Bosch Colt Plunge vs Dewalt 611 for inlay work w guide bushings on box lids

[Neil Gaskin]

For what it's worth I like the makita. We have a few in the shop and I either grab the makita or a ancient royobi only I like. I'm not a fan of the colt.

[Michael Alu]

I am ready to purchase a small router for doing inlay work on box lids. I think both Bosch Colt w plunge base and Dewalt 611 are good choices but I am a neophyte w limited experience. What would a more experienced box maker choose

Not sure if this will help your decision, but I just bought the dewalt 611 combo kit on Amazon for $148. I couldn't beat that price anywhere, and having Prime makes it even better with free two day shipping. Amazon is offering $20 off $100 when you checkout.

[Stew Hagerty]

I just got one of those for my Dremel. I'm anxious to try it.

[Stew Hagerty]

I'll give 2 huge thumbs up to the DeWalt! I have had mine now for close to a year. I bought it through Amazon Prime as a kit with both bases, and I could not be happier. I have found that I use it far more often than my larger handheld router.
I love having the choice of bases, the fixed base has the very useful feature of 3 straight sides on the baseplate. It helps greatly for setting up and tracking dadoes, flutes, and anything that you are using a straight edge for. The plunge base is excellent. It operates very smoothly and is easy to set-up & use. It has the perfect amount of power for most handheld work, and variable speed to help avoid burning sensitive woods like Cherry & Jatoba.
I looked very carefully before purchasing a small router. I looked at the Colt and the Makita as well as the DeWalt, but only one had all of the features I was looking for. The DeWalt has been a wonderful addition to my workshop. I don't know how I got along without it.

[Curt Harms]

I have the Colt from when it first came out and it has served me well, but when the DeWalt showed up on the scene I thought it was better because of the greater visibility of the see-through baseplate and the LED light. For inlay work, visibility is an important feature.

If you settle on the Colt, be aware that Bosch released word back in November that a new and improved Colt would be coming out, model#GKF125CEK. The new model will have the LED lighting and the polycarbonate base. Supposedly a better depth adjustment system and more power also. I have been watching to see when the retailers start offering the new model, but I haven't noticed anyone stocking it yet although Acme Tools will take a pre-order on it for $139. The press release said the old model will remain in the current line, maybe the price of the old one will drop? I am not sure if a plunge base will be available for the new Colt, but I would expect that it would.

From what little info I've found on the new Bosch router, I see no mention of a plunge base. I wonder if the new body will fit the existing plunge base. Acme Tools is saying end of 2016 for deliveries. I guess that's why there hasn't been a lot of chatter yet.

[glenn bradley]

How about a cordless Dremel with a plunge base...

The Dremel plunge base is very flexible so precision is an issue. I moved to the Lee Valley Dremel base which is pretty nice. Regardless of how solid the base is Dremel's have a bit of flex in general. A little finesse can make this a very useful tool for detail work though.

[Stew Hagerty]

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools...uter_Base.html

One of these would be my choice.

I purchased one of those a few weeks ago and just had the opportunity to use it yesterday. I really like the base. It adjusts easily and accurately. I purchased the kit that includes the small air pump and was quite happy with that as well. It kept the area where I needed to be able to well cleaned so that I could see the line I was routing to (I was cleaning out an area for an inlay). That said, I think I would have preferred it if they had some sort of extractor hose connection instead of the air pump. Oh well, I guess next time I'll just work on my downdraft table instead of my bench.