It’s a keeper

It almost looks like a toy, but my new router is anything but.

It’s been a couple months since I talked about a tool that surprised me, and then quickly became a favorite. Well, I found another one.

I saw an ad for a small Bosch 12-volt cordless handheld router. It’s been around for a year or two, and when I saw the ad again I figured I’d give one a try. I’m a big fan of downsized tools for small jobs, and love my DeWalt compact router, so I thought one even smaller and lighter might be fun if nothing else. I already had several Bosch 12-volt batteries, so the bare tool wasn’t even expensive.

Well, it’s a keeper. It’s described as an “edge router,” and that’s exactly what it does best. The reason for that is that the collet is offset on the base, meaning that when you hold it on the work it rests solidly, none of that tilting like with larger routers. For simple roundovers, chamfers, coves or even small rabbets (such as when insetting a panel back), it’s one of the easiest tools I’ve ever used.

Sure, at only 12 volts – and not a lot of power, at that – you’re not going to be doing yards and yards of edging or trimming. Intricate profiles? Forget it. You need a much more serious router for those tasks, and I have four or five others.

But I also do a lot of boxes, clocks and other small projects, and for small work like that, it’s great and gets the job done quickly. And after using it for a while, it confirmed one of the first thoughts I had before buying it: It really is fun to use.