# Bosch POF 1300 ACE



## maflas (Jun 26, 2011)

Dear All,
I'm new to router forums, and only a light woodworker, doing the odd job around the house (furniture, occasional window repair etc.). 

I don't yet have a router, but the Bosch POF 1300 ACE is on offer down at the local store. I live in Hungary, and prices are quite high here. Also the range of routers available is quite limited.

Does anybody have any experience of this router? 

Looking forward to reading through the forum!

All best and thanks,
Maflas


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Philip, Bosch has never made a bad router. I am sure you will be happy with it. Welcome to the forums.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

G'day Philip

Welcome to the router forum. 

Thank you for joining us


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## maflas (Jun 26, 2011)

Thanks for your responses! Sadly, when I went to the shop, the Bosch turned out to be a different model which had no precision depth control (sadly this is quite a common ploy over here just to get you into the shop and buy a worse model at a higher price...).

I'm currently looking at a RYOBI ERT1400RV, which seems to have good specs, and has been recommended by one or two people. I'm on a budget sadly, a Makita or other high-end model would cost a fortune over here!!!

If anyone has any experience of Ryobi, please let me know!

All best, happy woodworking!
Phil


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## charlesb (Jun 15, 2011)

Why not buy a router on ebay? Or you could buy one online from any number of online retailers, based all over Europe. I expect there are some in Hungary too. On ebay, there are many second hand routers for sale, and some new reconditioned ones with big discounts. I bought my router on ebay, and it was good value, being nearly new and less than half the price of a new one. If you ship from Germany, Austria or Poland, postage probably would not cost much. I have sent electronic goods to Hungary before, to buyers in Budapest.


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## del schisler (Feb 2, 2006)

maflas said:


> Thanks for your responses! Sadly, when I went to the shop, the Bosch turned out to be a different model which had no precision depth control (sadly this is quite a common ploy over here just to get you into the shop and buy a worse model at a higher price...).
> 
> I'm currently looking at a RYOBI ERT1400RV, which seems to have good specs, and has been recommended by one or two people. I'm on a budget sadly, a Makita or other high-end model would cost a fortune over here!!!
> 
> ...


I have a couple ryobi router's not that model and they work fine . They are fix into my 2 tables for dovetales and pin's. That way i doin'g have to change bit's and setting's. I belive they are only 1/4" collet which mean's only 1/4" shanks bit's. Not a big deal. good luck


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## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

Hi maflas;
I have Bosch POF 1400 ACE router which I think is more or less the same model as 1300 with a little more power. To be honest I have a mixed experiences with this tool. Generaly this is great tool and for that price you can not get any better (costs about 150€ here in Slovenia). It has plenty of power, soft start, micro hight adjustment (which is very usefull) and a lot of other features. It came with lots of accessories. The only thing that bothers me is the play in the right pillar. Because of this the cuts won't be perfectly accurate (depends how accurate you want to be). For example, if you lower and lock the router to the cutting position and then press on the right handle, the router bit will swing to the left and it will not be perpendicular to cutting plane any more. This is because of the play in the right pillar which does not hold the right side of the router in the position. If you want to do dovetail joints just forget it. For example, if the right pillar has diameter of 16.0mm the right bushing has internal diameter of 16.4mm you have a play of 0.4mm. I have modified the router so I can also fix the right pillar and now I can do more or less accurate cuts. I thought I got a lemon so I asked Bosch customer support about this and one of their technician answered me that this is totaly acceptable and inside the Bosch tolerances (????). I am mechanical engineer and I design machines and tools so I can tell you this design has a flaw. So, if I draw the line; for general work this router is excellent - it is nice to hold, looks nice to my eyes, has lots of features and accessories and lots of power for home work.
Just my 2 cents.
Regards


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Giltic, I can not speak to how things are handled by Bosch in Europe, but I know that here in the US they stand behind their products and often make repairs or adjustments beyond warranty requirements. At the same time I can understand why 0.015" tolerance is acceptable for the plunge bushing. That would translate to a depth variation of just a few thousandths of an inch and would be fairly consistent. Remember that this is a home use router and you are working with wood, not metal. At the same time I see your point about the amount of clearance. I am wondering if this is designed that way to eliminate binding from sawdust build up?(it happens) Few home users clean their machines as they should. Is the tolerance the same for the left post? I am wondering if the right bushing has a larger tolerance to help align it or for a smoother plunge action? It is always a pleasure to discuss ideas like this; thank you for posting your thoughts.


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## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

Hi Mike;
I must say, the Bosch customer support here is very good. When I bought the router I sent it to the service to fix this problem. The repair guy ordered new base with collets from Bosch in Germany and after twoo weeks he called me to say that the play in right pillar was still there with new parts. Then he called the Bosch in Germany and they answered that all POF1400 and POF1200 are made this way and this is in Bosch tolerances. I made a trip to few stores to check this and indeed all POF1200 and POF1400 on the shelves had the same problem in the right pillar. Then I called some other guy (I think I got the boss) and we made a deal - he offered to send me a brand new POF1400 router to sell it and said he will give me a discount on GOF900 router which cost here about 280€. I got the brand new POF1400 router but then I changet my mind and I didn't sell it.
The left pillar is in close tolerances with left bushing. It is made as it should be. I must agree with you that they aimed for smoother plunging so they left some space between the right pillar and bushing. Still, when I went to the store and examine the GOF900 (280€)and GOF1300 (350€) router they didn't have the play in right pillar but the plunging was still smooth enough. The same goes for Makita and Metabo plunge routers in the store - smooth plunge action without a play in the right pillar. So I guess the plunge router can be made without the play in the pillar. I bet you have a plunge router and I think your router does not have this problem. The only conclusion I could made is: for 150€ this is it and if you don't want the play in the pillar you should go for GOF900 for 280€.
For a cheap router (for example Einhell for 50€) this amount of play is acceptable, but for Bosch router for 150€ this is not acceptable, I would say. Still, I like this router and I enjoy working with it. But always when I touch it something goes through my mind and I say to myself that for 150€ they could do it better. After all, we are talking about Bosch with all it's glory and fame and not some ''huang ming chang chen'' company from PRC. :sad:


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## Dicklmus (Jun 20, 2014)

Had one for ten years, a good working tool


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, N/a....


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