# Router Table



## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

Freud has been a pretty good company. However, I think (not certain) they were just recently bought by Fein. Ya never know what is going to happen when there is a change in ownership.


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## stpierre (Oct 21, 2010)

That was the first thing I checked. The floor and the stand were both level.The fence is what sold me on the router.The tools are great tools but as a woodworker I stand behind everything I build and I feel the companys I buy tools from should as well.


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## lanwater (May 14, 2010)

Have you called freud directly?
It could be your local woodcraft guy did not want to spend the time and send it back. 
Also maybe there is a shipping charge to send it back, it could be a problem…

I would call freud and get it strait from them.


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## wseand (Jan 27, 2010)

If Freud doesn't stand behind their warranties then Woodcraft damn well better stand behind their customers. Both companies are profiting off of you so both should stand behind what they sell. Meaning Woodcraft, should push harder on Freud to make sure you are satisfied. If a company is selling another companies product and that company doesn't do what is right and the company I bought it from doesn't fix the problem, I wouldn't buy from either again.


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## tdv (Dec 29, 2009)

Seems to happen a lot nowadays once they have your money they don't care. Although I agree with lanwater give Freud a call direct & tell them you are part of a 20,000 strong network of wood workers & you're gonna start a forum on poor service & back up…....That adds up to a lot of router table tops & it may just be your dealer who can't be arsed you could also tell your dealer that you'll give him a mention too & would he like the positive publicity or the negative? I wish you luck
Trevor


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## CANDL (Sep 18, 2010)

Wow , I would second the opinion to call Freud directly. Isn't Woodcraft a franchise?

I bought one of their 3000 VSE routers over Christmas … there was a minor packaging error. Lets just say they more than made up for my troubles ….. since then they have gotten much more of my dollars.

Carl


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## stpierre (Oct 21, 2010)

I have a problem with holding Woodcraft responsible even though your right if they sell it thet should stand behind it. I have used my local woodcraft store for years in Roanoke,Va. and the owner has always gone out of his way to help me out on things.And I'm sure if Freud doesn't get me a new one I'm pretty sure Woodcraft would.Normally I would have just put some angle iron on the bottom of it and fixed the problem but this is not the first time I have had trouble with Freud, and I'm getting tired of spending money on tools that only hold up 2 years.And it's not you get what you pay for these routers aren't cheap.And the last time I called them directly it got me nowhere because I didn't mail in the warranty card but I did have the receipt.
Bill


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Must be something in the water….I bought an item just before Christmas and had issues with it. I called the CS and that person told me I would have to return it to the manufacturer! Yeah right,returned it and did not buy another one. Who lost???
Although I have been in Woodcraft stores I didn't care for I have been in others that really went out of their way for service. 
Did you talk to the owner of the store?
Others on this site are correct when they talk about the power of this site as far as dealing with problems with tools. Case in point about a month ago(or less) Home Depot and the Worksharp 3000 issue. Other issues have been resolved the same way. Companies monitor this site and when they start getting bad PR they usually attempt to correct the problem(note I said usually)


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## Slice (Jan 10, 2011)

Funny how much of the old stuff that was made in America with pride is still in many shops and working just fine.


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## Slice (Jan 10, 2011)

Bill…I sent a message to Freud with a link to this review. We need to stand together as a community of woodworkers. We all work hard for our money that purchases the tools that these companies sell to us. They need to listen to their customers.


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## Slice (Jan 10, 2011)

Hey Bill (everyone),

I received a response back from Freud and it was positive. Please look below:

You guys are definitely active. This is the second email I have received in so many days. Here is what I told the previous writer. We have never refused to replace the top of a router table that is under warranty. I am not sure what transpired between Woodcraft and this consumer but they typically take care of their customers as well. The problem is you never hear both sides of the story when you read something that someone writes in a forum. I did note that several people on the site asked why he never contacted us directly. I found his response odd because we never ask about if the tool is registered. If he has the receipt then we would honor the warranty regardless of if he sent in a card or not. The main function of the registering tools or other consumer goods is not for warranty but in the event of a product recall we have a way to contact you.

Also the offer also stands for this customer if the router table is under warranty, send in the defective part along with a copy of the receipt and we will replace it. Even if if it is now a few months out of warranty because of this miscommunication we will still honor it. If he wants to send it in he should send it by UPS to Freud Technical Services 218 Feld Avenue, High Point, NC 27263. He needs to be sure to include a note about the problem with the return address, a copy of the receipt, and a daytime phone number.

Jim


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## stpierre (Oct 21, 2010)

Well thats funny,I still have not recieved a new table. Woodcraft took the top because that is where I was told to bring it. I trust the owner of my local Woodcraft store and what he told me is that Freud was giving him a hard time about it. I don't know who to talk to at Freud but feel more comfortable dealing directly with Woodcraft. I added up what I have spent on Freud tools and it came up to around $4500.00. And calling Freud is not as easy as you think, or it hasn't been for me over the years. Sometimes it's just easier to go buy a new one and in this case it would have been. I will no longer buy Freud tools or bits.


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## Riversburg (Oct 11, 2009)

Thanks for your posting Bill.
I have been going back and forth with which router table to purchase, cast iron top or MDF topped. Obviously the cast iron one will be more expensive but in the long run, with warping issues and the fact that it will be housed in my garage workshop with no humidity control I think I'd rather deal with keeping the iron top oiled, than having to repurchase because of warpage.
Now, the question is do I want the MLCS iron table with the sliding top or the standard MLCS iron topped table!
Thank you for helping me eliminate one of the three choices!
Anyone else out there with ideas about the last two??


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## fzxtchr (Jan 17, 2010)

I purchased the same router/table combination and had the same experience with a bowed table. I called Freud customer service and they shipped out a new top reasonably quickly. I don't know if it is their choice of materials, the weight of the router, or both, but the same thing happened again. In the shop, we ended up mounting their top to a sheet of 3/4 ply and now it is dead level.


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## stpierre (Oct 21, 2010)

I'm not sure what the problem is with the top but both of mine had to be replaced.They did replace the tops but I have noticed that the first one they had replaced is starting to bow again.I recently said that I will never buy a Freud again but after I cooled down I relized that Freud probably did not make the wood that there routers are mounted too.The tools are fine but their choice of materials for there tops may not be there better judgement.In there defence it takes the tops about 6 months to start to warp something that would have gone unnoticed in a test lab that only takes a few days of testing.
To fix the problem instead of replacing the tops I have taken a piece of oak about 3" wide by the length of the table on edge with some pocket holes and helped stabilized the top. So far this has worked well. In the future I hope that Freud will back up their machinery with alliminum or steel tops.The 3 horsepower router they are trying to support is quite heavy and needs a little more support. I don't want anyone to think that Freud is junk because some of my Freud tools have worked well for years. It's when Freud uses other materials around there machines like mdf they need to make sure they are using the best of quality.Just as we do as woodworkers.


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