Customer Reviews

Bosch RA1173AT Dust Extraction Kit

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have this dust hood. It does a good job keeping the dust out of the air when doing cuts off the edge of the piece. Don't let the shop-vac issue bother you. An adapter can be found at woodcraft or rockler for less than five bucks, and not breathing harmful dust is certainly work that.

The price is too high for this item, but basically you're paying for Bosch advertising there. The product does do a decent job of capturing dust, but enough still escapes that prevents me from giving this a 5 star. If you are not able to find anything else, this set does do a decent job and is WAY better than using no dust extraction.

I bought this set, along with other for my tools to cut down on dust in the shop after a lung infection. It does help with the dust, but the view of my work piece is limited too much for my liking.

The adapter for the fixed base is useless if you using a straight edge to guide the router.

The adapters are plentiful for 2.5" shop-vacs, check out Home Depot. Mine is connected to my central dust collector.

First, I was disappointed that I could only get the plunge router dust pickup by ordering this "kit" that bundled together 3 separate pickups. Second, be aware that the plunge surface pickups will not work when you are using a guide template with minimal clearance between the bit and the guide bushing. And third, good luck finding an adapter to hook your shop vac hose to the dust collector port. I finally found a rubber universal adapter and cut off the smallest part so it would fit. Overall, not what I expected.

I purchased this dust collector to use with my DEDICATED ROUTER TABLE Bosch 1617EVS that is mounted on the Bosch fixed sub-base. The Bosch FIXED SUB-BASE dust port will not fit in any router table configuration using the port as designed as it exits too close to the table mounting plate and it is also parallel with the router mounting plate instead of pointing away from the mounting plate. The illustration supplied for this product showing the dust port exiting the sub-base at a reasonable angle is for the PLUNGE BASE that you would not use for a router table configuration. In fairness to the Bosch design folks this kit is probably OK for non-router table use for both the fixed base and plunge bases although they must have been having an off day to not consider that this router is often purchased for dedicated router table use making the dust collector useless for this purpose.

I ended up using a Rockler 25893 "down under" dust collector kit that required very little modification and works very effectively. The flexible hose supplied in this kit is very adaptable to many configurations! For use with the 1617EVS you will need to increase the diameter of the hole in the down under dust port about (another 1/8" or so) where the 1617EVS collet nut passes through it. I used a forstner bit to increase the collet nut hole in the dust collector. Make sure you safely drill this hole by temporarily fastening the down under (locked to the insert) to a piece of 2x4 before drilling. The 2x4 should be held securely in a vise when drilling using a very slow feed to avoid melting the plastic.

In normal use of the router and down under dust collector you can simply remove the 2 (or 4 on some plates) screws on your metal router table mounting plate and push it up onto the table top. You can then easily get the two 1617EVS collet wrenches on the shaft and collet nut without disconnecting the dust hose. The rectangular mounting plate is also helpful to keep the router body from tending to turn as you use the collet nut wrenches. The collet nut on the 1617EVS is quite long and this is helpfull to give a consistent shaft "seal clearance" on the down under collector as bit depth is adjusted in normal use. If you are using bits over 1" in diameter you should change the plastic table mounting plate insert to a Rockler 2 1/2" "Inter-Loc" to give more vacuum air flow around the bit where the wood cutting is occuring. Alternatively you can purchase a Rockler 28552 blank plastic insert and custom drill it to the size that best suits your router bit requirements for optimum dust collection.

Incidently I really like the Bosch 1617EVS router as a table mounted router. The integral micro height adjustment on the motor works very well and is well engineered and convenient to use. The use of metal for most of the router is welcome and should prove to give long service. I have had this router for a month. Have not used it for free hand use so have no opinion on that use but see no obvious concerns for that use.

This item was mounted on a Bosch Plunge Router and connected to a shop dust vac. Works great to control saw dust. If you move your router at a slower rate it makes it dust free. Arrived in excellant condition because of proper packaging. I would recommed this product to my friends.

When using Bosch's 1617EVS, 1618EVS and 1617EVS under a Wolfcraft benchtop table, using Ridgid and Koblenz (mexican product) vacuum clenaers.
Very easy to install.
I attached one of the units to the benchtop installed router, and worked very fine, eliminating most of dust.
Later I used the accessory with the plunge router and worked even better, not a chance yet to use the fixed base edge work attachment but I will try it in coming days.
I am so happy with this kit that I am considering getting another one, just in case.
The hose adapter is a must, so good it is included.
I do not find a reason for it to don't be a five star product.

I own the 1617EVS Bosch router. I purchased both this dust collector system, as well as Keen's dust collection system. The fit on the router is very good. For using the router for dado's and such, the side attachment works well. Also included in the kit is an attachment for edge routing that fastens to the base of the router. While this works, I find it rather cumbersome in use, and it's limited to about an inch and a half high router bits. As luck would have it, one of my first project was trimming off the bottom of the door, and I needed a little over an inch and a half, so this was one of the first problems I discovered.

There is also a 3rd collection attachment for the plunge base, and I don't see any reason why this should not work well. The plastic is not an antistatic type, so fine dust from MDF or similar composites tend to build up on the plastic, which can obscure the view in some cases.

For router tables, the plastic port comes straight off, and as such only allows for about three quarters of an inch thickness. Since most router tables are at least 1 1/4" thick, you probably won't be able to use it without modification to your tabletop. The Port also comes out the front of the router, and I can see where this would make placement of the hose awkward in some cases.

So, this attachment has it's place for handheld routing, but for router table work the Keen system is superior. See: Router Table Dust Collection Accessory here on Amazon. Since the plunge base is generally used for handheld work, and the fixed base is used under router tables, I think a redesign by Bosch is in order. Creating a downward angle of about 15° in the adapter would solve the problem, although there still would be the issue of routing the hose.

I would advise before purchase one consider your primary use. The keen system would not work well for handheld work. The Keen system totally obscures the view of the router bit. It is made of silicone, and is also angled down by design. It can be rotated to exit the rear or front of the router or any angle really, so again, a superior system for a router table.

I ended up keeping both systems, and think they both have their place. Many routers have nothing for dust collection, so it's nice that Bosch has a pretty decent option for handheld work at least.

With just a little more engineering this could be the best of both worlds. The Bosch router is my first Bosch tool, and so far I am not overly impressed with it's design. I just had an issue with one of their adapters, that supposedly allows one to use porter cable guide bushings, but the adapter needs and adapter to make it work! bizarre. Sent that one back.

For the price, this is probably not a bad purchase, but understand its limitations.

I've only used one of the dust collector units, it worked great.
Nice not having dust in the air and chips all over the room.

I was happy with this until I tried to connect my Shop-Vac to it. The dust hood as well as the suppled adapter will not fit either size of standard Shop-Vac brand hose. Unfortunately this renders the entire item useless. I'm currently looking for another adapter or possibly I will have to make one. Maybe this is made to fit European sizes?