Bosch Router Table?

[Art Moore]

Does anybody have any hands-on experience with the Bosch RA1181 router table? My old table's getting pretty shabby, and I'd like to replace it. According to the specs of the Bosch it'd be a perfect fit on the right side of my TS3650 table saw, so... what's the skinny on this thing?

[Peter Quadarella]

I have that one. It's ok - my main problem with it is I'd like something with a bigger top. Other than that, it works fine in all the ways you'd expect. Oh, the one issue I did run into is you can't use any bushings with it. If you really need to, you can put them in a plywood top and clamp that to the table.

[larry cronkite]

I have that router table and I have been underwhelmed with its performance.
The router mounting plate is sloppy in the table and the result is less than reliable routing.
The other problem is that you cannot remove the router and plate without removing the fence.

I purchased Rockler's low end router table and accessory kit and the limited use I have given it seems to be much better.

I still have the Bosch table and hope to unload it soon.

[Michael Herrinton]

I have a Bosch RA1181 router table, which I purchased it 9 months ago. I'm very pleased with it and would recommend it to anyone who needs to mount a fixed-base router.

Mike Herrinton

[Jason Perrott]

Art,
I purchased this from amazon for $120.00, goes on sale often...
Table works great and has all the accessories you will probably need in day to day use ( featherboards,bit cover, ect.).

The unit is sturdy and level, good adjustments, easy to set up.

That price makes it a no brainer

Jason

[Art Moore]

Thanks for the words of wisdom, guys. It'd help if I could actually lay hands on this thing to look it over, but nobody around here has them in stock.

No bushings; that could be a problem, but worked around, as Pete said. Larry, how sloppy is the plate fit? And, could the fence slots be "modified" so you could slide the fence back far enough to remove the router/plate? Last question: How good is the fence? Accurate, very accurate, or just so-so?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I looked at and considered the Bosch.
I ended up with a #1 table top from Rockler.
Rockler had and still may have a model closeout on the #1.
I got mine last week for $99.00, including an aluminum mounting plate, pre-drilled for my Freud 1700.
Honestly, until now, I hadn't thought of seeing if it fits my TS3660.
Thanks for the idea!

[Peter Quadarella]

Even if you modified the table so you could slide the fence back further, I think you'd have to slide the fence off to get the plate out. If I am using the fence, I don't bother to remove the plate for router adjustments, I just take the router out of its base and do the adjustment, or do it from under the table. The plate is a bit sloppy, but it hasn't caused me any issues yet.

The fence works very well in my opinion. It's not made of grade A materials, but it's well designed.

Oh yeah, one more thing - dust control is not great because of the open bottom.

[John Revilla]

I have this:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a80/Docjr8156/IMG_0002.JPG.jpg

Sturdy and well made, better than my previous Rockler. Im just a hobbyist by the way. Godspeed.

[Tom Esh]

I plan(ed) to build my own table eventrually and thought it would be a good interim table. It's been better than expected - good enough to keep the custom table near the bottom of the project list for a couple years now. I actually don't recall if the plate fit was sloppy, but I installed the included screws to secure it and haven't touched them since. My router (PC890) drops out of its base easily and I don't anticipate removing the plate unless I change to a different router model.
The only repair I've had to make was to secure the fence face carriage bolts with a blob of epoxy. They were just press fit into the treated MDF faces (jig makers know where this is going) and were beginning to spin as the shoulders started rounding the MDF.
If you use the featherboards you might find it a bit tedious to get them along with their spacers into the fence track slot and it's easier to leave them in or leave them out. I prefer push blocks and for me featherboards just get in the way. However the fence track has proven very handy for attaching stop blocks.

[Louis Brandt]

I have the same Bosch RA1171 that John Revilla showed. It has an aluminum plate, not the type that the RA1181 has, and I've always considered the RA1171 to be a very good table.
Louis

[ken gibbs]

I have this Bosch table. It was a nightmare to put together and not a precise piece of equipment. I have had to do "work arounds" to try to get the table insert to fit flush. The factory alignment holes when assembling this table were not exactly correct so it took a lot of extra work to get to a usable condition. I mounted a Bosch 1617 EVA 3 1/4 hp router in there and that is a fine machine. All over, the table is OK but not what I would call a percision piece of equipment. If youcan afford it, buy a higher end router table or make a router table from scratch. The Rockler table tops and fence systems looks like a good place to start for about the same initial costs. Of course your time isn't worth ANYTHING so you have the fun of building it from the ground up.

[Peter Quadarella]

Just wanted to add that the RA1181 does indeed have an aluminum plate - at least the one I have does.

[Tom Esh]

Just wanted to add that the RA1181 does indeed have an aluminum plate - at least the one I have does.

Mine too. I think it's the same plate on both models.

[Art Moore]

Hmmm... I thought the 1171 and the 1181 used the same router plate. Looks like I may be leaning towards buying an insert and a fence kit and building a new table. I was hoping the aluminum table would be easily adapted for a table saw extension, but I may be better off staying with MDF.

[Louis Brandt]

I'm sorry, I was mistaken. The RA1181 does have an aluminum plate too. I had been thinking about a different Bosch table (I don't remember the model number), but the one that I had been thinking of uses a different plate).
Sorry about that,
Louis

[Peter Quadarella]

If you try to buy a replacement plate, the only one they sell is some sort of plastic I think.