Bosch Reviews

Did not receive second blade or vacuum attachment as described in the product description, but Amazon is working on getting them, I'm giving 3 stars just on the cosmetics, used but not much. I will upgrade as soon as I get the remaining accessories .. AMAZON AND BOSCH CAME THRU .. GOT ALL ACCESSORIES .. TOTALLY PLEASED .. 5 STARS

I have used this planer primarily on doors in my house. In particular, I've found it long enough to get the start and end of the edge planed without "clipping" the edge. I'm not an expert door-hanger -- but it has easily paid for itself in saved labor costs.

A few words of advice on (interior doors). Plane when your house is MOST humid (usually in the summer) as the doors expand and you want them to close easily when they are most expanded. Be sure to plane an extra 1/64" or so to allow yourself a gap for a primer and at least one if not two finished coats of paint on the side edge of your doors. As for the tops and bottoms, leave them unpainted to allow the wood to dry if they are new doors, otherwise, a matching primer is more than enough and you need not bother with a finish coat of paint. Unless your doors is really badly off, you will not need to re-seat the hardware, but be prepared to if necessary. But before you start, make sure all of your hinge plates are on tight. No use taking a plane to a door if the problem is not the size of the door, but loose hingest. If so, replace the hinge screws with longer ones, and be sure to pre-drill the holes first to prevent cracking the door or jamb wood.

This tool beats hand planing allowing you to complete a door in just a few minutes. It will take you more time to get the door off and remove the hardware than to plane the edges. Adjustments are easy. I found this tool to be almost identical to the Makita planer which I borrowed prior to purchasing this one.

This RotoZip Bit is amazing and a much needed item for your RotoZipping works.

I wouldn't start a drywalling job without this bit tucked into the storage handle of my Rotozip Rebel. It's bigger than the standard guidepoint bits, but then it does bigger jobs. Just remember to travel clockwise around the window or door opening, and this bit does all the rest. It quickly produces clean, smooth, accurate cuts without wandering all over the place. The secret is to have the depth set just right; not to shallow, so the guidepoint tip provides steadiness, and not too deep, so the bit doesn't cut into the studs. No drywaller should be without this bit. Thanks, Amazon!

I use this hammer drill to place expansion bolts in stone for rock climbers. My experience in hard sandstone is that the tool will drill around 10 holes with a new bit, 3/8" by 4" deep before needing a recharge. It's light and fast and seems to be fairly durable, a big improvement over the old Bulldog. But when it comes to real power in a cordless hammer drill think Hilti as in model TE5. I used one of those a while back and although a bit heavier this thing drilled 15 holes and was still going strong when I had to quit.

Great drill, I really like the ease with with the chuck can be locked and unlocked. They really are as tough as they say. I managed to drop mine off a 3 story tall scaffold onto concrete today and the drill survived without anything other than cosmetic scuffs to show for it. The battery wasn't so lucky though, there's small crack where the two halves of the battery screw together, and it looks like one of the cells may have been damaged(it actually still works, but this is an unsafe condition, since it's possible that the cell was ruptured or shorted and can explode, maybe even fry your charger, etc). The Bosch Provantage rep said they only cover drops up to 1 story high, but I didn't think the batteries were even covered against accidental drops, so kudos there. The only reason I'm taking a point off 5 stars is that the top speed of the drill could be a little higher, it tops out at 1500 rpm, but 2000-2500 would make drilling through poured concrete for tapcons much faster.

I have owned the Bosch 1638 Spiracut saw for over a year now, and it has proven to be a very useful and durable tool. The Bosch Spiracut saw is exactly the same as the original RotoZip spiral-cut saw. It's great for making cutouts in wood, drywall, Plexiglas, ceramic wall tile and cement board. Its compact size makes it ideal for cutting in electrical boxes in tight, cramped areas. Although this tool is not ideally suited for fine finish work, with the proper bit for the material being cut, it does make a very clean cut and is relatively easy to control, but can very quickly get off the mark and go where it wants if your not paying close enough attention. I prefer this style cutout tool with it's long, thin body and no handle compared to the newer style RotoZip with the detachable handle, mainly because for the type of work I use the tool for, the handle would always seem to get in the way and also throw of the tools balanced feel, so I would never use it.
I also have the RotoZip with the ZipMate grinding and sanding attachment that will also fit the Bosch, but since there is no provision for a handle, I wouldn't recommend using it on this tool. Besides, if you really want to grind or sand something, a small 4-1/2 or 5-inch right angle grinder is a much better choice anyway.

I think that this tool is extremely useful in certain situations when no other options exist, except using a handsaw. I used mine to cut some siding flush with the wall. It did a pretty good job, but the cutting appears slow or the blades wear out very quickly. The replacement blades are expensive. The blades are not made to cut metal, so if you run into a nail while cutting, the saw with jam up or the blade will wear down (which is lekely what happened to me). The tool tends to vibrate quite a bit, especially if the object that you are cutting is not well clamped down. I also used it to cut some jambs, and it did a very good job with those. Overall a unique tool that you'll be glad that you have around when you end up needing it.

I am a contractor with over twenty years, and ten circular saws of experience, I'm very impressed with my new Bosch saw. This saw felt heavy ended and awkward the first time I used it, but, it didn't take me long to adjust, it's very smooth starting and very well balanced while making cuts. The power is what really impressed me though, I have been doing a project using a lot of rough cut, air dried hemlock lately and this saw never bogs down, even when cutting through a twisted knotty piece 2 full inches thick! The saw dosen't "jerk" when you pull the trigger, which is very impressed two of my carpenters enough that they asked me to replace my 2 Makitas with new Bosch saws! I admitt I purchased this saw because of the price first, reviews second, I'll buy my next one for the superior performance. I have only one complaint, the bevel adjustment is hard to move above 30 degrees, I'm hoping that will break in.

This Bosch worklight has been so usefull in my gargage, that I purchased 3 additional ones for the rest of my family. Adequate lighting for your garage, attic, or backyard is provided when needed. Unlike a Halogen light,a flourescent bulb produces very little heat and will not burn you when touching the housing.

I have several Bosch Cordless tools and I like the ability to use any Bosch battery from 7.2-14.4V on my light. I'm currently using a 13.2volt battery with this light and it averages about 2.5 hours before I need a recharge.

The only reason I did not give it 5 stars, is because of the bulb brightness. The light has a 13W flourescent bulb, which is a little on the low side on lumens output(900 lumens initial, 810 average) for my taste. It currently has a 2700K Color Temp, which is a little too warm for me. I would prefer going to a 3500K or 4100 K temp and changing the bulb out to an 18W. I believe the 13W to 18W bulb upgrade is feasible with a little light reflector modification, although I have not performed this yet. The 18W bulb would offer 1250 initial lumens,and 1125 average, a 38% increase from the 13W bulb.

Aside from the above comments, this light performs very well. The housing is injection molded plastic and features a glass cover and rubber gasket making it water resistant. The black grill swivels out of the way for cleaning the glass. The rubber foam grip is comfortable and ensures the light will not move around. Underneath the light, the 2" plastic knob allows the light to rotate up to 100 degrees. With a 13.2V battery the light weighs in at approximately 3.6lbs.

If you have any Bosch tools, consider adding this one to your collection. Simply plug in a Bosch Battery and go. Otherwise you will need to purchase a Bosch battery and charger which will add another $100 to the price of this tool. Overall, I give this light 4 stars out of 5.

Bosch does it again. This drill is a bit heavy, but it is 18 volt. No one could ask more from a cordless drill. The run-time is great. This is an example of why I keep coming back to Bosch.

My only grievances with an otherwise excellent tool would be exclusively with the batteries--the simply don't perform like anything approaching what is advertised. They are rated 2.0 amp/hr (or 2.4 ? I can't remember) but I considered it lucky if I could retrieve even 30 min of full-power continuous run-time from them. They tire very, very fast. Even though, in Bosch's defence I was primarily cutting 3/4" MDF and particle board which can be demanding on any tool (high glue content). Nonetheless a battery which is supposed to last 2 hours, should at least perform at half of this. If it doesn't you'll find yourself in my position of often waiting for a battery to charge in order to finish a cut: which in my opinion is one of the most frustrating things to have happen in the middle of a job. I also bought the 24v circular saw, and the battery included, while still something of a disappointment, works much better than the first in the jigsaw, and is really good in the circ saw.

Another peeve I'm compelled to note, involves the slop in the battery locking into place. With most of the cordless Bosch tools, if you give them a decent shake, you can feel the battery sliding around, rattling. This has never been severe enough to cause me concern that the battery would simply fall out--it is just annoying once you begin to notice it. A Metabo drill of mine has a nearly identical style of battery retention yet there is almost no slop with this--this system isn't fundamentally flawed from an engineering standpoint, it just needs refinement (reinforcement and tighter tolerances).

The jigsaw is every bit the well-designed, superbly durable tool Bosch has built its reputation on. It is nice being totally compatible with all the blades in the Bosch jigsaw universe--although avoid the edge guide: it is a complete waste of money.