Opinions on Bosch Ra 1171 router table

[Ed Blough]

I was in Lowes and they have the Bosch RA1171 router table for $169.
Included in that price is an aluminum table plate, with three snap out inserts, a starter pin. Also included is fairly rigid fence with adjustable MDF faces some feather boards. I neglected to mention the table is 1 1/4 thich and has leveling pins and a t-track.

I was thinking of going one of two routes until I saw this. First ordering a aluminum table plate from Rockler (large size for Hitachi M12) $79 and building a router table using at least one sheet of 3/4 ply $60 and one sheet of formica price $50 which brings the cost to nearly what the this table costs. Plus I don't have a fence.

Or the other choice was to buy a Rockler Router Table top with large insert cost $179 again without the fence and without a cabinet of any kind.

To my thinking the Bosch RA1171 seems to be a good deal and the from the reviews it seems to be have a positive following.

http://www.boschtools.com/tools/tools-detail.htm?H=175980&G=54940&I=69853

What are your thoughts on it?

Thanks in advance for any feedback

[Lance Tonkinson]

I recently bought this table but haven't used it yet so cannot comment on its use but can say it seems built well and expect it will do what I expect it to. One thing though, none of the inserts will accept template guide bushings and a phone call to Bosch indicated that they do not plan to provide a solution to this shortcoming, so if that is a factor for you... now you know. Hope this helps.

[Hoa Dinh]

Ed,

I considered this RT a while back when I was looking for a benchtop RT so I can use at the rental. I ended up with something else just because it was a return and I bought it at a ridiculously low price.

From what I can see, it is a decent RT. But if I had spent close to $200, I would have bought the Bench Dog ProTop Contractor Benchtop Router Table instead. The Bench Dog looks and feels of higher quality. You should check it out.

Amazon regularly has the Bench Dog for $199 delivered without any discount. If you can wait for a promotion, you can even get it for less.

[Ed Blough]

I recently bought this table but haven't used it yet so cannot comment on its use but can say it seems built well and expect it will do what I expect it to. One thing though, none of the inserts will accept template guide bushings and a phone call to Bosch indicated that they do not plan to provide a solution to this shortcoming, so if that is a factor for you... now you know. Hope this helps.

Lance thanks for the info. What size is the router plate? Will a plate from another manufacture fit?

Also I wonder how important it is to use template guide bushings on a router table.

[Hoa Dinh]

Also I wonder how important it is to use template guide bushings on a router table.
Not really. But I've seen jigs on RT that uses template guide bushing.

If you really need to use template guide bushing on a RT, it's simple: use a board of 1/4" thick material (melamine or tempered hardboard works great), use Forstner drill bits to drill a hole for the template guide, then clamp the board on top of the RT.

But I doubt you'll ever need it.