Post by jonathan on Feb 5, 2014 12:11:32 GMT -5
Hi Ian and welcome to the forum 
A while back I bought the FSN-OFA router adapter which fits the Mafell style guide rails. I mainly use it for routing dadoes & grooves.
The adapter plate is great, it works much more precise and reliable than the rail adapter that came with my Festool OF1400. I was hoping I would be able to use any of the screw holes to attach my Festool OF-1400, but no dice, that's why I bought the GOF-1600.
The adapter is rather big though and you have to screw it on the base of your router. There's no kind of quick release system. That's why it's permanently attached to my GOF-1600.
Micro-adjustments left and right are really easy and precise. The adapter also sits flat on your work surface.
So if you do several passes next to each other, there won't be much if any difference in your depth of cut. This is where I had problems with the Festool OF-1400 in the past. I had noticeable differences in depth of cut (up to 0.5mm) and turning the micro adjust knob to go left or right was really hard with the weight of the router.
Before buying I was concerned about the lack of any fine adjustment on the adapter to fine tune how much slop there is on the lip where it rides on top of the guide rail, but it's a snug fit and there's no slop to speak of.
On to the Bosch GOF-1600 router itself. I only got the plunge base but I'm still looking to buy the fixed bas. I can't seem to find it anywhere so far? If you know an online store that has them, let me know
Anyway, the router itself is good.
Power and dust collection are equal to my Festool OF-1400 and I really like the 2 LED's right next to the bit.
Setting the depth of cut is easier than on my Festool OF-1400 as well.
On full throttle you can feel vibration in the handles, but it's acceptable. I usually turn it down 1 or 2 notches though.
There's 2 things however I'm really disappointed by, and they're both part of the plunge base. Not the router itself.
First is the micro-adjust knob. It's REALLY hard to turn. But other than that this micro adjust when already set to depth is really great. It's why I went for the GOF-1600 over the Mafell LO-50. It's a nice feature, I had just hoped it wouldn't require so much force.
Second and the most serious problem is that there's flex in the plunge base. When you grab the router and your "wiggle" it, you can see the bit move sideways up to 1 or 2mm. So depending on how much pressure you exert with each hand holding the router, you can push your router bit out of alignment. when cutting. I'm not sure if all plunge bases suffer from this or if I just got a bad one, but I can't recommend the Bosch GOF 1600 because of this reason. The adapter plate however, is a solid buy in my opinion.
Should have gone with the Mafell LO-50 instead it seems
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
A while back I bought the FSN-OFA router adapter which fits the Mafell style guide rails. I mainly use it for routing dadoes & grooves.
The adapter plate is great, it works much more precise and reliable than the rail adapter that came with my Festool OF1400. I was hoping I would be able to use any of the screw holes to attach my Festool OF-1400, but no dice, that's why I bought the GOF-1600.
The adapter is rather big though and you have to screw it on the base of your router. There's no kind of quick release system. That's why it's permanently attached to my GOF-1600.
Micro-adjustments left and right are really easy and precise. The adapter also sits flat on your work surface.
So if you do several passes next to each other, there won't be much if any difference in your depth of cut. This is where I had problems with the Festool OF-1400 in the past. I had noticeable differences in depth of cut (up to 0.5mm) and turning the micro adjust knob to go left or right was really hard with the weight of the router.
Before buying I was concerned about the lack of any fine adjustment on the adapter to fine tune how much slop there is on the lip where it rides on top of the guide rail, but it's a snug fit and there's no slop to speak of.
On to the Bosch GOF-1600 router itself. I only got the plunge base but I'm still looking to buy the fixed bas. I can't seem to find it anywhere so far? If you know an online store that has them, let me know
Anyway, the router itself is good.
Power and dust collection are equal to my Festool OF-1400 and I really like the 2 LED's right next to the bit.
Setting the depth of cut is easier than on my Festool OF-1400 as well.
On full throttle you can feel vibration in the handles, but it's acceptable. I usually turn it down 1 or 2 notches though.
There's 2 things however I'm really disappointed by, and they're both part of the plunge base. Not the router itself.
First is the micro-adjust knob. It's REALLY hard to turn. But other than that this micro adjust when already set to depth is really great. It's why I went for the GOF-1600 over the Mafell LO-50. It's a nice feature, I had just hoped it wouldn't require so much force.
Second and the most serious problem is that there's flex in the plunge base. When you grab the router and your "wiggle" it, you can see the bit move sideways up to 1 or 2mm. So depending on how much pressure you exert with each hand holding the router, you can push your router bit out of alignment. when cutting. I'm not sure if all plunge bases suffer from this or if I just got a bad one, but I can't recommend the Bosch GOF 1600 because of this reason. The adapter plate however, is a solid buy in my opinion.
Should have gone with the Mafell LO-50 instead it seems
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
