Old, Heavy Bosch 1600 Router (long shot)

[Jonny Rocket]

I picked up this Bosch 1600 router a few months ago and decided to start looking at it more closely last night. My label was all faded and the router is missing various parts, but after digging around on the motor model number I think this is what I have:



That photo is from an irsauction, its not my machine. At any rate, I started looking around for replacement parts, but the one thing I can't find is the depth adjusting ring (part 5):

http://www.toolpartsdirect.com/bosch-160...0-034.html

It doesn't seem like these routers come up on ebay all that often and there isn't a lot of information out there on them, but I hoped someone had one so they can send me some photos of the ring and explain how part 34 engages the ring. I assume part 34 is what holds the ring in place. I think I could fabricate a new ring out of AL or plastic.

Any help or other information on these routers? I haven't been able to locate a manual for this one either.

[Jonny Rocket]

I'd also be interested if other routers with a 4.2" motor used the same adjustment. I thought PC at first, but their rings aren't threaded for the motor base.

[Routerman]

DW 618's use the ring (mechanism) and so did Skill, & a few others.
The Bosch ring is unique, however.
In my view, these are the worst up/down mechanisms in RouterDom.
Moreover, the brake-pad motor lock, (altho used with the DW 611 today), is another fugazi.
The machine loses its depth spontaneously.
A bad machine but a darn good motor.

[Jonny Rocket]

Routerman said:

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DW 618's use the ring (mechanism) and so did Skill, & a few others.
The Bosch ring is unique, however.
In my view, these are the worst up/down mechanisms in RouterDom.
Moreover, the brake-pad motor lock, (altho used with the DW 611 today), is another fugazi.
The machine loses its depth spontaneously.
A bad machine but a darn good motor.

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That pretty much sums up my thoughts too. I've been thinking more and more about using the motor in a router table setup vs trying to put the d-handle back together.

[Bob Vaughan]

Here's a catalog cut from a 1985 Bosch catalog. That's pretty much all I know about this model. I use the plunge 90-303 router that has a similar, but not identical motor. I agree that the ring threads on the base's threads.

[Tony Z]

I have a Bosch 1604 series router, bought around 1985. Does not have that sort of adjustment, but your Bosch looks very similar to Dewalt & Black & Decker (same as some Craftsmen of that era). In an auction box lot, I believe, if I didn't toss it or give it away, I have a standard base for that style.

[Bob Vaughan]

The 1600 model weighed 12.75 lbs. The rest of the 1600 series were plastic-bodied competitors to the other low-cost routers of the day. The plastic bodied routers weight ranged from 6.25 to 7 lbs. Oddly, the 1603 and the 1606 D-handled models appear to have the same handle as the model 1600.

I suspect that the 1600 was there to compete with Porter Cable's high end 536 and 537 router models of the day.

[Jonny Rocket]

Bob Vaughan said:

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Oddly, the 1603 and the 1606 D-handled models appear to have the same handle as the model 1600.

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Funny I was looking at a 1603 wihtout a handle and thought the same thing. My router is missing the D handle too and it makes me wonder why they were taken off?

[Tony Z]

Found the base I was referring to: it is a Rockwell Model 1001 base, for a 3-1/2" motor. Anyone wants it, PM me.

As far as the Bosch 1604 I have, it is not a plastic model-just a portion of the motor housing. Everything else is (I believe) magnesium. Out of the dozen or so routers I have I rate it just under the D-handled PC 690 in this class (I have a PC 7518 in my Kreg table and a PC 7518 220 volt motor in my Onsrud pin router (have a spare 7518 for it also).

But the Rockwell is here for the taking!

[Jonny Rocket]

Tony Z said:

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In an auction box lot, I believe, if I didn't toss it or give it away, I have a standard base for that style.

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Don't tease me...

The router is basically a d-handle only as the cord is very short and there is no switch on the motor. I am not sure the there were other bases for it.

The 1604 is more like the current 1617's on the market. I have a 1604 base, but the motor is the 1601 (1hp) version. The top of the base is slopped and there is a stop on the motor housing that rides that slope and determines the depth of cut.

Trying to make sense of Bosch's numbers is pretty hard esp when you look back and there is a lot of overlap or carry over from other company mergers or buy outs.