My 10+ year old Bosch jigsaw seems to have given up the ghost. I could send it off for repairs (Bosch says $89.00 max charge). Add shipping and I'm around $130. Festool's PS300 Trion seems to be fixed at $280 everywhere on the web.
Just wondering if something has come out that is really better than that good old Bosch?
Opinions please?
Joe
hey Joe
the new bosch is great little or no vibration ,easy blade changes,chouse of orbital or strait cut.and your chouse of a barrel or upright frame.
Len
I have the Festool jigsaw and while it's a well-made saw, it has one major, IMO, drawback. The blade is so deep, or back from the front of the tool, that it's very difficult to see where you're cutting. I have to lean way out in front if it and peak in to see where I'm cutting. I removed the clear plastic guard to make seeing easier. I'm not sure I would recommend this saw to others.
Mike Alameda, CA
I should have done more research before posting this. I think I found my answer at "Fine Woodworking.com" where a lengthy thread on Bosch vs. Festool jigsaw was archived. Someone I respect wrote -- I might be paraphrasing--that ". . . the Bosch was always better than any other jigsaw made but the new Festool is as much better than the Bosch as the Bosch was over all the others.
Now, I am not a tool snob. I buy very carefully and probably use some tools people in this group would consider crap but I have to say I have never had a single misgiving about any of the really expensive tools I have bought. I remember years ago when I bought the Fein detail sander and the Fein vacuum cleaner. I thought I was crazy to pay that kind of money for something that I could buy for so much less. I have never regretted those expenditures.
OTOH I keep a box filled with junk (mostly gadgets) as a reminder of all the stupid purchases I have made. They are worthless and should be thrown out but I just keep them as a reminder.
I believe we are living in a golden age of woodworking tools. I can not believe how many quality innovative items are on the market. Some of the younger woodworkers probably take all this for granted. But it is a fact that we can get better hand planes than we could prior to WWII or at any time in history for that matter. It used to be only an affluent home shop that had a thickness planer. Now anybody can afford one. I could go on and on.
Now I know about and agree with the Heavy Iron lovers. I actually own and use an Oliver pattern maker's lathe made around 1910. I think it is the finest wood lathe ever made. True, the beautiful machinery that Oliver, Bridgeport, Crescent et al used to produce are no longer being made. Even the venerable Powermatic 66 is lighter than it was
30 years ago. There is nothing on the market today to equal an Oliver 12 or 16 inch joiner or an old Oliver sliding table saw. Companies like Oliver would still be around today producing high-quality machinery but their devotion to quality was their undoing. Their machines, which were produced long before some of the modern notions of safety even existed, lasted so long, especially in vocational school settings that the lawyers had a field day. They simply drove them out of business with lawsuits charging them with safety deficiencies that were not even dreamed of at the time the machines were produced.So, I have decided to buy the Festool jigsaw. Thanks to those who have offered advice.
Joe
Now it's a question of barrel grip or D grip
I got the festool barrel grip figuring gripping closer to the cut is better than higher like the D grip. That turned out to be right. BUT on the Festool, the on-off switch is a slide - and not where you can easily get to it with your right, gripping, hand and is a kind of stiff slide foreward/ back type switch rather than a rocker. Being able to turn the saw off while maintaining control of it is not the Festool barrel grip's long suit.
The dust extraction on the festool is good - IF you have the clear plastic gizmo on the saw. BUT - if you do have it on then your view of the cutting location is hindered and becuase the plastic is curved, distorts what you're trying to see.
The replaceable clear plastic zero clearance inserts do essentially eliminate chip out.
The plastic base won't scratch the work and helps if glide nicely as you cut.
Saw is kind of heavy and unless you have large hands, the barrel grip is a bit fat. \ charlie b
I too am looking to replace my older Bosch(4201). I bought a barrel grip
1584 for as a Christmas present for one of my helpers. When we tried it in the shop the vibration of substantial, significantly more than the 4201. I took it back. FWIW, this model is now made in China. strangely enough the display model was made in the US. My friend said that I should buy a new one for myself as I use one much more than he does and that he would be quite happy with my old unit. So now I am looking at the 1590/91 series and the Festool. I have read that the Festool is a pound lighter than the Bosch and considered a bit better overall but the visibility issue has me concerned. As there is no local dealer for Festool I would have to buy one without trying it. So does anyone else consider the visibility issue a problem? Thanks, JG
Newer Bosches. Assuming it's the blue barrel body, my new GST135 has twice the power of the GST2000 (millenium model) I used before. Makes a difference on big stacks of birch plywood.
The Makita isn't bad, but not quite as good. I haven't used the Festool
Well, yeah, something better than the good old Bosch _has_ come out. The good _new_ Bosch. My 25 year old Bosch died the death and the part I need to fix it isn't available from Bosch USA (it might be available from Bosch UK though), so I got a new 1590. Every criticism I had of the old one they've fixed--ten years ago Fine Woodworking described their ideal jigsaw and apparently Bosch listened.
The 1590 that I have was made in Switzerland, just like the 25 year old model that it replaced. It works accordingly.
The Bosch with the right blade rips and crosscuts almost as smoothly as a Woodworker II--the only thing that keeps it from being a glueline rip is that it's difficult to make any jigsaw cut a 100% straight line. I can't imagine the Festool doing better--as good, yes, but not better. I do find myself wondering what blades the people doing the various tests that found that the Festool cut more smoothly were using--Bosch makes a huge range of them and if they did not make the right blade selection they might have gotten a misleading result.
I've seen a number of people say that they prefer a barrel-grip saw. I've never had any trouble holding either of my top-handle Bosch saws by the barrel--if you have big hands then the top handle might get in the way though. On the new one there's a variable speed trigger (with upper limit set by a dial) on the top handle--that makes the top handle worthwhile in my book, and latching the trigger on isn't really any more awkward than the switch on my old one.
Bosch's new blade change is just lovely. Slide a lever on the front and the blade ejects. To insert the new blade, just insert it and push until it clicks.
I haven't found the side blade guides to make any real difference but they are there, and don't seem to need the kind of adjustment that the Festool guides need.
Personally I wouldn't pay a hundred bucks more for the Festool unless there was compelling evidence that it did something significantly better than the Bosch, and I haven't seen such evidence.
A qualified YES.
I have a Bosch, and had the opportunity to try a Festool belonging to one of my wood dealers. My Bosch (with Collins Coping Foot) is great, the Festool is fan-freakin'-tastic.
If I were coping all day, I'd buy the Festool, but for the work it gets, I'm still happy with my Bosch.
Not better, but a good price :) $104 shipped.
Am I the only one who thinks Festool makes nice tools with good features but that they are grossly overpriced. I would get the Bosch which as so many have testified is no slouch (it is not like you are comparing a Mercedes to a Yugo but more like a Mercedes to a BMW).
I definitely think that the Festools are very grossly overpriced. After looking very carefully at all the info I could find and holding both the Festool and Bosch in hand I decided that I really liked the Bosch better (ergonomics and features) and even if I hadn't I would still have bought the Bosch because the Festool's price is exhorbitant.
Undoubtedly on some tools they are very overpriced. The Festool tool does not do a job much beter than any other tool on the market for half the price. Routers for example. And jigsaws too. But for others such as the circular saw with guide rails, it may be a good, great value for many people. No other saws short of a European sliding saw with scoring blade has comparable performance. And ease of use. Sanders may fall into this category too since they have a minimal vibration and leave a good surface in less time. Shop vacs probably don't fall into this vlaue, better category since all vaccums work pretty similar. Not enough advantage to the Festool model to justify the increase. But it does work well with Festool tools so maybe this justifies the extra cost. A non Festool tool that could justify its double the price for many, many years was the Milwaukee Super Sawzall. If you ever had the chance to try the Super Sawzall and any other Milwaukee or other brand reciprocating saw selling for half the price, you would immediately volunteer to pay the double price for the Super Sawzall. The minimal vibration on the Super Sawzall justified the double price.
I bought the Festool jigsaw. I have a Bosch jigsaw too. But it let me down on a job. Would not cut the bottom off a hollow core door straight. Blade cut at about a 45 degree angle instead of anywhere near 90 degrees. After Bosch failed me on that job I will never buy another Bosch tool again. The Festools double price was more than justified for me to never again use that piece of junk Bosch jigsaw.
I make my living with power tools. I have said this in here before, and I'll say it again: "not ONE manufacturer makes tools that are ALL great and good value." I assure you that companies like Fein and Festool don't make crap. Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee make good tools, but not necessarily across their whole line. As someone posted, the Milwaukee Super Sawsall..best for the money. I think Makita's beltsander fits that category, simply because it seems to take my abuse rather well. Bosch makes a fabulous jigsaw, but I'm really happy with my Milwaukee jigsaw (Swiss made, btw), and there is NO doubt that the Festool jissaw is a good piece as well. But is it a good value? If all you got is $ 200.00, it isn't for you. I am quite fond of the old style Bosch barrel-grip jigsaw (other than the fact that sometimes you get caught with the switch between the body of the saw and a wall (sink cut-outs). But thye new barrel grip sucks, because it is too fat for my hands to grip it comfortably.
My dream tool is a 2000 watt Festool router. Almost the same price as two Milwaukees. I love Festool, but not that much. BUT!!! it is a better router.
You think the OP's choice is hard? Try justifying the price of a Fein Multi-tool. Suck in your gut, swallow hard and never look back.
Buy the Festool jigsaw...you know you want to......
lol
r
I have to wonder how much of the price tag is going into the tool and how much is going into their marketing budget. They haven't converted the flannel one yet, but their tools just seem to keep showing up everywhere.
-Leuf
I hear that the Milwaukee jigsaw is actually the same as the Bosch. The Bosch is also made in Switzerland. I have the Bosch version (1590) and it's great.
Whoever told you that is misinformed. The latest Bosch actually copies some features from the Milwaukee.
Even the cheapest, nastiest POS jigsaw ever made will cut closer to 90 deg than 45 deg. Have you considered that you were making a fundamental error in operation of the Bosch jigsaw?
The Festool jigsaw cuts 90 degrees. Same operator. Same technique. Opposite ends of the cut quality spectrum. Bosch jigsaw failed me when I needed it. I will never trust a Bosch jigsaw.
If it failed you in that fashion either it was badly broken or you were doing something wrong. Did you try the Festool blade in the Bosch?
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