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  1. #1
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    Default Scheppach dedicated bench router - Part 2

    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: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f20/sc...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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

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  3. #2
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    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.
    ____________________________________________________________
    there are only 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary arithmetic and those that don't.

  4. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Avery View Post
    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
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hermit View Post
    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'.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  6. #5
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    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
    ____________________________________________________________
    there are only 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary arithmetic and those that don't.

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Avery View Post
    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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  8. #7
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    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....)

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Brush View Post
    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....)
    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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  10. #9
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    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.

    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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  11. #10
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    Default Fault Pics

    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

    Movement During Height Adjustment.JPG

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



    Next pic is the bow in the table:

    Table Bow.jpg



    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:

    Fence Misalignment.jpg



    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.:

    Fingerboard Bracket Poor Weld.JPG




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

    Cracked Guide & Mitre Slot Rust.JPG



    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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  12. #11
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    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.

  13. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Brush View Post
    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:

    Dremel Router Table.JPG

    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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  14. #13
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    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.
    Regards Rumnut.

    SimplyWoodwork
    Qld. Australia.

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by tdrumnut View Post
    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.
    ... Steve

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

  16. #15
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    Default Troubleshooting

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

    Troubleshooting.JPG

    Can anyone tell me what 'blunt measurers' are?

    'Careless milling picture' is a beauty, too.

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

    -- Monkey see, monkey do --

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