One day I realized that my collection of hand power tools had become quite old. Some of them are pushing 20 years! I don’t think I would have predicted this when I bought them so no real complaints. That is until today. A few weeks ago the brush on a Porter Cable 690 Plunge Router shot across the room. Needless to say work had to stop until I figured out what had happened. It turned out that the plastic cap had cracked and the brush sprang out of its home. I was able to screw it back in and get back to work. It is shocking that I have not ordered a replacement since my “field fix” is not going to last.

This was the culprit

Today my Porter Cable 6″ Random orbit sander had an incident. By incident I mean complete failure. A bearing blew, a screw sheared and into the recycling bin it goes.

A close up of the orbit mechanism and the busted bearing.

I wonder what will be next? I have my eye on a Panasonic 12V cordless drill that is acting up. Perhaps it could be my other Porter cable router, it is howling a bit. My fear is that there are probably half a dozen tools that are of this vintage. It would almost be easier for me if they all jumped at the same time!