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Product Reviews
Great product except for one fatal flaw, June 12, 2002
Reviewer: Heath Roberts (Durham, NC USA) - See all my
reviews
I bought one of these and liked it a lot, except for one
flaw: the router mount plate, which is made of some kind
of plastic, flexes. For operations where the workpiece is
supported by the aluminum table, this isn't a problem, but
I was making sliding dovetail joints. One piece was
supported by the table, but the other piece only 'rode' on
the mount plate. This resulted in ~1/16" difference
between the two cuts.
I contacted Bosch, who were very up-front and said that
they did see some deflection in the plate and recommended
that if this was a problem I return the table and buy a
non-flexing product. I'm still trying to decide between
Veritas and Benchdog, leaning toward the Benchdog.
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An Engineering Nightmare, January 11, 2003
Reviewer: "ledyard9" (Rockaway, NJ United States) - See
all my reviews
The biggest ripoff in the modern tool world!!! The fence
must be totally removed by a tedious and time consuming
process to access the router for bit removal. When the
fence is secured to the base it is impossible to remove
the router plate no matter where or how you slide the
fence. I blasted the Bosch reps at a National Tool Show
and they said, "Yeah, we get lots of complaints on the
fence hold down!" I think Bosch should redesign the fence
hold down assembly and send retro fit kits to all current
owners. It is such an involved process to change bits that
I am thinking of demanding my money back from Bosch
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So-So Router Table, October 29, 2005
Reviewer: R. J. Morris "Rob the Builder" (South Lake
Tahoe, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
In addition to the Bosch router table, I bought the Bosch
router kit with plunge and fixed bases, the dust
collection kit, and the fixed base which is made
specifically for attaching to the router table.
The base which secures the motor to a router table is
extremely useful, as it means I no longer must spend so
much time removing and reinstalling the fixed base from
and to the table.
Routers spew a lot of shavings and dust, so capturing the
mess at the source saves lots of time cleaning up.
Although the router table has a built-in dust collection
hood, it only captures the dust that spews out above the
surface of the table. Since one of the Bosch router
accessory dust hoods attaches to the fixed base under the
table, I thought it would be great to attach it, thus
collecting dust from both above and below the table
surface. Alas, I couldn't accomplish this because the
table stand obstructs attaching the accessory hood when
that base is attached to the table. This is so far my
second biggest complaint.
My biggest complaint is that the router base plate which
comes with the table is not flat. It is made of
injection-molded thermoplastic, which warps while cooling
during the manufacturing process. It took me more time to
find the best-compromise base plate height adjustment than
it did to assemble and adjust the entire rest of the table
and stand. I wish they at least offered as an option a
base plate made of the same hard plastic material used for
the fixed and plunge bases.
So far, neither Bosch nor any other manufacturer has
devised a simple tool-less quick change collet for
inserting and removing router bits. I look forward to that
day.
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Better than people say..., September 10, 2005
Reviewer: M. H. "hoganbuilt" (Georgia) - See all my
reviews
I'm the one who posted the images. I've been using this
table for about a year now and don't have a lot of
complaints. I've never had to remove the fence to change a
bit. I don't know what kind of routers these people are
using, but I have a Bosch 1617EVSPK mounted underneath.
This router allows you to raise and lower the router to
change bits and the access window is facing the opening in
the table.
The plastic featherboards are useless, like most of them.
Just make your own out of oak like I do. I took off the
clear safety shield and use the bracket for a hold-down
feather board.
The best thing I did was dedicate a vaccuum to this table.
A couple of hose clamps and an inner tube work well for
the connection to the back of the fence, which has a
bracket for dust collection. I attached a three way plug
adapter to the table's main switch, plugged in my vaccuum
and router (which are always turned on) and presto, the
vaccuum and router come on together with the flip of one
switch on the table. I NEVER have dust problems with this
system!
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I like it but, August 22, 2005
Reviewer: Robert J. Shaffer (PA, USA) - See all my reviews
The table was somewhat difficult to put together,
especially leveling the plate that holds the router. It is
also difficult to get the fence aligned so the work does
not hold up as it is pushed through. On the other hand it
is very stable, has a nice sized work surface and comes
with accessories you pay extra for in other tables. Over
all I am quite pleased with it
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Disappointed, June 6, 2005
Reviewer: Woodchopper (Utah) - See all my reviews
The Bosch RA1180 is my first router table and I must say I
am very disappointed with it. I agree with another
reviewer about the fence being a nightmare when trying to
change bits. I ended up making my own fence and using
clamps. I also have a major problem when sitting the bit
depth with my Porter-Cable router. If I had to do it all
over again I would just make my own table.
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