router depth

[jeff oldham]

i have the bosch 1617evs and it being a great router,,,do they make a router that has more depth when you adjust it,,i was looking for one that you have a longer adjustment

[Matt Day]

Curious why you’d need more? I have 2 of the 1617’s and only recall ever needing more depth a couple times on a deep mortise, and for that I bought longer bits.

They make bit extenders too.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I’m assuming you’re referring to plunge depth? I have a Makita 2301 (and have used a Bosch 1619 extensively.) The Makita has an advertised 2 3/4” plunge depth. I can remember what the 1619 is, but I think it’s a little less. Your 1617 is advertised as having 2 1/4” plunge depth.

What tasks are you doing where you need the extra depth?

I know that I’ve personally run into this issue and wanted a lot of depth for mortising in (entry) door construction. I managed to get about 3” mortise depth out of my Makita once with a ~ 4 1/2” long (I think?) mortising straight bit, but it was a pain as I had to make all the initial mortises at full “normal” depth, then loosen the bit and slide it down a little bit (with it hanging below the base / guide bushing at highest depth) and basically reset and do a second round on the mortises. Normally, not really worth it to gain the extra ~ 1/2” in depth, but in this case it was for me. You will run into this issue with really long bits, as there isn’t enough actual height between the base and the collet to accept a super long bit without it hanging down below the base at full height, but it can serve as a slightly awkward work-around in one-off situations.

That being said, I really like the Makita 2301 for a big plunge router, though the 1619 is excellent too and may excel slightly in the ergonomics over the Makita. The Makita feels like it’s built better in terms of quality and robustness.

[jeff oldham]

actually i should mention i have it on a router table trying to get more height

[Paul F Franklin]

actually i should mention i have it on a router table trying to get more height

Then a collet extender might be your best bet. Infinity and amana make them; I'm sure there are others.

[Wes Grass]

Are you using the fixed base on the table as a lift? If so, a dedicated lift of some sort would likely solve this. I have a couple of the older Jessem lifts for this router, and can get nearly all of the spindle above the table.

I personally don't like the idea of the collet extenders, but there are a lot of people using them successfully.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

My Bosch GOF1600CE (Bosch MRP23EVS in the US) reaches 76 mm (3 inch) range when using the plunge base. Its depth extension was one of the reasons I selected this particular model to replace my (then) 25+ years old Hitachi TR12.

BTW I am happy with this particular router model. I have two of these routers and one plunge base and two standard bases (that can be adjust from the bottom when mounted in a router table).