Bosch RA1181 Benchtop Router Table
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List Price: Our Price: $184.99 You Save: $173.76 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Bosch RA1181 Benchtop Router Table
Customer Review: Good value for the price, but has some flaws
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased this benchtop router table for my weekend projects and hobbies. I have a porter cable 890, and it fits like a glove. Here is what I liked about this table:
* It comes with a number of accessories including featherboards, 1/16" shims, and fence.
* The table top and the router plate is made of aluminum.
* Large router opening with 3 different step rings allows you to use most of the router bits out there.
* The fence has a tall sturdy aluminum backing with smooth MDF face.
* Dual power plug allow you to power the router and vacuum simultaneously.
* Well written instruction. But set up will take some time, especially to level the router plate.
But the table is far from perfect, and here is what I disliked
* The table top has a warp of about 1/32". The high point is about 2/3 of the way to the left. From other reviews, this seems to be a systemic manufacturing defect. This is OK if you are routing some basic edge profiles or cutting dados. But if you are building dovetail joints or high precision carpentry, expect some rework and quite a bit of sanding afterwards.
* Because of the first defect, perfect leveling of the router plate is impossible. What I did is to level the plate to both left and right edges. This way at least the work piece won't get caught in the gaps. But because of the 1/32" bump to the left, the work piece will rise by the same amount as you feed it through. Not a big deal for edge profiling, but for high precision joints, this will cause some headaches later.
* Plastic table legs seem to be a little weak. But I bolted it to a custom made cabinet (even painted it with matching "bosch blue"), so it is now quite sturdy.
* The dust collection port is oversized and won't work with my shop vac. I think Bosch sell an adapter for some extra $$.
Overall, for the number of accessories that it comes with, it is worth the $200. This would be a quite good entry level table for most garage shops in my opinion.
Customer Review: Great Table
Summary: 5 Stars
Just got it. Cut several peices. Its all I looked for: sturdy, accurate, sufficient size workspace. Quality build and a good tool. Good buy!Customer Review: Great Deal!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased the Bosch RA1181 router table to help in completing some detail work on cabinets and shelving for my grandson. Set-up was fairly simplistic, as was inserting my old router (Craftsman) onto the router table. The holes didn't match per the instructions, but it was a simple matter to align the router with other pre-drilled holes in the table. Having a stationary router and router table makes all the difference in the world insofar as your routed edges are concerned -- no wobble or distortion at all. Just make sure you don't go too fast or too slow and you'll end up with great routed edges.Customer Review: Great combination with my Bosch router
Summary: 5 Stars
Read other reviews, here and elsewhere, of this router table, and all reviews were good (except for those who said it was difficult to assemble or some apparently early problems with inserts, I think). Anyway, I had no trouble with the assembly, although had to spend some time with the leveling of the middle plate to try to get it just right. The table is sturdy, allows for through the table adjustments, has the very useful feather boards (one more for the table might have been helpful), and has a good set up with switches and outlets. The table size is good. I've had no problems with it. I purchased a new Bosch router at about the same time, so I don't know how well it works with other brands. It did seem to have quite a few mounting holes, however, for other brands of routers.Customer Review: Great router table all around
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this router table about a month ago and have loved everything about it. It's easy to use and the tabe top is made of top-notch material. And although my router was not listed on the list of routers that this table accepts, the infinite number of screw holes made my router fit just fine. I would recommend this table for the beginner-intermediate woodworker.