I just started doing research for a magazine article about trim routers and discovered that Porter Cable, now owned by Black and Decker, has stopped production of their classic model 310 trim router. It looks like a fist sized version of Porter Cable’s bigger routers like the 690 and is rarely seen outside of pro shops.
This is a gem of a tool, there is no other trim router that even comes close to it for accuracy, solid performance, and ease of use. In laminate shops it is typically the only machine you will see and a number of companies made accessories for specialized trim operations based on the model 310.
I went in search of a supplier who might still have some in stock and found a company in Connecticut that bought out the last run of the 310’s. They have 1,400 of them in stock and then there aren’t anymore. If you ever thought about buying a trim router this is the time to do it.
The company is Tools Plus and they can be found at www.toolsplus.com. The router cost $159.00 plus shipping. I ordered one for myself and found them good to deal with.
Note that the replacement trim router from Porter Cable is called the #7310 and it is nothing like the original machine.
John White
Edited 4/9/2008 11:35 am ET by JohnWW
Replies
Thanks for the heads up John. I have 2 on the way.
I think Betterly also bought up a bunch. Not sure if they sell them with out one of their bases though.
I agree on the 310 being one of the best thought out of the trim routers. Nothing fancy , just brute force simple.
Kind of makes you wonder, (actually it probably removes all doubt), of how good the future for Porter Cable quality will be under the new owner ship.
John,
Would you happen to know if this is one of the routers Porter Cable uses in their pocket hole cutter? I bought one used (with no manual) and I would have to pull the routers out from the cabinet to see the spec plate. If it is I just may order a spare as well.
Thanks,
Lee
John,
I am no pro and I own one. I love the little beast, gets in tight spots that no full size router can, the height adjustment mechanism is worth the price of admission alone. As you said a gem of a tool, I guess B-D is going to turn P-C into just another junk brand of power hand tools..
Hi John and all ,
Will Art Betterly still be in existence ?
The worst part of this change is I was told parts for older and vintage Rockwell and Delta / Porter Cable tools may be a thing of the past .
dusty
Things have already gone considerably down hill with Porter Cable and Delta parts even on newer machines. Things don't look good.John W.
Oh John, why do you do this to me? I just bought a new router and a new trim router! By the way, I bought Makita's 3710, It's got a plastic housing, clear plastic base, and plastic knobs. Everything's plastic on it except the threaded parts. I bought it because I felt the need the a small router and $90 seemed like a good deal. It has a tilting base, bearing guide, fence/circle cutting attachment, and a bit included. But darn it, that PC unit looks so nice!
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Sorry, I posted the information as soon as I heard what was going on. Perhaps you can give your new Makita to someone as a Christmas present and then buy the PC. The one I ordered arrived a few days ago and it's a nice little machine.John W.
I received my 2 yesterday. By the way these are the routers used in the Castle Pocket cutter machines, that is why I ordered them. The newer Castle machines use the new router that is replacing the 310. I just hope Bad and Decker doesn't get a wild hair and discontinue the 690 series.
Edited 4/8/2008 10:28 am ET by mbcabinetmaker
Edited 4/8/2008 10:30 am ET by mbcabinetmaker
I fear for the Porter Cable line of tools, this is not a good start.John W.
I broke down and ordered one. I'll use my Makita a little more, then decide if it's worthy of my keeping.Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I had one of those in my shop a long time ago, and i believe it grew legs and walked at one point or another. (hmmmm) Its dependability always reminded me of the tools made in the 50's.
I broke down and bought a replacement and man, what a poor choice i made. I bought one of those little Bosch "Colt" trimmer routers. I'll not even comment on it.
Anyway, Thanks John, i have one ordered up.
I am curious why you don't like the Colt. I got one a little while ago and generally like it. It is a small, easily controlled tool. The spindle lock is not well designed but otherwise it has worked fine for me. OTOH I have never seen or tried the 310 or any other small router/trimmer for that matter. If you have used both I would love to hear a quick comparison. I am not doubting your conclusion on the Colt - I have just never used anything else.
Thanks
Chris
Chris, I shouldn't be so hard on the little colt trimmer. It is designed with some good thought in mind. I bet there is a design engineer out there somewhere wishing he had more input into the manufacturing process down stream of his CAD station.
Where i ran into some frustration was with the base/housing interface. The quick action buckle doesn't have the strength to clamp around the housing sufficiently enough to prevent movement. I tightened the friction nut enough to close the gap so when the buckle was closed the housing seemed tight, but the vibration still allowed the housing to drift during use, changing the height, hence depth of cut. Sad because only a slightly thicker wall on that permanent mold aluminum casting would have made the difference. But!... aluminum is expensive and molds are even more expensive to change after prototyping.
I did compensate for this shortcoming somewhat by using the fine adjustment nut to kind of "jam" the sleeve in one direction but the confidence factor remained a nag. I also found the locking tab did not engage the shaft enough to tighten and loosen the collet nut appropriately, sounds like you found the same thing. I'd be okay with that if the tool came with the other wrench to tighten the shaft properly in the event the lock button failed (the shaft has the flats machined on it). I kind of cringe at the thought of someone thinking "aww...that's tight enough" and getting grazed by a wizzing carbide round over bit.As far as the 310 goes, it's not easy to explain. It's just a better tool, rugged, sturdy, not a lot of nonsense bells and whistles, dependable even when unrecognizable through coatings of contact cement wood chips and glue. In my shop, i have some galoots that just wouldn't treat the colt with the delicate touch it seems to need. My old 310 took a few bounces from the bench as i recall and other than getting uglier continued to do it's job. The Colt is adequate for light work and priced accordingly, (my opinion of course)Thanks for askingJeff
Jeff,
I also have a Colt trim router and your experiences with it almost exactly mirror my own. That shaft locking deal is a real irritant. It should work and it simply doesn't. That was one of the main reasons I bought the thing to begin with, and now I've had to go and buy another wrench, and have to keep track of where they are.
As to the router's body drifting down in the base during routing, mine did that as well. Then I re-read the manual, and was surprised to learn that you need to rotate the body in the base in order to "snap" it into the threads of the fine adjustment device.
That action seems to have halted the drift I was experiencing, though I agree that the locking cam on the base is pretty flimsy.
Other than that, I do like the size of the router, though it does seem top-heavy at times; I can't seem to keep it from tipping unless I really bear down on the base with the hand that's not wrapped around the router. The base seems too small to provide a non-tipping platform as you move the unit along the work.
After all those complaints, it is interesting to me that I still claim to like the router. Maybe I should say I "tolerate" it. And maybe I just don't know any better. It's my first trim router so I have nothing to compare it to..
ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
"I also have a Colt trim router and your experiences with it almost exactly mirror my own. That shaft locking deal is a real irritant."
This puzzles me. I had never noticed any problems with the shaft lock on my Colt (I have the PR20EVS), so I took a look this morning, and sure enough, it works just fine. I push in the button and hold it down while I rotate the shaft by hand. When it gets to one of the two locking positions (180° apart), I can feel the locking pin drop into its mating hole in the shaft. Once it's locked, I can use the collet wrench to bear down on the collet nut with all my might, and the shaft doesn't budge.
-Steve
Steve,
You're one of the lucky ones with respect to the shaft lock holding on your Colt router. Mine failed on the first day I had it - maybe even with putting the first bit into the collet.
Not being one to take a defective tool back, I took it apart to see if I could determine what the problem was. I forgot the motor had brushes though, so when I went to pull the shaft from the motor housing, I broke off both of the brushes. D'oh!
But, I was able to see that no matter how far in I tried to press the shaft lock button on the outside of the router, the mechanism wouldn't engage far enough on the flat spots on the shaft. The prongs just slipped out again and again. No fix to that. In fact, maybe I'm remembering now that the prongs actually sprung apart permanently. It's been a year or so, so I don't recall exactly.
But the bottom line is that the shaft lock mechanism is broken and can't be fixed (at least by me). Is it worth packing it up and sending it in to Bosch to get this fixed? Well, it's about 20 miles to the nearest UPS, so when I figure in the price of gas, plus the shipping charge, I concluded I'd just use the wrenches. And, I reserve the right to complain. So that's worth something.
Zolton If you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
"...I was able to see that no matter how far in I tried to press the shaft lock button on the outside of the router, the mechanism wouldn't engage far enough on the flat spots on the shaft."
There must have been an inline design change somewhere along the way. While I'm not going to take mine apart to see what's going on inside, I can tell by feel that the stop isn't engaging a flat; there is definitely a pin-fits-into-hole mechanism of some kind. If I hold the button down with one hand and rotate the shaft with the other, there is a well-defined "snap into place" action when I reach the lock--the button moves down a further 2 mm or thereabouts.
-Steve
You're killin' me here, John. I had already spent my tool allocation for the month. But after reading your post at 3:00 AM (couldn't sleep) I woke up my wife to tell here I needed $159--which credit card should I use? After explaining why I needed the money she mumbled something about "gonna get John White."
Anyway thanks for the heads up. You prodded me to place the order for the PC 310, something I'd been putting off for some time.
Bob
Bob,I suspect that I got a lot of spouses mad at me over the years doing tool reviews. Tell her I said it was money well spent, as if that will make a difference.John W
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