Bosch Router POF 1400 ACE (1400 watts, in case)

Background:Having used the same DIY (Green Bosch) for the last 20 years professionally, I decided to retire my old POF1100AE, (it's in my loft I kept it as it just needs a service). And purchased a Popular brand that ar3 Red in colour (not Mi...ie) that unit was more expensive than this POF1400ace and was new but no better than my old Bosch 1000AE, worse actually as both bush caps are broken, the spindle lock is broken, and its is completely dead! How long did the Red router last? About 20 hours use over 13 months, yes just out of warrantee, so I have a new looking router that is not worth repairing. So I went back to Bosch getting the new powerful model.Review:Once in hand it felt solid and well constructed. Works beautifully, smooth, sturdy, quiet and powerful. Joy to use, first use being cutting out a body for a guitar as per photo. I packed it away and as usual can't work out how it goes back in the case! is it base down or base up? Front up or front down. Then I noticed pressed into the case bottom an image of how the router fits back in the case. OMG so simple but will save me 5 minuets every time I put it away and a lot of stress. I almost forgot, whilst using it I 'could actually see the blade and cutting edge because there a two LED lights either side of the collet! Amazing! The faster you cut the brighter the light l, bright and very white. Making my work more accurate, easier and a lot safer. A few other tools have lights but nowhere near as brigjtas these.Overall its 10/10, Bosch has never let me down but I have been disappointed with some of the other brands, including the expensive Yellow units 😕 my table saw is in the repairer shop today as its broken in 2 ways and only 1.5 years into a 3 year extended warranty.Update: after use for 4 hours day one and w hours day two, I've found something that is a negative. The start trigger moves in 90 before the blade starts up, that's fine probably a safety feature. The problem I'm experiencing is this, with 90% of the trigger doing nothing the last 10% of trigger travel turns it on and off, meaning that not only do I need to hold the handle as expected I also have to squeeze and hold very tightly. Often my squeeze pressure relaxes slightly and the unit turns off. The trigger requires a lot of force to keep the motor running. After a few hours my hand is killing me! (I have a very strong hands) inorder for me to be able to use this unit I'm going to have to put a rubber band, jubilee club or cable tie around the on button (yes potentially dangerous) and use the plug switch to turn on and off, buy passing the power trigger (I don't recommend anything to do this!).For the first 2 hours use it is fine, so most will not even notice the issue.

Bosch router perfect for light home and less occasional use as opposed to the blue Bosch professional range.Bought this little gem for making loudspeaker cabinets and the odd bit of carpentry work at home as when you consider a no make router would be not be that many shekels less so it's definitely wirth oaying that little extra for Bosch's wealth of knowledge in the electrical field. It has 1400watt's of 230VoltA.C. power so it is plenty powerful enough for home use....no need for that 3-phase bench router really, is there ?It has standard collett sizes (1/4" or 6.35mm and also 8mm) and has a nice smoith weighted plunge action and usable depth gauge on the body and stop on the base if you want to set up for repetitive work. There is a nice dust extraction facility which is proper handy especially with dusty (MDF ! Mask !) materials and/or indoor use and helps keep the workpiece view clear as well as your work area clean when you connect a suitable vaccuum cleaner which is priceless.There is an electronic speed control to fine tune bit/material speed and also soft start function so you don't take off, nice !, which comes through experience from their pro-range, and much appreciated. Also supplied is a parallel guide but I suggest you find some 2" by 1 " finished face and some bee's wax and affix to this guide to give better use although shortening the effective length of the guide you will appreciate it when set up right. You can always put your own longer bars onto the guide later on if you want to very easily or fab. a circular trammel (tangent).The angled handles are much more comfortable in use than the usual upright handles on other machines and there is a good safety switch sytem on these handles to power up the motor, nice. * The power lead comes out the top of one of these and can run up over your shoulder or to a safety dmsytem you may have (retractable socket from above head) to safely keep the lead away from the very high speed powerful high-current motor (up to and above 20,000 r.p.m.) )which is a good thing in respect of not chewing the power lead and you !

I bought this to replace a basic old Black & Decker router that really wasn't up to the job. The POF 1400 is clearly built to a much better standard, and good value at the Amazon price, so I'm not complaining about value for money. I'm also not going to dwell on the positive points, but make no mistake - I reckon this is a good router and I am overall pleased with my purchase. I have been using it for a while on oak, and the results are good. However, I have noticed a few drawbacks which make me give it only 4 stars instead of 5:(a) The "quick release" mechanism doesn't seem to work that well. Although it is easy enough to unscrew the collets, the bits seem to have a tendency to jam in the shaft, as some other reviewers have also noticed, and I have already managed to damage one TCT bit while trying to remove it.(b) The one feature that the Bosch doesn't have, and my old B&D router did, was a HORIZONTAL micro-fine adjustment for the parallel guide. This is a pity, as I reckon it would only have needed quite a minor addition to the guide, and it would have been very useful at times.(c) I have discovered that 8mm router bits are harder to find compared with 1/4" or 1/2" ones, and the ones that you can find are significantly more expensive. I can make do with 1/4" bits, but I would prefer to use 8mm ones if they were more readily available.