Not an issue. The fine adjustment wheel should be set in the middle of the adjustment field to provide up & down movement. I have had the 1400 for 4 years without any issues.

Don

I wanted to give a couple of members the chance to offer their unbiased opinions before responding. You should see free movement in the depth adjustment. Should you decide to get the OF 1400 and you're not completely satisfied, return it for a full refund less shipping charges (if applicable) within 30 days of purchase.

Let me add praise for the OF 1400. I bought mine shortly after they were available in the USA. Mine is used a few hours each week and has not needed to be sent anywhere for repairs. Like all my routers I keep it clean. The Micro-Adjust on the depth control is a well-engineered feature of the OF1400.

It makes me very sad to read that a demo Festool at a dealer is not clean and operating to factory specs.

A few months ago a valued FOG member wrote that he was put off buying an OF1010 because the one he tried at a very well-known Southern California dealer would not spring back to the up position.

With all routers everyone needs to be able to accurately set the depth of cut. With a plunge router, such as the OF1400, OF1010 and OF2200, it is vital that the router motor spring back to the up safety position. The result of the FOG member posting was that the regional sales manager made a special ASAP trip to the dealer. All that was required was to clean the rods, as explained in the instructions.

I know that dealership. I buy lumber from them and my Festools from another well-respected dealer much closer to me. The other dealer was really nice sales folks and all I have talked to about Festools know their tools. Maybe it was a bad day.

Any woodworker worth his salt would know that a bit of wd40 spray would have fixed this!

During the recent Advanced Router class (11 and 12 November 2010) in Henderson, NV we discussed ways to need plunge routers plunging and then springing back to safety position. All of us, including the instructors Steve Bace and Brian Sedgeley, are experienced woodworkers. For some uses we think the world of WD-40.

However, the consensus was that products like WD-40, originally intended to protect machined steel and electronics from moisture, attract dust and thus gum in tight-fitting sliding bearings.

The better procedure to keep bearings sliding on precisely ground rods is to physically clean away accumulated dust, gum and grime. Often use of compressed air only make the situation worse. Following a manual cleaning, the prudent approach is to use a hint of something like graphite.

Where WD-40 can be very helpful would be a situation in a moist environment where tools need to be stored for protracted lengths of time. The woodworker would apply WD-40 before storage with the understand that when the tool is needed, the WD-40 would need to be cleaned off.

Let me add praise for the OF 1400. I bought mine shortly after they were available in the USA. Mine is used a few hours each week and has not needed to be sent anywhere for repairs. Like all my routers I keep it clean. The Micro-Adjust on the depth control is a well-engineered feature of the OF1400.

It makes me very sad to read that a demo Festool at a dealer is not clean and operating to factory specs.

It does?Family beavement or my football team getting beat makes me very sad whereas a router (not your own personal one i may add)not working properly really doesn't bother me.This is cringe material.

Are you trying to tell me i cant use wd40 on my router columns???Give me a break.PMSL

yeah but it is still a solution to the problem that mentioned

Ive used wd40 over the years without any problems,does the job IMO