Many older routers, including the popular Porter-Cable 690, use thumbscrews to lock the base after the depth has been set. If you don’t tighten the thumbscrew sufficiently, it can loosen, change the bit depth, and ruin your project. I know by experience.

By substituting a cam-action clamp—the kind sold to lock a bicycle seat post—you can provide quick, accurate, and secure clamping for the router base. The seat-post clamp works just like the clamps that are standard on new routers, and can be purchased for about $10 at most bike shops.

You won’t need the ring that goes around the seat post, but you probably will need some spacers to make things work right. I used hex nuts a size larger than the threaded shank for spacers. The nut on the end of the clamp adjusts the clamping force.

Jim Richey

Jim Wylie, Glendora, CA

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

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