Bosch 1617EVSPK 2.25 HP Combination Plunge- and Fixed-Base Router

What is the key feature that makes this router especially useful for some tasks compared with others I own? It's the depth setting adjustment, shown at the left side of the first image. It covers a wide range with fairly granular control of the depth steps. Why is this useful to me? This current project is a good example- speaker cabinet front panels fabricated from hard rock maple ply. This is serious stuff for power tool woodworking, cabinet grade MDF is like butter or cardboard in comparison. So, it's pretty mandatory when doing a deep route to use a number of shallow steps and a slow feed. This fixture makes that very straight forward, and very repeatable when doing multiple routes of the same dimension (second image, routing cut outs in progress for the inner front panel of an LF module for a high end speaker system. It's easy to calibrate for a consistent starting point and getting very exact results for a number of operations. Now, no router I've found is the perfect router for every job. This Bosch tool is very well built, has excellent torque and speed control, and with the additional fixed base can handle a variety of jobs. Where some might find it lacking is having a comprehensive dust collection feature built in with a clear dust dust shield over the working area, like some DeWalt and Porter Cable 1/2" shank routers I own. But that same dust shield can limit the utility - specifically, the depot of plunge for the router, and the depth of cuts. Here, on this project, I'm working with 1-1/4" maple ply and 1-1/2" maple ply, and doing cuts between 1" and 1-1/4". This isn't possible with the routers featuring the dust collection and dust shields, because of the limit these place on plunge depth with multiple passes. This is why I tend to have multiple routers chosen and setup for specific jobs, and leave them that way once things are dialed in. I have three of the Bosch 1617EVS now for that reason... two with plunge base setup, one with fixed base. The other thing I have found very useful with this Bosch model is the accessory template guide adapter and templates. Here are pictures of the base with the template guide and a short adapter for 1/2" solid carbide spiral up cut bit installed, in the "baseline" position and extended. One of the 1617EVS is always setup with this adapter. What I find the fixed base configuration useful for is trim functions using follower bits of various types- from setting the rebate for a high frequency driver after boring the original hole with a Forstner bit, or trimming a side or inner route flush using a 1/2" shear trim bit. I have jobs for which this configuration works better than my 1/4" shank trim routers.

I bought this router in June of 2012 and have used it for several projects now and I think that it is truly a great router. The variable speed is great to have. The fact that the wrenches are drop forged instead of cheap sheet metal is a real plus. The molded hard case is top quality. The rough and fine height adjustment is great especially with ability to do it from above on a table (however a little warning... make sure you un-clamp the tension for the height adjustment first before fine tuning the height and I would also suggest if you are adjusting it while mounted to the table that you put your hand on the motor for weight support. The fine adjustment rod works by putting pressure against a small split ring on the adjustment rod. Too much pressure and the split ring pops off and is pretty much destroyed - this happened to me the first month- replacement rings only come from Bosch for about $.80 plus shipping and are difficult to reinstall. With proper support there has been no trouble) Being able to switch bases is great, in fact I also bought the under-table base also sold here on amazon (which is essentially another fixed base without the wooden handles) The design for removing the motor isn't real easy but can be done. Plunge base works spectacularly with stepped stops for quick change of plunge depths. Also a tip for router template users, standard router templates (porter-cable style) do not work with Bosch's sub-base. You either have to buy Bosch's templates or the Bosch template adapter, or Lowes sells a Milescraft sub-base with all the adapters needed. I bought a porter-cable dovetail jig and had to buy the Milescraft sub-base to make my router work with the jig. None of my issues though bring down my rating of the router. It is top notch and the 2 1/4 hp motor works well even with large 1/2 router bits and very hard woods like oak and maple.

BOSCH tools are superb tools. I have four of their routers and have never had issues. Each is OVERPOWERED for the job they do, and makes whatever bit they hold last forever. Some people complain about their weight. If you want a light weight tool, then buy a light tool.... but you get what you pay for. A heavy BOSCH usually means it will be with you pretty much forever, and you'll passing it along. Don't know about their service department because I've never had one break. The plunge capability allows me to cut mortises repeatedly.... given a super sharp blade, the process is effortless.

Arrived in excellent/new condition. I was a little worried based on other reviews I saw with units arriving covered in scratches with broken screws etc. I had no such problem. Unit includes a caring case with slots and holes for a number of accessories that aren't included with the purchase such as, roughly 12-24 bits (i didn't count them exactly and I'm not looking at it now...) and it looks like template guides. Again, these accessories are not included, but the case will accommodate them if you have them. Included accessories are two different sized open box wrenches for to be opening and closing your collets, 1/4 and 1/2 inch both included, an Allen wrench for adjusting height from above the table if you choose to mount it that way and yes it can be done right out of the box. I only hesitate to say this unit might be specifically intended for that purpose as the cord is not exactly long and the screws you would use to do so are also included. I don't care about cord length because I plan to mount it under a table. Unit works great. Plunger feels a little stiff to me but that's probably preference; it's very sturdy and it stays where you set it until you press the release switch. It's about as loud as you'd expect and again, if you're mounting it to a table and you're concerned about noise, you could always build a box around it. Plus you better have your dust collector running too, and wear ear protection for the love of Pete. You shouldn't be concerned about noise. Addendum: get this with the edge guide. If you need to do free cuts, or don't plan to mount it to a table, you'll be glad you got the edge guide.

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.

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).

Love this router, it's precision is perfect. It outshines my last two routers and will produce many works of beauty for years to come.

This thing is a beast. Plenty of power even in hardwood with large bits. Plunge works smoothly, and it can lock at depth. The only downside is that it can be a bit heavy. It is easy to swap between the fixed and plunge heads. Read the instruction manual if you aren't familiar with routers.