Jessem router table top is about 1mm off flat. Should I complain?

[MichaelW2014]

Hello all. I bought a Jessem router table system. It arrived today. I live in Greece. I put it all together. The phenolic table top is 1mm off from flat.

It's very upsetting, to say the least. I expected it to be dead flat or close to it. I am surprised by how bowed it is. Do you think this will affect my work? Should I ask the seller to send a new one? Perhaps the mdf top is better?

I already complained to them about the faulty directions regarding which screws to use to attach the fence rails to the the top. So now I feel hesitant to complain. But I don't know if i should accept this considering how much i spent on the entire system.

 

[Roseland]

I'd complain!

You don't say if it's convex or concave (concave is, I guess, worse) but for a premium product I'd have thought 1/2mm was max convex/zero concave.

Andrew

 

[MichaelW2014]

concave. I haven't even attached the router plate with router. I'm amazed that a piece of hard plastic can be so warped. Like you said, .5mm would be an annoyance and the max one could accept, this is badly bowed. I can see how bowed it is by just looking at how far the fence is from the top--it's shocking and very disappointing.

 

[Roseland]

If it's concave I'd say that was entirely unacceptable.  It will be impossible to rout a long strip and keep the edge profile constant.  If it was convex it wouldn't be so bad, because the strip would just rock a tiny bit.  In fact I believe some router inserts are very slightly convex deliberately, to make sure contact is always maintained with the base where the cutter is.

Andrew

 

[tiralie]

Ya, send it back. You can't start out with a table that is out.
Tim

 

[MichaelW2014]

thanks for the advice guys. i feel justified to ask for a replacement, and i am shocked that they sent me such a bad part. hopefully the seller will do the right thing and send me a new and better table top.

i wonder if the mdf would be better.

 

[fshanno]

Was it the Mast R Top or the Excel II?

 

[MichaelW2014]

i have the phenolic table top and i haven't installed the router-r-plate yet. the route-r-plate is a simple router table plate to which i will attach my OF1010 router.

 

[jbasen]

Good luck complaining. I have a router lift where the plate is slightly concave. I contacted Jessem and they responded asking me how far off it was. I don't remember exactly how far it was off now but I responded back to them at the time with the exact measurement and never heard back from them again. Very unimpressed with their support

 

[MichaelW2014]

I really hope it doesn't come to that. I cannot accept the table top as it is now. It is horrible. I have spent a thousand dollars on this table and all the accessories, bits, etc. I will be furious if the issue is not resolved correctly. I cannot accept being unfairly treated in a transaction of any sort, especially one like this.

 

[MichaelW2014]

I'm disappointed that they would even deliver a table that is so obviously unacceptable. I find it unethical.

 

[fshanno]

Well, we're all watching now.  I really want to know how this turns out.  Please keep after them.

In the mean time.  Have you mounted it to your frame?  It might be possible to shim the bow out when you screw it down.

 

[MichaelW2014]

the table top is already attached to the jessem metal frame. the phenolic top is very rigid; attaching it to the metal frame wouldn't change it. it is as hard as some metals. i had previously thought that maybe the weight of a router plate or lift with an attached router or router motor might eventually cause bowing in a router top. so now there are two things to worry about.
§
i will pursue this issue until it is resolved.
§
btw, i checked the aluminum table of my festool cs70 trim saw and found it to be dead flat.

 

[MichaelW2014]

I checked the "master fence" with a ruler. The fence is also not flat. it is off by about 3/4-1 mm. I don't know what to think now. I'm overwhelmed by these problems. I expected to be receiving a precision instrument.

It doesn't make sense to me how someone can manufacture crap. I mean, these are machine made products--how can they be incorrect? Jessem is supposed to be a leader in router table innovations--how could they put out a product like this? It's disrespectful to me, and it is bad for business. And ethically, I dislike anyone who manufactures products that are destined to end up in the trash.

I bought these jessem products from a distributer in Germany. I am in greece. It's a  nightmare dealing with these issues.

 

[MichaelW2014]

Update.

I haven't heard back from the German distributor yet. Hopefully he will get back to me within the next day or two before i am forced to contact Jessem in Canada or my credit card company to file an insurance claim.

 

[rljatl]

Are you sure your ruler is straight?

 

[MichaelW2014]

Are you sure your ruler is straight?

Yes, I checked the problems with two rulers, just to be certain.

 

[MichaelW2014]

Update:

Jessem and their German retailer are sending me a new table top and new faces for the router fence. The customer service is excellent and they are apologetic and totally professional. So long as they are doing all that they have told me they are doing, I would say this is a company you can trust and I would recommend them to anyone else. If I do not update this thread again then that means that everything worked out well in the end.

 

[MichaelW2014]

BAD NEWS,

so i have order a full jessem setup. router table, fence, clear cut guides and feather boards. i also bought the jessem doweling kit and a selection of whiteside bits.

1. the fence faces are not dead flat.

2. the phenolic table top is convex.
the second table top arrived. it is .25-.5 of a mm off.

3. the insert plate is concave. .25. -.5mm off.

Conclusion:
Jessem has been helpful with trying to fix the problem. But I am not sure they can ever get me a dead flat table. i think they table tops suck. i think that phenolic stuff is crap or their manufacturer sucks.

I am very disappointed. I should have bought the festool router table. My festool trim saw is dead flat. That is what i expect when i pay for high end tools.

Jessem seems to have great ideas and some great add ons. But their tables and insert plates seem to be poorly made. It's a shame that they would put out such bad stuff and wreck their reputation. I think the moral of the story is to stay away from phenolic router table tops. It is very possible that MDF router tables are bad too. I don't know why they didn't just make their parts out of aluminum. Did they expect to save money with phenolic? Aluminum is lighter, thinner, more accurate, etc.

My advice to people is to stay away from phenolic and mdf router table tops. If my Jessem table it not brought to within .25mm then i am just going to send all my stuff back, or make an insurance claim with my bank. I am not sure what my options are in this regard. Some of the parts came from the US. Some came from a retailer in Germany. This is nearly a disaster. I don't know if i can ever be happy with a router table that is not dead flat. It disturbs my soul.  [crying]

 

[MichaelW2014]

And now I don't know what to do, should i return all the stuff? I feel like that is probably what i have to do, but it's such an ordeal dealing with all these people and manufacturers who must be upset to be losing money on me. But it's their own faults for selling bad tools, misleading people, etc.