BOSCH PR20EVSNK Colt 5.7 Amp 1 HP Variable Speed Router Kit with 3 Bases & Edge Guide - Perfect for Woodworking, Cabinet Making, and DIY Home Projects

The PR20EVSNK Colt Installers Kit is a great product, with accessories to quickly perform a number of tasks, especially related to installing cabinets and laminate covered counter tops. It performs edge forming tasks like chamfers, ogees, coves, and round overs much easier than larger routers. For fine furniture it is a great tool for mortising decorative stringing. It actually makes installing stringing fun.The Bosch Colt 1.0 HP router (PR20EVS) is a fine tool that meets every expectation I have for a small "single-hand" or "palm" router. The Bosch motor speed control works great, as it does on the larger Bosch routers. The Colt is designed for small-profile 1/4-inch shaft bits, which can be installed and removed rapidly. In fact, the best feature of this router is fast setup, even when changing bases. The shaft lock on my unit works very well, but just to make sure Bosch also provided a thin 10 mm (3/8 inch x 1/8 inch thick) open-end wrench. If you have difficulty depressing and holding the shaft lock, just use the wrench. The provided collet wrench is a 17 mm wrench (about 11/16 inch). The motor slides in or out of the standard or tilt base with ease. The offset base takes just a little more effort, and I will discuss this more.The standard base has a square sub-base, which actually makes a lot of sense when it is used against a guide. The motor clamp or lock works easily with the thumb. The fine adjustment works easily (when unlocked) with clear markings: each revolution is 1.25 mm or 3/64 inches). The depth gauge is clearly etched in the motor case in both 1/6" and 1 mm divisions, with just a little more than 1-inch (27 mm) of travel. One issue is that the fine adjustment mechanism must be cleaned (and greased) regularly. Dust combines with the grease in the exposed portion of the screw.Two included attachments make the standard base more useful. Both attach at the same fixture: the straight edge guide and the roller/bushing guide. The straight-edge guide works like any other of these devices on larger routers, but it is smaller and has no fine-adjustment feature. It is pretty easy to adjust, with appropriate wings on the adjustment locking nut, but someone with arthritic fingers might find it troublesome. The roller/bushing guide is equipped with a fine adjustment feature. It is useful for edge-forming bits that do not have a bearing guide. All of the bits I have use have bearing guides, so I have not used this guide. I don't think it will be very useful for me, but in a pinch a core-box bit could be used for a cove bit, a straight mortising bit for a trimming bit, etc. I suspect that when I find myself in a predicament I'll be very happy to have this attachment, but it will gather much dust meanwhile.The included PR005 tilt base is intriguing. Depth adjustments are made similar to the standard base, with the added feature that the sub-base assembly tilts 30 degrees one way and 45 degrees the other. Although the degree gauge is deeply stamped, the gloss black color makes reading it difficult. A little white crayon or correction fluid placed in markings improves things considerably. There are mild detents at each mark, 7 1/2 degrees between marks. A bevel gauge can be used to accurately set a straight bit at an angle, so set the angle first then change bits if you want to use some other profile. The intended use for this base is to be able to edge-trim laminates in odd places like the area at the junction of a back-splash and counter. But it will also permit chamfers or v-grooves with straight bits and unusual variations in edge treatment. However, an external guide must be employed to keep cuts straight.The included PR004 Offset Base permits trimming in otherwise inaccessible areas. Places where a lot of hand-filing would otherwise be necessary. It is possible to cut within 1/2 inch of a vertical surface when a 3/4-inch bit is employed, and this can be reduced to 3/8 inch by removing the spindle cover. To use this base, a drive gear is installed instead of the motor collet, the motor is inserted into the base, and a screwdriver is used to slip the cogged-belt over the drive gear. This arrangement works well--and easier than I thought, but you can only use this setup for 10 minutes at a time, letting the device cool between uses. The offset base includes its own roller/bushing guide which seems to be of more use in this situation, as it helps stabilize the router and prevent gouging. To stabilize the router when routing a back-splash, mount a wood block to the base to run against the back splash. Just drill mounting holes in the base. Installing bits in the offset base is done by pressing a shaft lock (large red button) at the top of the offset shaft and using a wrench on the collet nut. There is no other method of holding the shaft, but the lock is very positive. To remove the offset spindle cover (provided to keep your hand away from the hot offset spindle), alternately tap the small projections on each side of the cover at the collet end with the collet wrench. The cover will slide up and off.One of the great items in this kit is the PR006 Underscribe Attachment. This permits cutting very accurate joints between two laminate panels, both small and large, as the panels are being installed. I had big doubts about this working well, but it does. I highly recommend at least one practice run before you use it seriously. You need a Bosch 85213M 1/8" diameter bit to make it work (not included). Follow the instruction carefully and you will be rewarded with an amazingly tight joint. Have an assistant vacuuming the dust while you do this to prevent dust getting under the laminate, and keep the overlapping piece against the underlying piece. Practice is important, if only to get the hang of the fine adjustment.The case fits all of the items in the kit well, including the manual, but it is easy to turn the angle base the wrong direction which prevents the top closing--even though everything looks straight. Just turn the angle base 180 degrees. Although there is room for some other accessories, most that I recommend below won't fit without some imagination and modification. I wish they had figured this out.If this description has you convinced that this collection of attachments is complete, think again. There are several important accessories (besides 1/4-inch shaft bits) that I highly recommend. Why these aren't included in this otherwise complete kit really does not make much sense. You need them, so go ahead and spend the extra bucks. These include:PR009 - Larger round base that accepts Bosch RA-series template guides (twist-click variety).BOSCH PR009 Round Subbase Template Guide For Colt Palm RouterPR010 - Larger round base that accepts Porter-Cable style threaded template guides.Bosch PR010 Round Subbase for Threaded Temp Guides for Bosch Colt Palm RoutersPR007 - Side handle subbase with vacuum attachment. This is great for edge treatments, as the router is stable and chips are collected.BOSCH Side-Handle Subbase and Dust Hood Part No. PR007PR008 - Insulating base cover. If you use the router a lot, the aluminum base gets hot. This keeps your hand cool when holding the router--a great idea. You don't want the router getting away from you because you aren't holding it tightly.Bosch PR008 Base Cover for Bosch Colt Palm RoutersRA1150 - Centering cone. This is very useful for accurately mounting sub-bases, and I seem to do this a lot with this router.Bosch RA1150 Centering ConeRA1125 - 7-Piece Templet Guide Set (RA Series twist-click, use base PR009)Bosch RA1125 7-Piece Router Template Guide SetPorter-Cable 42000 9-Piece Template Guide Kit. (Screw in type, use base PR010) There are a lot of different sets of these available, including a solid brass set, which I actually like better.Porter-Cable 42000 9-Piece Template Guide KitSo why do I recommend both the PC-style and the Bosch RA-style template guides? Because I find I need them both. To use this router with a Porter Cable dovetail jig, the PC style template guides make life easier (the dovetail jig comes with the correct guide). To use this router with a Bosch door hinge template, the Bosch RA-style works better. And I like using this router with jigs. It is lighter and easier to manipulate than my larger routers. It isn't a plunge router, which is a problem sometimes, so I don't use it when I need to plunge.So what about bits? This kit should have come with the following set:Bosch RBS020XW 3 Piece 1/4-Inch Shank Laminate Trim Router Bit SetBosch RBS020XW 3 Piece 1/4-Inch Shank Laminate Trim Router Bit SetAnd if you want to make template cuts:Bosch RBS021XW 3 Piece 1/4-Inch Shank Template Cutting Router Bit SetBosch RBS021XW 3 Piece 1/4-Inch Shank Template Cutting Router Bit SetAnd one very useful bit to cut holes in panels:BOSCH Pilot Panel Bit 1/4", 1/4" Shank, 1 Flute, Carbide Tipped 85244 (BOSCH Pilot Panel Bit 1/4", 1/4" Shank, 1 Flute, Carbide Tipped 85244(Amazon only permits 10 product links in a review, so you will have to find the following yourselves.)And the bit required to do the very accurate panel joints using the underscribe attachment:Bosch 85213M 1/8" diameter (ASIN:B000CNMHCO)Robt Bosch Tool Corp Accy 85213M 2-Flute Straight BitSo, should someone buy this kit if they aren't installing laminate? No, buy the base router and add a few other items:Bosch PR20EVSK Colt Palm Grip 5.7 Amp 1-Horsepower Fixed Base Variable Speed Router with Edge Guide(ASIN:B000ANQHTA)Bosch PR20EVSK Colt Palm Grip 5.7 Amp 1-Horsepower Fixed Base Variable Speed Router with Edge GuideAdd the template base of your choice (above) and the centering cone (also above) and the side-handle sub base with vacuum attachment, and the related items I mention above. You won't have the angle or offset base, the underscribe attachment, or the bearing guides, but you won't miss them. If you later install laminate (I mean a lot of it), buy the other accessories or a whole new kit. Having more than one of these routers is a great idea, as you will make fewer setups.