Osvaldo Cristo
11-03-2017, 5:45 PM
I purchased my Hitachi TR-12 "heavy duty" router on 1990s to construct my kitchen cabinets using my home made router table and sometimes also handheld for some projects like bookstands and base for tables. It was not bad and brought me a lot of great job... Now it is the time to replace it and I decided to go to Bosch GOF 1600 CE, also a plunge router.
We do not have so many options in Brazil, but the more respectable brands for electric tools are Bosch and Makita, both with local manufacturing plant for some of the tools they offer locally.
Bosch has a good local service and the fact they have a local manufacturing plant offer them some facility to supply spare parts even for their tools manufactured abroad (that router is made in Mexico)
I was looking for a variable speed router as my previous Hitachi was fixed at 22000 rpm with no load. It required some extra care when using bigger diameter bits as that one used for raised panels, as an example. For convenience and safety, variable speed was a must have for me
The idea for a "heavy duty" router is to use either in a router table or hand held. In order to use in a router table I really look for a way to control its height from above and the Bosch model is the single one available in the local market to offer a such convenience
For hand held use it has the most convenient on/off key position at the handle
But I have some concerns...
Its motor is rated to 1600W, it is less than 3 1/2 HP from my previous router
The plunge action is not so smooth like a Makita router with similar application, although it is not worse than my Hitachi router
Anyway I hope it can offer me good service for the next 25 years, like its predecessor... :D
We do not have so many options in Brazil, but the more respectable brands for electric tools are Bosch and Makita, both with local manufacturing plant for some of the tools they offer locally.
Bosch has a good local service and the fact they have a local manufacturing plant offer them some facility to supply spare parts even for their tools manufactured abroad (that router is made in Mexico)
I was looking for a variable speed router as my previous Hitachi was fixed at 22000 rpm with no load. It required some extra care when using bigger diameter bits as that one used for raised panels, as an example. For convenience and safety, variable speed was a must have for me
The idea for a "heavy duty" router is to use either in a router table or hand held. In order to use in a router table I really look for a way to control its height from above and the Bosch model is the single one available in the local market to offer a such convenience
For hand held use it has the most convenient on/off key position at the handle
But I have some concerns...
Its motor is rated to 1600W, it is less than 3 1/2 HP from my previous router
The plunge action is not so smooth like a Makita router with similar application, although it is not worse than my Hitachi router
Anyway I hope it can offer me good service for the next 25 years, like its predecessor... :D