Alaska Jim's Comments of the Day #10: Emergency router purchase - Bosch 1617 EVSPK - first impressions, and a surprise!

Well today started out OK. Down to the shop, after Sherie got up a little late, no shop work when she is sleeping…right above the shop.

Finally decided that plywood was out of the question for my Super Sled due to poor quality materials…....I know…I will find a local cabinet supply to get me Baltic birch. But I reviewed the stresses etc, and with some thought and additions, 3/4 MDF will work, I am certain. So while trying to lift up a 4’x 8’ sheet of the stuff, and saying to myself this is going to be a tough haul, I decided to build a plywood trolley (guaranteed to be interesting, as usual).

So, I decide I will make some plywood wheels, about 6” diameter, time to make a quick and dirty circle jig for the band saw. Pull out the old Vermont-American cheapo router table with it’s 30 year old Skil router attached. Then the fun?!? began. Cut out the wood pieces on the saw, but needed to do some routing for what is essentially a large sliding dovetail. Found the design for the jig in a ShopNotes I had, but checked my FWW archive of the last 25 years….......and…....found the same design. This should take me about two hours total to make the jig I figure.

So I decide to do some test routing. I can’t get the bit to stay in the collet, adjusting it is a b——, and the one nice feature of it, a push gizmo that holds the shaft so you only need one wrench, fails. Now, I have done a modest amount of routing with this router, and it always worked. I thought I could hold out until I had a new router table in the TS extension, and put a Triton in there, which is still my intention. But I knew I would need three new routers, one for fixed and plunge work (I hadn’t decided what), a Triton 2.5 hp for a table router, and the Bosch palm router for trim.

So I said, I am now going to do an emergency purchase of my free router, fixed and plunge, and temporarily stick it in my old Vermont-American table. I can’t work with the Skil anymore (it will not be buried, I might find a fixed use for it. No taps yet.) The issue is, I have to do a lot of routing on the Super Sled…..I have to have a working router.

So quick to the internet…..
Reviews come up with two…...a Milwaukee fixed only router at a reasonable price…..or the universally well reviewed Bosch 1617 EVSPK plunge and fixed combo. For the Bosch I liked the low set wooden handles for the fixed router to give it good balance, and the essentially universal praise. I print them both out, and 20 minutes later out to Lowe’s. I figured I might not get the lowest price, but I was gonna find one in town if I could.

Wham…...Lowe’s had the Bosch for $220 which…...was reasonable. 20 minutes after I left, I was home with the router. Without changing clothes or taking off my coat, I read the instructions and put it in the router table….....and here comes the surprise….........

Much to my amazement, it has an above the table height adjustment with T-wrench. And even more amazing, my Vermont-American old cheapo table has a beveled hole already made for it. So I run upstairs, get into my grungies (you know, old clothes) run down to the shop. Then to put the bit in it. I find that if I take the insert out, then push the motor up, put a block of wood under it of the right height…..I have above the table bit change capability. It comes with two CAST WRENCHES, unfortunately you need two. But one goes under the table on a flat section of the shaft, and does not have to be held, kinda a nothing thing, and I can work on the collet nut above the table.

I put in the bit. Take out the piece of wood. Stick in the T-wrench and adjust the bit perfectly in one try, snap the lock, and get perfect results as proven with a test piece. Ran that RPM down to the lowest, because I was removing a lot of wood…

Amazing.

Now the Triton, I know, will be a little easier, but this is quite extraordinary for a quick purchase, and a temporary implacement in an old table. Wow.

Well too late for any more work, but tomorrow, I should be a shop whiz…...........(-:

Kudos to Bosch, because this looks like it will be a very good emergency purchase…....

-- Jim, Anchorage Alaska