BOSCH RA1181 Benchtop Router Table 27 in. x 18 in. Aluminum Top with 2-1/2 in. Vacuum Hose Port

I just finished a set of raised panel cabinet doors which is about the most challenging thing I use a router table for. The doors ended up nice with good fit, the minor flaws are most likely do to the operator not the tools. I am by no means a pro but here are few points I noticed while using the table:1. Assembly was not particularly difficult but expect to take some time to do it right. The instructions were adequate.2. Leveling the mounting plate got a little frustrating, but I tend to get hung up making things perfect when they don't need to be. In the end I got it level with the table (more on this later).3. Setting up the table for use was easy, the feather boards were solid, worked well, and stayed in place as did the fence itself. I have to admit, the guard that attaches to the fence didn't last long with me, but removing it is easier than installing it. I will most likely regret this decision the first time I get my fingers tangled up in a spinning bit.4. The table surface left some mar on the wood I was using, but nothing that wasn't easy to sand out. I imagine that this will go away as the table surface gets used. If you really wanted to I'm sure you could polish the table surface before first use.5. I have a Bosch router so the table top depth adjustment feature worked with my router. However, the combination of having to clean out the dust from the hole every time and keeping track of the allen wrench made it a rarely used gimmick. I ended up just making all of my adjustments from under the table. This is how I adjusted on my old table so it was not a big deal for me.6. Chip collection was decent using a 1HP shop-vac, but I would continually blow the breaker in the table switch with both the vac and the router plugged in to it. Based on the current rating of the switch (15A) I shouldn't have had both things plugged in to it; so chalk that up to operator error.Now for my main complaint. As was mentioned in a few other reviews my table top had some significant crown (a little over 1/32" or 0.03125"). 95% of the time this probably won't be an issue but I emailed Bosch anyway. Per the response I received, the manufacturing tolerances are a max crown of 0.5mm (0.02"), so it would seem my table is out of spec. It's the weekend so I will have to wait for Bosch's response as to what I should do, but even with the out of spec crown the table performed well.Overall, I would recommend this table to a friend who was in the market for a sub-$200 router table.*EDIT* After a brief and friendly email exchange with Bosch tech support they shipped out a new table top which showed up just a few days later. This one was perfect and they did not ask for the old one back making it a rather easy process. I upgraded my review to 5 stars due to the excellent support I received.

BOSCH RA1181 Benchtop Router Table 27 in. x 18 in. Aluminum TopI put it together. Haven't yet put it to use. I'll only speak to what I can tell from the assembly.Great instructions! Bosch has gone to great lengths to take all guess work out of the assembly process, something other manufacturers should take a lesson from.The paper booklet is much better than online manuals, although I used both at different times.For those of use who think manuals are an unnecessary imposition on our God-like intelligence; I suggest you read the manual at least a little in advance of the parts you're assembling. It might save you some assembly-disassembly-reassembly. Don't ask me how I know. You know how I know.Ever wondered which bolt is the #10-16 x 1/2" and which is the #10-24 x 1/2"? The paper booklet has a true-to-size print of each and every bolt, washer, nut, etc. that solves the mysteries of identifying an incredibly large number of parts that come with the router table. How many parts is a large number? There are 161 parts, a few of which are for other models of Bosch router tables. A key identifies each part with a number that matches the true-to-size part's representation in the booklet.BTW: I didn't notice any Chinesium fasteners whose Philips head screws round out with the slightest bit of aggressive twisting of the old driver bit. All the fasteners are of a quality you might find in something like automotive manufacturing.All the main component parts are solid and well-made. Plastic is not all made the same. Time will tell how the plastic components hold up, but I expect they'll do just fine.I was very surprised at how sturdy the aluminum fence was. The same for the aluminum router plate and table top. I did not expect them to be so heavy. When I was removing the table top from the carton I wondered, due to its weight, if it was steel rather than aluminum.Leveling the router plate: I've seen reviews that made comments about the difficulty of leveling the router plate and aligning it to the same plane as the table top. I found no problem with this at all and verified the results with a TSO MTR-X triangle. I didn't go so far as to get out a set of feeler gauges to look for thousandths of an inch differences, but I don't expect to be routing components for use on Space-X. It's woodworking, not rocket science!Price: I got a terrific Black Friday price of $172.81, or so I thought. It's still (12/20/24) listed at about the same price on Amazon.I am not a connoisseur of router tables. I did the usual due diligence one might expect a penny pincher to do when making a purchase that offers the best of everything at the lowest price available and I think it went a lot better than expected. I wasn't looking for a table that cost $400 or more. I wasn't looking for the largest table or one that attaches to a Festool MFT. I wanted a table I could use in the basement or out on the driveway and pick up and carry to a job site without too much muscle strain that was suited for making moldings, dados and so forth.I was first looking for a table with a two part fence so it could be used for jointing. I admit to being disappointed that the best table I found did not have that feature. It took a while to find a Youtube video that spoke to this problem. But Bosch solved it by including two 1/16" "Jointing Shims" that slide behind the out feed fence to allow edge jointing in increments of 1/16" to 1/8". It's not an infinity of adjustments but then no fiddling is required to set up the table for jointing. Just slide a shim behind the fence and you're ready to go. So, that may actually be an advantage over two separately moveable fences that require careful alignment to get the right cut on an edge joint.I rarely give five stars but I think they are well deserved in the case of the Bosch RA1181 and the great Amazon price.For $175, how can you go wrong?

This is a nice looking table and once you finally get it all piece together, it seems to work pretty well. The surface is really good quality, although the ends are made of plastic and seem kind of flimsy. Two things that really annoyed me even though I knew that my DeWalt router may not fit, which it did not, and I had to order an aftermarket base plate to mount it underneath, which still didn’t line up, and I had to drill extra holes and modify it somewhat. I also had to drill a hole in the side of the plastic to get the extension cord to go through to wrap it around the end, which is where you wrap it. But, they didn’t provide a whole or any other way to get the cord through, which was pretty ridiculous. Sort of poor engineering in that area. But overall, I’m looking forward to Using it.

The BOSCH RA1181 offers a durable aluminum top, smooth operation, and effective dust collection via the 2-1/2" port. Perfect for precision woodworking—great value! (30 words)