DEWALT DW618PK or Bosch 1617EVSPK

[Darius Ferlas]

Merry Christmas to All!
I managed to sneak out and to do some clicking as I received some vouchers from Santa to supplement what he was able to haul in "herself" and I clicked through a few pages here and there.

Both routers are well reviewed, both on sale at Amazon.
Anybody have both and care to share some of the lows and high points of these routers.

Thanks.

[David Giles]

My experience with the DW618PK is poor. It is the only woodworking tool that I have ever used to the point that it broke. And I don't use it very often. The internal bearing failed and the power cord wore out. How can you wear out a power cord? Poor material selection is my best answer. On the plus side, the fixed base adjustment is precise and the plunge action is smooth. Rebuilding the router is almost as expensive as a new one. My advice: Treat the 618 as a short term, disposable router and don't invest a lot of time or money in custom accessories. Or move up to the 621 dedicated plunge router which seems better made. Or buy the Bosch, which I have no experience.

[Curt Harms]

Bosch & Milwaukee seem to be the preferred choices. Of course there's Festool.......

[Darius Ferlas]

Thanks for the tips.

Eventually I used SMC's search facility and I found a whole thread, mostly bashing DW618PK. I found similar opinions elsewhere, most pointing to the motor pack, as it is also sold as a part of other configurations. Well, that saves me some $160.
So now it does boil down to Bosch and Milwaukee. Milwaukee too, is on sale on Amazon for $202.

Festool is great but it has one major weakness I cannot overcome for now - $$$.

[glenn bradley]

No disrespect to any satisfied owners as I know there are many; I bought and returned a DW618 combo kit. Pick up a Milwaukee, its a whole different class of machine. JMHO. YMMV. One detail among several:

collet-compare-1.jpg

Brand new DeWalt collet on the left, Milwaukee on the right.

[Darius Ferlas]

Hi Glenn, I actually read your posts on other threads and they weighted in on my decision not to "save" with DeWalt.

In your experience, is Milwaukee's two wrench bit changing setup a major issue?
How about other parts? Dewalt's strong point (IMO) is that its configuration allows to use some gizmos designed for PC, such as template guides, mount hole spacings etc.

[Curt Harms]

Not Glenn but it's not that hard to make your own bases out of clear plastic. 2 Forstner bits, 1 3/16" & 1 3/8" or 30mm & 35mm. I start by using the existing sub-base as a pattern. Use a self centering bit to mark the mounting holes. Drill and counterbore the mounting holes. I drill the holes a little oversize so there's some adjustment for centering the plate. Of course this introduces the possiblity of the sub-base shifting in use so suit yourself. I put the motor in the plunge base and insert a V groove bit. Plunge carefully to make just a mark. Remove the sub-base and drill through with about an 1/8" bit. Now drill a hole with the 1 3/8"/35 mm bit about as deep as the mounting flange of a bushing is. This hole goes on the face away from the router. Turn the sub-base over and drill through with the 1 3/16"/30mm bit. Cut the outside of the sub-base as desired and you're done. It takes longer to explain it than to do it. If you're into immediate gratification, Pat Warner sells excellent quality sub-bases for a very fair price. Using the procedure you can use the Porter Cable style bushing with any brand router.

[Cary Falk]

I must have recieved a bad DeWalt. I have had mine for over 2 years without any issues. It is my go to router over my PC690.

[scott spencer]

No experience with the DW, but did have a 1617....very nice router, but I actually prefer the Milwaukee 5615 and Hitachi M12VC for hand use, both of which accept standard PC bushings without an adapter. For table use I prefer the above table features of the Freud FT1700. I found that the 1617 didn't really serve a purpose in my router line up, so I've since sold it.

[Charles Lent]

I have 2 of the DW618 three base kits and we have used them for several years without any problems at all. They are the "Go To" routers for almost every job out of the 9 routers in the shop. You must have received a defective one because mine are lasting quite well, better in fact than the routers that they replaced.

Charley

[Jim Becker]

I also have had a good experience with my DW618 motor and all three bases. Much better than a previous PC router I used, although not as good as my Festool routers.