Bosch 1617EVS

[William Addison]

I bought one recently and thought it was an excellent machine until I used it as a second router for cutting dovetails on a Leigh jig. The problem is that the needlessly complex device that holds the guide bushing defects about a thousandth and a half under pressure which results in surprisingly large gaps in the DTs. I can't imagine why Bosch came up with such a rube goldberg mount unless it was so they could sell them. In any case, I have one of Pat Warner's bases on order and that should fix things.

[Andrew Howe]

Let me know how you like his sub bases as I recently bought the same router. As an FYI the big box home centers accept HF coupons so usually I get 25% off.

[glenn bradley]

My Bosch base never touched wood. I have Pat's bases. Very nicely made and allow precision centering.

[Chris Rosenberger]

My Bosch base never touched wood. I have Pat's bases. Very nicely made and allow precision centering.

That is what I did also.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I wonder if they changed the design. Mine goes together so tightly, I usually have to tap the release with a collet wrench to get the guide bushing out.

[William Addison]

Mine feels like a tight fit also but when you put side pressure on it the bushing does move an almost imperceptible amount. I used a dial caliper and as I said, it was about .0015, of course yours may not move at all.

[alex staley]

Dumb question, What are Pat's bases? Where can you get them? Thanks for your patience.

[Randy Hock]

Pat Warner is a router guru. His site is http://www.patwarner.com/index.html. Hope this helps.

[Norman Hitt]

Dumb question, What are Pat's bases? Where can you get them? Thanks for your patience.

Pat Warner,............he is a member here but if you google him you should get his web site. He makes router bases, & highly accurate jigs for router work.

[Jamie Buxton]

A thou and a half should be imperceptable, even to the most picky woodworker. Instead, the problem might be that the bit is not concentric to the template guide. If you're using the plunge base, they're almost never concentric. Try this test. Make a template with a hole of the right size to capture a template bushing. Using a plungeable straight bit, plunge a hole. Then rotate the router 180 degrees and plunge again. Measure the hole. If it is not exactly round, lack of concentricity may be giving you those gaps in the dovetails. There's two possible fixes. One fix is to not rotate the router while you're cutting the dovetails. This will give you an offset, but no gaps. The other is to adjust the guide for concentricity, but this depends on the router design. Some are adjustable, and some are not.

[Prashun Patel]

I have a 1617 and use the 'templet' adapter to allow the use of PC style bushings. I used a cheap MLCS dovetail jig and the dovetails went together tightly. I've also used that router to do butterfly inlays with bushings.

I've never had anything but the tightest results.

I agree that it is Rube Goldbergish, but it's worked fine for me.

I'll ask a dumb q: Have you inspected yr DT jig?

[Harvey Pascoe]

I've got one of those, too. I ended up making my own base out of aluminum plate, and but for the fact that it sort of acts like a pencil and transfers aluminum to wood sometimes, it otherwise is a good machine. You bought it as new recently?. I thought that was an old machine and they're still making the base that way is absurd. Probably the idea is to sell their own proprietary bushings.

[William Addison]

I consider myself to be a shaper person, not a router guy but i'm fairly good at setup and I've used my Leigh jig for years with no problem until now. I always mark router bases to keep presentation consistent and Whiteside sells a bushing with a center pin which I used. The only variable I could find was the movement in the bushing and while I agree a thousandth isn't much it can translate to a lot on dovetails. All I know is that when the base comes I'll cut more DTs. I'll get back if anyone's interested.

[Philip Rodriquez]

I just stuck an extra PC base on mine. Cheap and it worked!

[Tom Hargrove]

The Bosch routers accept the Porter Cable base, which can be obtained almost anywhere PC tools are sold.

I love my Bosch router, but agree that the scheme for holding and using bushings is needlessly complex and less than satisfactory.