BOSCH1617EVSPK Wood 12 Amp Router Tool Combo Kit - 2.25 Horsepower Plunge Router & Fixed Base with a Variable Speed Motor

This router is a great product and the kit is well worth the price. The motor has ample power and the unit handles very easily. I had an issue that required me to contact Bosch Customer Service. They provided resolution quickly and completely. I highly recommend this router. I also use Bosch router bits which also perform admirably.

Wow! What a difference between my old Craftsman and this. Currently mounted in my Bosch table. And very quiet operation.

Best router on the market in my opinion! It cuts so accurately, controls the dust, and the perfect size. Highly recommend!

All I need for a home shop. Good size table, nice attachments, good size router, a little awkward with side storage,very easy changing bits and collets.

Bought this router after a week of research. Looked at porter cable, dewalt, and this bosch router. determined through reviews on this site as well as other reviews that the bosch was the router that I wanted after the first day, but decided to wait and read through some more reviews. Saw the Bosch 1617 router combo at Lowe's for 219, but it was not the 1617evspk, which comes with a free edge guide/ circle cutter and also lists as 2 hp, may be the same motor, but I want the newer, updated router . Looked on amazon and found this router, the Bosch 1617EVSPK which came with a edge guide/circle cutter and the router mat for $219.00. I agree with another buyer who said that this router does very professional work and can make anyone look like they know what they are doing. Even my wife who has never used a router was able to use this with ease. It is very easy to switch between bases, clean design.The included cast wrenches for changing bits are sign of a better quality routerand the edge guide/circle cutter is a must and a cinch to use. I like that it comes with functional carrying case that holds everything but the edge guide, even has places for most commonly used bits of both shank sizes. A major plus is depth adjustment that stays the same even after switching back and forth between bases; you don't have to readjust and hope its the same depth. The router has a feel of solid design, cuts soft and hard woods like butter, no vibration and is quite. Slow start is a must to prevent damage when kicking on. I read complaints of the switch location, but has not really bothered me and I don't know of a better place to put the switch where it would not create other problems. There is not really a better place to put the switch that would not interfere and either get dirty or turn the unit off/on accidentally. Flat top makes for easy bit changes and ensures that router does not turn itself on for those of us who do not unplug the unit (bad habit). The real wood handles make for a solid feel, instead of hollow plastic. The plunge base has an easy to reach lock that allows user to keep both hands on the router and minimize mistakes. A couple of thoughts on why I bought this router. When buying a router, could have bought 2 routers, 1 plunge and 1 fixed base, would have costed me the same for equal power, but not equal quality, and may need to buy separate accessories for both routers, like dust kit, edge guides, etc. I also figured I would spend at least $120 for a decent low end router, but would have to replace it after 4 years and would not have all the functions that I wanted. Rationalized that since getting the Edge guide for free, normally $40, took the price down; since most routers do not come with an edge guide or a circle cutter, especially one tool that does both. Figured that all the wood work that I would do, and plan to do, would only like to make the purchase once and have a nice router to boot, so I might as well buy it right the first time. I am not a hardcore woodworker, but routing is something that cannot be done by hand and the few times that I may use it you need the right equipment; it's value is immeasureable. There is nothing worse than having bad tools or tools that are a hassle to use. This router is something that I may keep till I get really old and pass off to my kids, and will still be a great tool then. Simply could not waste my time and patience with a lesser quality router. Bosch really put a lot of time into designing this router and its carefull placement of things, even the switch. Free shipping through amazon and no tax saved even more than buying from store, another plus. Have recommended this router to several friends and they have nothing but good things to say about it. If you are into woodworking, would also recommend the Bosch 1594 3-1/4-inch planer, another well designed tool that performs better than expected, only way to describe is that it literally glides over the wood surface and no sanding is needed afterwards, who could ask for more?Update: I have ran into 2 instances of the switch not working, probably due to dust on the contacts inside the switch. Not enough to change my rating though, since all it took was a little compressed air around the switch to get it working again. The second time I had to use Electric cleaning spray, found at your Pepboys, near the brake cleaner sprays. Hopefully in future designs they seal the switch off entirely. This router is still one of my most favorite tools.

For people on a tight budget, having the ability of a single router to switch between a fixed base and plunge base configuration may seem to be ideal. Only 30 to 60 seconds are needed to switch this router between the two base options. The cost of this kit, without adjusting for inflation, is less than what I paid for a Milwaukee 2 HP fixed base router roughly 33 years ago (adjusted for inflation, that 2 HP router would have cost $653 today). I much prefer having dedicated routers that are permanently set in a fixed base or plunge base configuration. Some operations, such as cutting dovetails with a jig, may require dedicating a fixed based router or two for just that one task, so as to avoid wasting considerable time fine tuning the router’s depth of cut to create tight fitting dovetail joints.The PantoRouter that I bought a few months ago included a fixed base Bosch 1617 EVS router. That router in the PantoRouter has performed well, although I managed to stall out the motor in that router a couple of times while cutting a ½” wide through-groove in 1 ½” thick hard maple, likely cutting between ¼” and ½” deep in each pass. Other than those stall outs, I am very happy with that router. Shortly after I bought the PantoRouter with the Bosch 1617 EVS router, I bought a used Bosch 1617 EVSSPK kit at a small woodworking business closure auction for $65. That kit was missing the sub-base for the plunge base, the ½” collet, the collet wrenches, and the plastic chip deflectors. The plunge depth stop on the plunge base was bent, the thumbscrew on the plunge depth lock was apparently replaced with a hex head screw, and the previous owner had partially ground away the plastic that helps to prevent the router from being turned on accidentally. Replacing the sub-base for the plunge base, the ½” collet, and the collet wrenches with new parts approximately doubled the cost of this used router kit.During Amazon’s recent sale on the Bosch 1617 EVSSPK kit, I bought a new Bosch 1617 EVSSPK kit, thinking that I could use the router motor from this kit as an emergency spare for the router in the PantoRouter, should that router motor fail in the next few years (the ground away plastic surrounding the power switch on the used router could lead to safety concerns when used in the PantoRouter). Unlike some of the recent reviewers of this kit, I received a new router – the router has a few minor blemishes in the metal portions of the router, but nothing that affects performance.Out of the box, the chip shield for the plunge base had a roughly ½” long crack on one side, as shown in the closeup picture. The depth adjustment for the fixed base worked smoothly, so I put a ½” wide two flute spiral bit into the router, set the depth of cut to 9/16”, and made a test cut in red oak. The router has plenty of power to make that cut. However, as seen at the left of the close up picture, the bottom of the cut was not perfectly smooth – there are visible lines at the bottom of the cut, possibly a few 1/1000 of an inch deep, suggesting that something in the router may have been flexing during the cut. I saw the same visible lines at the bottom of the cut when using the plunge base.The depth of the plunging action is shorter by possibly an inch compared with the plunging action of my 34 year old Bosch 1611 EVS dedicated plunge router and my Bosch 1619 EVS dedicated plunge router. The plunging action of the new Bosch 1617 EVS plunge router base is rough compared to the plunging action of my two dedicated plunge routers, and the plunge base that came with the used Bosch 1617 EVS kit. The plunging action will sometimes not auto-release at the bottom of the cut to pull the router bit up without upward pressure applied to the handles. The rubber boot that covers the right plunge rod will often bow to the right during a plunge (this bowing is visible in the attached pictures). I am not sure if the rougher than expected plunging action is due to insufficient lubricant, a problem with the right side rubber boot, the 22F temperature in the shop (the plunge action in the other routers seemed to work fine at this temperature), or this is expected plunging behavior when the router is new.The handles on the plunge base provide good control of the router in operation and when turning on the router. I have mixed feelings about the round knobs on the fixed base of the kit. The round knobs seem to provide decent control of the router when in use, but when switching the router on with the router not in contact with a board, the round handles do not provide a lot of control. As the router’s motor has a soft start feature, and the position of the on-off switch does not change position at different depths of cut, the opportunity for losing control of the router when switching the router on is likely low. Many of the older Porter Cable fixed base routers in the 2 ¼ HP and lower range also used round knobs for handles, but the position of the on-off switch changes as the depth of cut changes with those routers, so the risk of losing control of those routers when turning them on is a bit higher than with this router kit. For fixed base routers, I prefer the Milwaukee body-grip routers that allow firmly cradling the router body with one hand while the other hand activates the power switch – the current versions of those body-grip routers are manufactured in China, while this router is assembled in Mexico. D-handle routers, with the power switch integrated into one handle, also offer much more control than do the round handles on the fixed base in this router kit.The plunge base in this router kit works with the Bosch RA1054 deluxe router edge guide that I bought earlier this year to use with my 34 year old Bosch 1611 EVS router (I did not test the edge guide with the fixed base). The thumbscrews that came with that edge guide, which work perfectly with my 1611 EVS router, also work in the plunge base for this kit – that is an impressive dedication to product compatibility. I installed the plunge base components from the Bosch RA1173AT dust extraction kit in the plunge base. A Festool dust extractor was able to directly connect to that additional cost component, and likely collected 95%+ of the saw dust when I repeated the 9/16” depth of cut test in red oak with the ½” wide spiral router bit. It would be nice if that dust extraction kit were included with this router kit, but not if including those parts raised the purchase cost by the cost of that kit (roughly $35).