I'm not sure if I am the one with the bad luck on this. I've had 3 spindles go bad in 2 months and a 4th was DOA. These Harbor Freight jobs look nice and do the job as long as they are in working condition, but I beginning to suspect that a high failure rate on them has to do with the locking interface for the flex shaft attachment not being the same quality as the spindle itself or the motor.

I know, surprise for mass produced low-margin chinese tools.

Tonight I was cutting a sheet of .130 MDF-which cuts quite nicely at about 30ipm in two passes. No problemo. I've also been hitting it hard with several hours of 3d foam cutting. All total I probably have only about 8 hours on the latest one. I noticed on spinning it up there was a subtle rattle coming from the spindle/flex shaft interface, like a bearing going bad. I decided to go through with the cut. Everything appeared to be working nicely. Left it run the job for a bit. Probably 15min into the cut, the spindle froze/stopped rotation and the bit got snapped during a line. I estopped it, bookmarked the code and started to disassemble the spindle/shaft interface. Found the broken part and some metal shavings in the interface and sure enough, there was no action on the motor when I played with it. I am pretty confident that it needs a replacement part to fix. All three bad routers have failed in similar fashion to this. The first two failed on foam cuts, so I doubt it is loading on the spindle that having a major impact, otherwise the bits would've broken long before the spindle should wear out.

No major worries, though-I went and got the 2 year warranty plan for it when I took the original back, so I know they'll exchange it no problem. I'd still much rather have a reliable router that will last a few thousand hours, so I am going to look into purchasing a Phlatboyz attachment and more robust router with a wider RPM range at some time in the future.

Anyone else experience a problem with the router, or am I just a bad luck case? :think:

Chris.

 

Good morning Chris. We are aware of 2 other spindles that weren't up to par out of about 70. There is a definite need to be able to change the tool if you want/need. Now that the Dremel and Rotozip attachments are complete (will be on the store soon), we all have the ability which is awesome. We have been considering removing the tool altogether from the Kit once we can get more tool attachments in the Phlat Store. This will allow you to choose which tool you want to use from the start and if you already own say a Dremel, you won't have to purchase a tool that you would not need. We'll work on this and get it completed asap. Sorry to hear that you have had so many problems with the Harbor Freight tool.

Mark and Trish

 

No problem, like I said-the router is under extended warranty. I'm definitely game for a different router though. HF has been very good to deal with for me when it comes to warranty support.

Hmm, Rotozip or Dremel. I'm leaning to the rotozip attachment as I think it would be a bit more robust at cutting the harder materials.

Sign me up!

 

I have remained silent for the same reason ;-)

 

LOL! Don't jinx it!

 

I found this write up on maintenance for the Dremel flex shaft that may be useful. Here you will read where over greasing is a bad idea. I find my self pulling the shaft from the back of the tool about once a month and spraying some silicone lube down the inside coil. This has helped my tool last a long while. I have also read where guys are using a graphite solution as well. Not sure what that is though.
Hope this helps.
http://messageboard.dremel.com/Topic6188-20-1.aspx
Mark and Trish

 

I took the plastic rotozip flex shaft that was broken apart one time to see what was inside and posted a few pics. This flex shaft I did not take pics when I took it apart :x , but its pretty straight forward once you start. There was a guy that I talked to on the phone (sorry can't remember the name its been a while) that took his apart and replaced the bearing and said that he has almost no run-out at all. So I am thinking that this would be a worthwhile mod for sure.
Mark and Trish