trust himself to do it properly and I was the only other person he'd let touch his beloved Vette, much less drill holes in it. I think he called me "anal retentive" because I was so fussy in my details. You gotta know a guy really loves ya when he calls you that.:o

I'm not sure of your marital or home situation, but if you'd fancy a day/night here where you can stretch your legs we could cut some logs for you to take home and play with.
Whatever your decision, I'm here to help whatever way I can.

All the best,
Bob


I'm overwhelmed by your kindness & generosity, Bob. I appreciate your offer. I'm pretty well set in the way of chisels - I bought a cheap set a while ago and was given a few more. Also got a 5-piece miniature set for carving.

Toolwise generally, I've accumulated a pretty good collection in my 18 months of woodworking. I'm even starting to get a good collection of machinery - oscillating spindle sander, drill press, 2 scrollsaws, 12" disc sander, 6"/4" belt/disc sander, 16" wide drum sander, the Scheppach router table, 12" bandsaw, ROS, angle grinder, hand drill, hand belt sander, Dremel rotary, Dremel MultiMax and a few more that I can't think of.

I wouldn't mind a day up there sometime. Not sure when - I'm a bit of a hermit as my forum name suggests and I live alone with 2 dogs that have to be kenneled, making travel a bit awkward.
Cutting up some logs sounds good, too, but getting timber home is a problem - no car. I buy only from places that deliver, but pay dearly for the privilege. The online sellers like Misan and Nimbin Timbers make good $ from me.

I used to have to drill holes for badges too. I started my working life as a panel beater and that was one of the chores I had to do as an apprentice. Like a lot of things in woodworking, you would only get one shot at it. (I think many are just glued on these days.)

[Glenrob]

Steve..........I hope I have your name right from other posts.

I called up a few engineering firms here in Goulburn today and managed to find one that might be able to mill your bandsaw table flat and level for you. So if you can take a couple of pics from both the top and underneath, I should be able to get an idea if they can do the job. It depends on if and how they're able to mount it in the milling machine.
So if you can do that we might be able see about getting the ball rolling if you'd like.
Let me know either way and don't worry about not having a car. Mine's big enough. I rolled my last Pajero about 6 months ago on the way back from Goulburn, so I have a better one now.
Not really what I needed though, but what's a bit more pain to me? :no:

Bob

[Hermit]

Steve..........I hope I have your name right from other posts.

I called up a few engineering firms here in Goulburn today and managed to find one that might be able to mill your bandsaw table flat and level for you. So if you can take a couple of pics from both the top and underneath, I should be able to get an idea if they can do the job. It depends on if and how they're able to mount it in the milling machine.
So if you can do that we might be able see about getting the ball rolling if you'd like.
Let me know either way and don't worry about not having a car. Mine's big enough. I rolled my last Pajero about 6 months ago on the way back from Goulburn, so I have a better one now.
Not really what I needed though, but what's a bit more pain to me? :no:

Bob

Yep, 'Steve' is right. (In my sig.)

Sorry for the slow reply, Bob. I had camera hassles but finally got a couple of decent pics.
The LHS of the table is OK, but it drops away to the right from the centre. (The pic below is from the back.)

This one shows the bow, a couple of mm at it's worst point: -

281197


A couple of under-table shots: -

281202
281198


I spoke to a local guy about 12 months ago who said he could do it with a vertical bore, but it was going to cost a couple of hundred dollars so I decided to live with it for the life of the bandsaw. I'm pretty used to it now, and set the table angle depending on whether I'm working to the right or left of the blade. There's a difference of about 0.6 degrees. I've memorised the settings so it's quick to swap.
For when I need a dead flat table top, I've made one out of MDF, with shims under the RHS to keep it level. Not a drama, so I don't really think it's worth spending a lot of $ to get it machined. I figure the bandsaw won't last for a lot of years so I'll just make sure my next one is nice and flat. I'll probably buy a Powermatic next time around.

[Glenrob]

Steve,

You seem to have been able to have worked around your problems pretty well when you were unable to attain a more permanent solution. That sort of initiative and and inventive problem solving acumen are the signs or someone who is a survivor and one who can get by on their wits and ability.
Just remember that if there's anything I can do to help, no matter how trivial you may think it is, please feel free to ask.
As I'm sure you've seen recently, the problems I've been having in my life by some of my posts, and the positive reactions and huge amount of moral support from the wonderful people in this Forum. So all I'm saying is that there's help out there from what you might think are the most obscure places and people. I'm just one of the many and because of the help and support I received from everyone, I want to be able to return that help in whatever way I can no mater how small it might seem to be.

Cheers,
Bob

[Hermit]

Steve,

You seem to have been able to have worked around your problems pretty well when you were unable to attain a more permanent solution. That sort of initiative and and inventive problem solving acumen are the signs or someone who is a survivor and one who can get by on their wits and ability.
Just remember that if there's anything I can do to help, no matter how trivial you may think it is, please feel free to ask.
As I'm sure you've seen recently, the problems I've been having in my life by some of my posts, and the positive reactions and huge amount of moral support from the wonderful people in this Forum. So all I'm saying is that there's help out there from what you might think are the most obscure places and people. I'm just one of the many and because of the help and support I received from everyone, I want to be able to return that help in whatever way I can no mater how small it might seem to be.

Cheers,
Bob

Thanks Bob. I appreciate the support and if there's anything I can do for you, let me know.

[Hermit]

Just thought I'd post a final (fatal) note to this thread. :((

After all of about 2 hours total running time, the motor in this horrible machine seized last week. On the day, it had only been running for a couple of minutes - not even long enough to get warm. After I let it sit for a bit, I could just turn the shaft with my fingers, but it feels 'rough' and makes a squealing noise. :oo:

Contacted H&F last Wednesday to enquire about a new motor, but they haven't replied yet. Easter always seems to get in my way.

I've mostly used it for edge-jointing small lengths of timber, but for now it's back to the good ol' reliable hand-planes. At least they won't seize up on me. :wink:


Caveat Emptor!
(Buyer Beware)

[Treecycle]

Your story just goes from bad to worse. It's a pity that imported machinery doesn't go through the same scrutiny as imported toys so that the ones that are dangerous or not fit for purpose could be weeded out before they reach the consumer.
Is you table still under warranty?

[Hermit]

Your story just goes from bad to worse. It's a pity that imported machinery doesn't go through the same scrutiny as imported toys so that the ones that are dangerous or not fit for purpose could be weeded out before they reach the consumer.
Is your table still under warranty?

Yeah mate, I'm not real happy right now. Spent the day hand-planing heaps of narrow strips for a segmented lidded pot. Would have taken minutes with the router table.

Almost like it had an in-built timer, the motor seized within a couple of days of the warranty expiring. If H&F reply to my email, it would be nice if they say that they'll still provide me with a replacement motor for free, but I'm not holding my breath.
I'll possibly end up taking the motor to a local business to have the bearings replaced. (The thing is pressed together and I can't get it apart myself.)

I hope potential buyers of these things read this thread. Probably save them lots of grief.

[Hermit]

Some good news for a change. :D:D:D

Dean Olic at H&F just rang me about the dead motor.

Didn't sound promising at first - he said that they don't have spare motors for these router tables, BUT, it turns out there was a 2 year warranty on the router table, not 1 year as I thought.
He's arranging to send me a complete new router table as a warranty replacement. :clap::clap:

Definitely can't complain about that. Just waiting for a call-back to verify, after he talks to the boss.
The router tables aren't the best, but H&F are looking after me again, so I can't complain about them. They're back in my good books again.

Edit: Just got my call-back - it's on it's way.:cool:
With a little luck, the new one might be a little better than the first, too. :fingerscrossed:

[_fly_]

Glad to hear its all on track again.

Have you thought of making a 25mm mdf top for the bandsaw?
You could router a new slot for it.
Put some edges on the bottom and its would just sit over the metal one, like we all do with our drill presses.

Would mean working a way for the fence to work wth it.
Pete

[Hermit]

Glad to hear its all on track again.

Have you thought of making a 25mm mdf top for the bandsaw?
You could router a new slot for it.
Put some edges on the bottom and its would just sit over the metal one, like we all do with our drill presses.

Would mean working a way for the fence to work wth it.
Pete

Do you mean something along these lines maybe: :D

312015

Not MDF, just some old chipboard I had laying around. The rip fence won't fit it, but the mitre guide does. I still use the fence without the extra top.
It has shims under the RHS to make the top more level than the bowed cast iron one, and two L-shaped blocks to locate it. You can just see the edge of them in the pic.
I didn't have the router table when I made it, though, and used my much-loved Dremel to route the mitre slot.
The lamp fitting helps my crappy eyes to see where I'm going, too. I've got four of those lamps, and brackets near all machines to fit them into. They just drop into a 1/2" hole.

[Treecycle]

Very good news about the Router Steve. Great PR for H&F as many people will be reading this thread.
I hope you get a better one this time. Maybe they have upgraded them since you brought yours, after all the negative comments from a number of people.

[Hermit]

Very good news about the Router Steve. Great PR for H&F as many people will be reading this thread.
I hope you get a better one this time. Maybe they have upgraded them since you brought yours, after all the negative comments from a number of people.

Yep. It cheered me up no end. Dean says the new batch are better, but I'll wait and see.....

Gotta say, too, that despite having sold me a couple of below-par machines now, H&F have looked after me pretty well throughout. :cool:

[Hermit]

The new router table arrived this morning. They don't mess around. :2tsup:
I'll get it set up this afternoon, then post a report.

[Hermit]

I got it all set up and running. It's like a whole different machine, compared to the first one.
The table is flat, too, and it runs quieter and with less vibration, even with a wide bit in it.

On this one, the router bit is actually at 90 degees to the table out of the box. (I had to play with the other one a fair bit to achieve this.)

The table extensions aren't as nice - one has a fair dent in it, but I don't care about that. I still have the old ones, but never use them anyway.

Overall, I'm more than happy.
Here's hoping the bearings in this one last longer. :fingerscrossed:

I haven't assembled the plastic fence and checked it for straightness though. I plan to continue using my home-made wooden one. It's much better, especially when it comes to setting up for edge-jointing. I can adjust the infeed half forwards/backwards for depth of cut, and the outfeed half is adjusted to align with the cutter. The dust collector connects to the back of the little box in the middle.

312151 312150

All I have to do now is ask if H&F want me to send them the old one back. If not, it'll be great for spares, especially the collet lock, which according to others can fail pretty quickly, although I was lucky with the first one in that regard.

It looks like I can finally put an end to this thread.

[heffa]

I am damned sorry that I didnt find this post earlier! Might have saved you some stress and time. I bought the Shappech HF-50 a couple of years ago, and had nothing but problems from the work go. Appalling build quality, crappy materials. Put through numerous parts replacements with H&F, and at one stage they replaced it with a whole new unit. Both were bad to begin with and quickly turned to junk. I treated them well, serviced them, used soft woods and quality bits, but the still failed badly.
The guys at H&F were brilliant all the way through, and to be fair, in the beginning the sales guy advised I not buy it. Should have listened.
Anyway, now I'm building my own router table, with help from Kreg and Triton :)

Oh yeah, and if anyone wants some spares for an HF-50 (coz god knows you're gonna need them), shoot me a message

[Treecycle]

I'm glad all has worked out okay in the end. Like you, I hope it lasts much longer than the original. Great work by H&F and I hope that encourages more customers to deal with them.
That's a nice looking fence you've made up there. I'm sure it looks more the part than a plastic one anyway.
Good luck with it, and hope to see many items come off it (wooden bits not parts).

[Hermit]

I am damned sorry that I didnt find this post earlier! Might have saved you some stress and time. I bought the Shappech HF-50 a couple of years ago, and had nothing but problems from the work go. Appalling build quality, crappy materials. Put through numerous parts replacements with H&F, and at one stage they replaced it with a whole new unit. Both were bad to begin with and quickly turned to junk. I treated them well, serviced them, used soft woods and quality bits, but the still failed badly.
The guys at H&F were brilliant all the way through, and to be fair, in the beginning the sales guy advised I not buy it. Should have listened.
Anyway, now I'm building my own router table, with help from Kreg and Triton :)

Oh yeah, and if anyone wants some spares for an HF-50 (coz god knows you're gonna need them), shoot me a message

Yeah mate. Join the club. Actually, it sounds like you were a founding member. :D
This new one does seem better than the first, so I'll see how I go.

[Hermit]

I'm glad all has worked out okay in the end. Like you, I hope it lasts much longer than the original. Great work by H&F and I hope that encourages more customers to deal with them.
That's a nice looking fence you've made up there. I'm sure it looks more the part than a plastic one anyway.
Good luck with it, and hope to see many items come off it (wooden bits not parts).

The fence is the best part. :D

The way I see it, for the cost, if I get another year out of it I'll be happy. Meantime, I'd better start saving my bikkies for a real router & table or at least a bench-top jointer. I only use it occasionally, mainly for edge-jointing, so I might be lucky.
If nothing else, they'd make a fine small boat anchor.

And I agree, the H&F support has been great. I'll deal with them anytime.
(I wonder how many of these machines they're stuck with?)

All said and done, you do get what you pay for.

[Dicky Knee]

I'm damned sorry I didn't see this thread earlier too, Heffa. I've got one of these things on order.
Steve, mate, you must be a saint. I think I would have dragged the thing to Sydney on the train & thrown it at someone from H&F before now. Glad to hear they have come through for you in the (long, drawn-out) end.
I now wait with bated breath to see what comes out of the box when I pick mine up in a week or so. First job will be to examine the photo of your fence very closely, I think.
I'm about to embark on my comically under-funded retirement, so it's good to know that it's possible, with time & effort, to overcome the budget tools that I can afford.
Good luck,
Dick

[Hermit]

I'm damned sorry I didn't see this thread earlier too, Heffa. I've got one of these things on order.
Steve, mate, you must be a saint. I think I would have dragged the thing to Sydney on the train & thrown it at someone from H&F before now. Glad to hear they have come through for you in the (long, drawn-out) end.
I now wait with bated breath to see what comes out of the box when I pick mine up in a week or so. First job will be to examine the photo of your fence very closely, I think.
I'm about to embark on my comically under-funded retirement, so it's good to know that it's possible, with time & effort, to overcome the budget tools that I can afford.
Good luck,
Dick

G'day Dick. My fingers are crossed that you get one of the better ones. It takes all of the fun out of getting a new toy when it doesn't perform as expected.
The replacement is still working well, although I haven't used it for much except edge-jointing.

Anyway, good luck. :fingerscrossed:

[Treecycle]

And I agree, the H&F support has been great. I'll deal with them anytime.


Just an aside comment on this thread. I had the pleasure of needing to order online from H&F a couple of weeks ago, and the service was first rate. I ordered on the Sunday night and the parcel arrived on Wednesday. I received emails daily updating me on the status of my order.
No affiliation with them, just a happy customer.

[Dicky Knee]

Just an aside comment on this thread. I had the pleasure of needing to order online from H&F a couple of weeks ago, and the service was first rate. I ordered on the Sunday night and the parcel arrived on Wednesday. I received emails daily updating me on the status of my order.
No affiliation with them, just a happy customer.
Thanks Treecycle. Can't beat an unsolicited recommendation. This is my first dealing with H&F, and apart form being told "That's your problem," when I asked about getting my 120kg table saw off the delivery truck, they have been good so far. Maybe that was just whoever works in the Dandenong warehouse on Saturdays wishing he was somewhere else? Anyway, I'm picking it up myself, so it really is my problem now.
Picking my new toys (SB-12 table saw and the dreaded Scheppach router) up on Saturday:U so I'll see how I go. Might even post a review when I get everything set up!
Cheers,
Dick

[Treecycle]

Hopefully you might just get away with making a neat fence system like Steve, and the rest will be okay.
I too had the same problem of unloading my saw out of the ute at home. Fortunately I have a manhole in the ceiling of the garage and was able to hook a block & tackle on to one of the trusses in the roof cavity, lift it up and then drive out from under it.

[Mozzmanau]

So glad I found this review. I was thinking of buying one of these router tables and decided against it after what I have read.

I would be asking for a refund if anyone has purchased one of these and are having problems.

I think H&F are really starting to sell some cheap rubbish. I got one if their $600 thicknessers and had nothing but problems with it. After 3 months I returned it and got my money back. They couldn't repair it so just refunded it. They must have sooooo many broken machines lol.

[Bob38S]

Have only just come across this thread.

Good to see H&F have stood behind what they sell. However, they are an importer, the machine/brand is German - has anyone contacted the parent company in Germany?

From my limited experience with German engineering and the German mindset for precision I can't believe that the obviously inferior product being supplied and sold under their name would be acceptable. The company will only know if they are told - it should not be necessary but many today seem to be of the opinion that if there are no complaints the all must be OK.

Just a thought.

[Mr Brush]

Errrr....German design, Chinese manufacture?? No thanks.

I think you'll find Scheppach these days is towards the low end of the junk coming out of China.

The company obviously thinks that "Scheppach" (with European connotations...) sounds more appealing than "Ping Pong Machinery Co.", but most of the woodworking community has learned their lesson the hard way.

"Scheppach - I Mean, How Bad Can It Be?"

To be honest, Aldi probably has better QA than Scheppach (i.e. some, as opposed to none).

[wheelinround]

Errrr....German design, Chinese manufacture?? No thanks.

I think you'll find Scheppach these days is towards the low end of the junk coming out of China.

The company obviously thinks that "Scheppach" (with European connotations...) sounds more appealing than "Ping Pong Machinery Co.", but most of the woodworking community has learned their lesson the hard way.

"Scheppach - I Mean, How Bad Can It Be?"

To be honest, Aldi probably has better QA than Scheppach (i.e. some, as opposed to none).


Aldi sell exactly the same machines these days well the machine brand of Taurus anyway.

[UPO]

Many thanks for some interesting but disturbing reading.

I was out at H&F Brisbane a couple of week ago looking at this router table -

So what brand / model is reasonable value or similar cost as Scheppach unit as an entry level table or is it better to build from scratch ??

Thanks
UPO - Richard

[econ]

Richard, it all depends on what you want to use it for now and in the future.

I recently learnt a valuable lesson. I have several router tables, routers, dovetail router jigs
Ranging in price from cheap to how will I pay the mortgage if I buy this ? For a long time I went with the cheaper options. Whats clear in retrospect is that somehow this never results in an entirely satisfactory product. Cast iron tables that are out by few thou, router bearings that become noticeably sloppy, fences that need fiddly finger tapping adjustment, jigs that are just that little bit finicky to set up ,etc .etc etc . As I get older I want my gear to work pretty much out of the box and for this there is price to be paid. If I had my time over , I would spend big one time and not , lots of medium to low spends.

For routing tables and ancilliary routing equipment for the long haul that will hurt your bank account but only once , go to one of this forums sponsors, professional woodworkers.

In particular I highly recommend the Incra fence / jig system on any router table that is flat.

If serious routing is in your future the Incra will make you happy you made the investment . It looks complex and fiddly but if you follow the step by step onstructions , in an afternoon youl'll be routing things like dovetails , edge profiles , dadoes with unrivalled precision. Unfortunately the number of resources on the web for this product are few so its hard to appreciate its full potential.

[safari]

I bought a router table top from Professional Woodworkers together with an insert drilled for a Triton router. I made a stand with a couple of draws for storage. All up probably cost $75 less than the Sheppach plus the cost of the router but you end up with a table that is very accurate from the start without any of the hassles and you have a router that can be used for other jobs if required.

Definitely the way to go.

[Simplicity]

I Also have an incra system, yes it's expensive.
And yes it does what it says.
I only have one router table, and it was the incra from day one.
And Yeah I had to save big for that one, but it's been worth it.

[UPO]

Thanks Econ - totally agree " get what you pay for" but as just jumping into the pond, want to keep cost down if can while getting to understand what is what - mostly use handtools and the router ( just bought Triton MOF001 ) is first major lash out so looking at all options suggested.

Safari - seriously looking at buying top & insert & fence - makes a lot of sense to me

Simplicity - incra system - has serious thinking ahead

Thanks for input

UPO - Richard