Bosch 1617 Router Centering issues

[Tom Slick]

A friend of mine recently "upgraded" to a Bosch 1617 and it does not center in the fixed base. unless you fiddle with it the bit can easily off the center of the base by 1/16". it seems to be a function of the housing and motor aligning crooked when it is clamped. messing with the microadjust doesn't seem to have any effect on it.
anyone have an recommendations?

[LCHIEN]

Yes, there are two sets of holes in the fixed base's base plate (the black plate). Normally the clamp does not have a lot of play, But there is a way to center the baseplate or baseplate/bushing.

Centering in the base is important for when you use the base to follow a fence or pattern, and its also important to center to a bushing if following a guide template with the bushing.

One set of holes has countersunk holes for flat head screws and should be designed to be perfectly centered in the base. This is the one normally expected to use.

Should that not be perfect enough, there is a second set of holes requiring you to rotate the baseplate a bit (uses the same set of threaded holes in the base). This set of holes is counterbored (no beveled holes) and is intended to be used with pan head screws. The holes are a bit oversized and will allow you to center the base plate to your heats delight. The usual way of doing this would be to have a guide bushing installed in the baseplate and use a centering cone device with a 1/4 or 1/2" shank and a concentric cone which you forced into the opening in the bushing. Once centered this way, tighten the screws.

Hope that helps.

[Tom Slick]

the problem is that the motor is aligning askew when clamped by the base. that means any time you adjust the depth the motor is out of alignment. the motor/bit is not at a right angle to the base.
i.e. when using an ogee bit you will get a slightly different depth as you work your way 360* around the work piece.

[jackellis]

I just starting using one of these that I bought months ago when Amazon had them on sale. You have to be a little careful about how the base slides on to the motor - there's a slot machined on the motor housingand a key on the base that fits into the slot to keep them aligned and prevent the motor from turning in the base housing. I'm guessing you might not have the key in the slot based on the problem you describe.

I've been testing mine on dovetails for some drawers. Compared with the low end Ryobi and old Craftsman routers I own, this one is a dream to use and it seems to do a much better job. .