Bosch Reviews

Bought this drill to install a hand rail on the in-law's porch...50 year old concrete...and had no intention of using a start drill for the holes. Altho the drill seems to get hot pretty quickly, given the angle that I had to be in to drill the holes, several breaks for ME were needed anyway.

I recently purchased this drill (the 1194VSRK) and it works pretty well. However, it gets HOT extremely easily (after a couple of minutes.) Does this happen to everyone?

I picked a reconditioned one up at a local hardware store(7-corners, the KING of all hardware with the largest tool selectionin the world) What a great value. I've used the milwaukee hammer drill, and it is a little shorter and easier to use, but I am really a moderate user - not a contractor, just a hard-core DIY-er. This is a great value over the milwaukee (which I've used), although the milwaukee is the standard by which I judge. Hence the four stars. I have a bosch 3/8 drill and a bosch planer, and have had a bosch cordless drill. They all perform wonderfully. Overall - a good value, quality name and construction, nice case, good for serious hammer drilling as well as all-purpose 1/2 drill work.

PROs - Lightweight, flexible and easy to use with portable tools. Really works well with hand drywall sanding tool.

CONs - Contrary to the photo on the amazon website, this hose is not reinforced like the original equipment hose that came with my Bosch 3931 professional vacuum. It is constructed of a very flimsy flexible plastic which is very easy to pinch. Once pinched, the hose collapses whenever the hose intake is restricted and further reduces air flow. It was a waste of money. I will need to obtain a reinforced hose which does not have this problem.

I agree with the other comments that it is a light weight plastic. But that is what I like about it. When using a hand held router or sander the other heavy hoses tend to pull against you. I also like the hose because it is extra long. My shop vac hose is only about 6 feet. The 15' in this hose lets you move around the work piece with out having to lug the shop vac with you.

I've used this hose for about 3 months now. I've even stepped on it a few times and have not had it collapse on me. Maybe my shop vac is not strong enough, but even then there is a flow control to reduce the suction in the hose.

In my opinion this product is fine. Maybe after several more months or years of use these other folks comments will come true.

I don't quite understand where the other reviewers are coming from.

I have the VAC001 hose and use it with my Bosch sanders and Bosch 11221DVS hammer. Both of my non-Bosch vacuum cleaners have standard 2-1/4" "female" ports that accept most vacuum hoses (including the VAC001) and use a friction fit to hold them.

The 001 hose is 15' long and light weight, and it's got an airflow contol at the vacuum cleaner end to prevent the vacuum cleaner from "overpowering" power tools.

The reviewer from 3 years ago must have received a defective unit. I've had mine for two years and have been quite happy with it.

I received this drill as a requested Christmas gift in 2003. After a full year of trying to work with it I have retired my Skil 2887-06 because I never got more than two hours out of a fully charged battery (even drilling in soft wood) and the Torque - Speed setting slipped from one to the other under certain circumstances. I found the drill to be excessively heavy and much too BIG for too many jobs. I like the Skil name but this drill was a disaster for me. I don't know which cordless will replace the Skil 2887-06 but I have freed myself of it and am currently using a 25 year old 3/8" Skil.

Skil 2887-06 18 Volt 2-Speed Cordless 2 Speed 3/8" Drill/Driver

I played with this unit as several display units in stores. I decided to buy one for myself. After extensive use, I am not as thrilled with it as originally I was. After three full power battery discharge and recharge cycles are completed, does each battery last for a considerable period longer. The drill bit does not spin a perfect diameter leaving each drill off a bit and screws are not perfect in drive. For the price, the value is ok. Paying full retail, it is overpriced! There are better units. This has nice looks, though, if that is what you want.

This drill was a holiday present. The features list is both innovative and useful. The site light is something most if not all hand tools should have. When I first heard about the little indicator light to tell you if the drill is in forward or reverse, I thought "Bah, I'won't use that" Well, I was wrong, it is a great feature when you are driving screws. This drill comes with both a clutch and a brake which also make it ideal for driving screws and nuts. My only problem with this drill stemmed from the batteries. I was never happy with the length of time they would hold a charge. About six months after first getting the drill, and doing an attic renovation, the length of holding a charge dropped off dramatically. I called the Skil-Bosch service center and described the problem. The gentleman told me that the batteries must have been defective from the start. No muss, no fuss and I was sent new batteries. The drill clearly sounds and feels to be running better with the new batteries. I'd reccomend this drill to my friends.

I ordered this adapter along with the CURRENT Bosch 3725DVS Random Oribital Sander. The intent was to provide suitable connection between my Fein Turbo VAC II and the 3725DVS. This connector is not for that model sander. The 3725DVS's dust bag mounts to a one peice, cast aluminum base. This casting has a built-in integral dust port. There is no provisions for simply unscrewing the dust port from the casting to allow use of the new adapter, as one reviewer suggested. Contact a Bosch Service Center and order the appropiate connector. Bosch Hose-to-Tool Adapter, part number: RS006. Or order the 15' Vacuum Hose, part number: VAC001. The Vacuum hose contains the RS006 Adapter. Both Parts can be found on Page 209 of the Bosch Power Tool & Accessories booklet. The Bosch Service rep that I contacted, owns the same 3725DVS sander and the VAC001 Vacuum Hose. He has been using it for some time and was very high on it. Upon his suggestion, I now own the VAC001. A very good product. Now, back to this particular adapter, (Bosch 1 609 200 933 Hose Vac Adapter). It does fit the Fein and many other tools. It performs very well in those applications. For that intent, and considering price/value, I would rate it 5 Stars. However, do not buy this with the sole intention of connecting your shop vac to either the 5" or 6" Bosch Random Orbital sanders. Both sanders use the same parts, either RS006 or VAC001. For those interested, the Bosch 3725DVS Sander is a dream machine and the Fein Turbo VAC II lives up to everything positive that the other reviewers have said about it. Both products are outstanding!

This was confusing at first until I did a little research. Amazon's accessory list is misleading. It lists this as an adaptor for the Bosch 3727 sander. According to Bosch's own web site, it is: "Hose-to-Vacuum Cleaner Adapter - Connects (1 in.) hose to 2 1/2" diameter vacuum cleaner inlet". Bosch lists the actual tool adaptor for the 3727 as: "RS006 Vacuum Adapter for 6" Random Orbit Sanders". This is suuppposed to connect the oblong port to the 1" hose. Hopefully amazon will soon carry this accessory, as well as the paper dust bags and various density backing pads.

On my (older model) Bosch sander, the oblong outlet that one reviewer complained about not fitting the adapter twists off to leave a round 1" outlet that may fit this adapter after all.

I'm a die-hard Bosch fan, have almost every tool they make. I was so disapointed in this saw. Two issues, first the case, It arived damaged, the plastic case it comes in is very thin plastic and the tools orbital switch fatigued then finally broke thought the lid. I thought it was a fluke. They re-shipped, newer one same thing!! the orbital switch had been rubbing the case since it left the factory. The saw itself had several cosmetic blemishes, someone somewhere (QC maybe) had noticed them and circled them with a grease pencil, but decided to ship out anyway!! Also saw speed selector is the thinnest of plastic and can be moved way past the housing of the handle. The blade holder dosnt completely clear the body of the saw on the out stroke so blade change is a bit awkward and finally the varible speed kicks in only after you pull the trigger in all the way, THEN release it slowly to a desired speed - not slow from the start!!?? Whats up with that? Both saws same problems. Oh yeah did I mention it weighs about what a concrete block does. I love Bosch but steer clear of this one. I bought a Milwaukee orbital and its golden. detachable cord, the METAL case hold the tool with the blade on, its made in the USA and its cheaper!! I just wish it was blue!

Before I bought my Milwaukee, I tried this one. The first one had a faulty foot adjusting mechanism. The second one broke where the blade fits into the chuck.
I'm tearing down an old house, so the tools I use get a workout, but my Milwaukee hasn't failed,and I've used it ten times more than I did both Bosches.

My favorite saws are the Milwaukee super sawzalls with orbital action. This saw runs a very close second . It has enough power for any job you throw at it. What I like even better is that it has a very effective counter balance. Some saws that are counter balanced have more vibration than other saws that don't. Not so with this big tool. It is very well engineered as we would expect from Bosch. The Only thing I like better on the Milwaukee is that it's physically smaller and it feels a little tighter. It cuts a tad faster. For me it was the logical choice. For you it may be different. In any case this saw cuts circles around all other competitors including the PC tiger saws and the new Hitachi swing blade saw. This saw has been rated #1 and #2 in several magazine reviews.

I did not find this useful. I thought they retract for transport and storage but they do not. In order to change the stop to the other side you need to remove the slides. I would return if not for the shipping cost being close to the item value.

The stop mechanism is a little hard to tighten, and I question the accuracy. The length of the bars is only good for short work. It was a dissapointment after purchaising the saw, which is fantastic, and as a result I had to make my own miter extension and stop. Buy the saw and save your money on this.

I bought this extension for my Bosch 3915 SCMS, and it came a few days after the saw did. It works well for holding work in place, but I do wish it came with two stops. It's a relatively minor complaint, and it's served me well, so I give it four stars.

I recently purchased the new Bosch PB-10 power box job site radio. As a carpenter, I demaqnd a radio that will put up with abuse and dust. The Bosch seems to be suited for that. Also the 4-way GFCI built in is an extremely nice touch. The fact that the radioo will charge batteries as well as run them is a huge plus.. my Milwaukee radio only plays off them.

Now for the bad: The antenna, is a piece of crap flexible wire that is always in the way and does a poor job of reception. I have never had a problem with the flexible rubber antenna on my milwaukee breaking, so why not go that route??? Also, the sound quality is sub-par for a $150 radio! My $89 (rockford-fosgate) Milwaukee will blow this thing out of the water in both sound quality and volume. Definately not what I expected. and lastly, the brightly lit LCD display is nice.. if you are looking at it head on, but since I usually have my radio on the floor, I'd have to do a head stand to see it.... the cool looking protective bars over the LCD do a nice job of obstructing your view.

To Bosch: I really expected more.. come on guys! lets get it right!!!!

I bought this radio with high expectations that bosch would kick a$$ outa the cheap dewalt on sound and features. The features with the extra receptacles was unnecessary but the sound is excellent with the equalizer settings. BUT the reception on the radio is awfull! You'd have to be next to a radio station tower to get a good signal! Why = NO Antenna! Bosch tech support said that they were working on the poor reception but no fix. Right now this expensive radio is a dust collector. Wish I stuch with the dewalt.

Plus: Functional layout, nice sound, attractive package.

Minus: Poor reception of anything but powerful local stations. Indoors it gets worse.

This is a situation where you have yo buy a poorly designed product because there is no alternative. Don't get me wrong the sander itself is fast, great for removing old paint from tight places like shutters. But the seam on the belts almost always breaks before the grit even starts to wear out. I suspect the glue is affected by temperature as the plate gets very hot at higher speeds. Only at the lowest speeds does it seem to last. I wish I could buy a sanding sleeve and cut it down, but the Bosch belts are metric. Bosch should obviously redesign their seam , maybe in a zig-zag rather than plain diagonal, and absolutely change to a glue or tape that is unaffected by heat.

The idea is great. I was impressed with the sander, however the quality of the belts has something to be desired. I usually find belt sanders to use the belt to the bitter end (until the grit just plain wears out). However, the 80 grit belts may develop too much heat (my inpression) for the glue used to join the belt together. With this sander i was never able to use the belt to the end, in fact out of 11 belts used 8 of them failed prematurely all spliting right at the joint and as if the glue on the back patch (looks like tape) just seperated from the belt. No tears and the belt itself was in very good conditon. None of the belts lasted as long as usually could be expected the three others also failed but put up a better fight.

I have to agree with another reviewer that this sander can eat sand paper rather quickly. After a little practice with the tool, however, I found this to be less of a problem. But even with this shortcoming, no other sander I've found gets into the tight spots like this one. I've found it to be a high quality and indespensable tool to have in my truck.

I agree with the last reviewer 100%. I looked near and far for template guides so I could route out the hinges on some doors I was hanging. This tool would be ideal for the light routing work involved. I looked everywhere for template guides. The manual stated that the same guides that can be used on the 1600 series routers could be used on this trimmer. No universal guides would fit so I went to an authorized Bosch distributor to get them. Even the guides that the employees told me would work did not work. I had little choice but to go out and purchase a new router that could do the job and that had the accessories available. The quality of this trimmer is 5 stars all the way. The accessories are what keeps it from being great all around.

I AM A FLOORING SUB-CONTRACTOR AND HAVE USED THIS LAMINATE TRIMMER WHILE INSTALLING LAMINATE FLOORS. I OWN 4 OTHER BOSCH PRODUCTS BECAUSE OF THIER QUALITY AND RELIABILITY. THIER TOOLS PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY ARE SECOND TO NONE AT THIS PRICE RANGE; BUT THE COMPANY GETS LOW MARKS FOR DIFFICULTY IN OBTAINING PARTS AND ACCESSORIES IN THE AFTERMARKET. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I GIVE THIS PRODUCT A 3 STAR RATING.

This Deluxe kit comes with a good trimmer motor and accessories package but the trimmer guide that attaches to the accessorie plates is made out of plastic and is unusable to make a confident cut. Until Bosch creates a suitable metal guide system like they use to have on their old models and which you can find in competative models don't buy this kit.

If you want a trim router that does it all this is the kit for you. This can easily be considered the most complete laminating kit available. It has the best tilt base range on the market. The motor is rock solid with fairly "easy to maintain" brushes and bearings. I've owned this trimmer for years and am buying another one for my home workshop.