Bosch POF500A

[Phil Pascoe]

Help needed! I bought a little POF 500a router this morning at a car boot - I only paid £20 for it, and it appears to have been used only once.
I have only one problem - it doesn't lock down. Is this usual? I had a POF 52 (until someone relieved me of it) and that locked down by tightening the side handle, but should there be an insert of some description under the screw? I imagine the screw wouldn't touch the post directly as it would damage the post.
TIA, Phil

 

[Mcluma]

There is a little ball in it

 

[Dodge]

From memory I believe there is a ball bearing under the screw knob which applies the pressure to the shaft - I have a couple in my workshop and will have a look for you when I am in tomorrow if you like.

Rog

 

[Frank S]

There is a brass pellet under the screw handle on mine.
F

 

[baldpate]

The little brass pellet sits between the end of the threaded rod of the handle and the plunge column. Without it, the threaded part of the handle is just too short to reach the plunge column. The pellet is loose, and is easily lost if you ever withdraw the plunge base from the motor housing - it just drops out and gets lost on the floor!

Replacements can be bought online - e.g. from Miles Tools & Machinery Centre
http://www.mtmc.co.uk/Spare-Parts/B...__p-240-12733138-12733209-12733174-52699.aspx
- see part 212 Pressure Spindle.

Whilst you're about it, it might be worth buying two, so you can lock both handles.

 

[TheUnicorn]

Hopefully somebody is reading this several years after the original post. I had this problem, thought the bit was lost, in fact found it rattling around at the bottom of the box, but decided that the unit would work better with 2 pressure spindles rather than the single one provided.

I found several people suggesting using a ballbearing as a replacement, but I couldn't find anywhere to buy ballbearings quickly, I instead found an old drill bit that just fitted into the hole for the handle, I put a 45 degree taper on the end with a bench grinder, still leaving a flat end, then cut off the end to maybe 10mm with a hacksaw, cleaned up the cut on the bench grinder, basically keeping if flat rather than any taper, leaving me with something that looks like a small bullet. I put it in, sharp end down. It works perfectly, as it essentially identical to the actual piece, and having two press sure spindles makes for a much more stable tool. Hope this helps someone in the future.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Ditto.
I turned two little bits of brass on my wood lathe. You're right - it's more rigid locked on both sides.

 

[Trevanion]

I found several people suggesting using a ballbearing as a replacement, but I couldn't find anywhere to buy ballbearings quickly.

Ball bearings are actually a terrible replacement from experience. I've got a few secondhand 500As and one had a ball bearing instead of a brass slug to lock the plunge and every time it would get locked off it would marr the plunge rod with a dimple, since the ball bearing is incredibly hard and the shaft is rather soft eventually the whole length of the shaft had been seriously worn with these dimples and it makes accurate setup near impossible.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Especially if using only one side, I'd think.

 

[TheUnicorn]

Now I'm wondering if I should have chosen something softer than a drill bit to make it out of? If I'm honest I would have happily used ballbearings except I couldn't find any and didn't want to wait two months to have them sent over from China, that said, I was worried that being a ball it would just spin and spin unless it was tightened right down, I imagine that might in part account for the damage to the pillar?

 

[Trevanion]

Now I'm wondering if I should have chosen something softer than a drill bit to make it out of? If I'm honest I would have happily used ballbearings except I couldn't find any and didn't want to wait two months to have them sent over from China, that said, I was worried that being a ball it would just spin and spin unless it was tightened right down, I imagine that might in part account for the damage to the pillar?

The drill bit should be fine so long as there's plenty of contact surface between the face of the bit and the shaft, the main problem with the bearing is that all the clamping force is exerted in a tiny area because of the bearing being round rather than being spread out over the flat area of a slug.

A piece of brass filed to fit the diameter of the rod would've been the absolute best.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'm surprised a ball bearing worked at all.

 

[TheUnicorn]

So i think if I can find suitable bit of brass I think I'll cut a new piece. Just out of interest do people think a ceramic, plastic or hardwood piece would be an option, or would that just not hold up? DIY use only of course.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I see no reason why a little bit of HDPE or really hard wood wouldn't work - it's not exactly high tec. is it?

 

[TheUnicorn]

No, nobody would describe it as high tech. However I'd kick myself if I had throw the base away because it had got gummed up with crushed plastic or hardwood splinters.

 

[Richard_C]

...suitable piece of brass....

Old 3 pin plugs are a good source of small section brass. I bet most of us have one or two in bits boxes, before moulded plugs I always took the plug off anything I threw out.

 

[Trevanion]

I'm surprised a ball bearing worked at all.

"Worked" is debateable :lol:

I'll get a photo of the marred shaft, it's pretty terrible!

 

[TheUnicorn]

I've cut a new slug out of brass rod, seems to work well, thankyou to everyone for the input in the last couple of days.

 

[Myfordman]

I'm a big fan of the POF500A. When the slides wear and with single side locking, the cutter tip can move sideways under cutting pressure. If you make a second brass slug and fit it under the knob on the other side, you can lock both sides.

A simple mod and well worth doing in my book.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Another good thing about them is they fit a 43mm collar drill stand.