Tools & Service

I have be looking at getting a plunge saw and ive narrowed it down to the bosch gkt55 or the festool ts55. I've had a couple of plays with the festool and it is smooth but expensive. Is there anybody out there that can give me any info on their experience of the bosch compared to the festool, and whats the deal with the guide rail sizing? 800,1100,1600,2100 and 3100. The sizes seem to be odd, a sheet of ply 1220 x 2440 so two rails would have to be connected for the length of a board ie 1600+800 and for the width of the board one rail is to short or ones to long? Most of my tools are now bosch and I have and love the L-boxx system so the gkt has an attraction that the festool cant match.
Would be greatful for your help and comments
sean

Hi Sean,

I had the same dilemma, but went for the Bosch as I’ve got a few L boxxs now and the price. As soon as I'd paid my money, I started thinking that maybe I should have paid extra and gone for the Festool! The plunge saw is very good, very similar to the Mafell plunge saw (who I think designed the Bosch one?) has some identical parts. Only had it a week, but been using it quite a bit during that time for kitchen fitting and cabinet making. Very pleased with it so far.

The blade is very smooth and cuts through laminates with amazing precision and without any chips at all. Used the bevel feature to do -1 degree cuts for tight laminate joints and it works really well. Not done any 45 degree cuts yet as I use my mitre saw for plinths/cornice etc.Used to use a table saw or jigsaw for cutting plinths to height, but this is so accurate and saves so much time, think I can leave the table saw in the lock up now. Actually I can't think what I'll use the table saw for now.

I got mine from DM tools as they had a deal on 2 x 1.6 rails with a connector and the tool. It's easy to connect the rails together and they stay true and straight, although handling a 3.2 metre rail onto the work piece is another matter. The connector comes with a screwdriver/allen key that can connect the rails and change the blade, so I store it in the saw instead of the allen key that it came with. Only used the joined rails a couple of times for ripping 8ft lengths and without clamps, as the rails grip really well and individually they work very well indeed. Again, the rails and connector are identical to the Mafell ones, so looks like they were designed by them, although the bosch ones are cheaper, they just need to get a bag as an accessory now!

The L boxx is a bit massive for the size of the saw, but I don't think it'll fit in the next size down, but I've ended up putting my drill, charger, batteries and jigsaw in the same box with a few blades and bits in a container and there is still room in the box! With the Lboxx that the drill came in stored on top it's the perfect height for sitting, which is handy on site if you have no where and don't want to use the floor.

The dust extraction is really good too. It’s got a little drop down see through guide that marks the start of the cut and also adds a little extra for dust extraction, the only other thing I’d like to see is some way of seeing the start of the blade when it’s not fully plunged, if that makes sense?

Overall very happy, certainly not regretting buying the bosch instead of the festool. It does what I want it to do, early days I know, but barring any major reliability issues, I just want to see how sharp that blade stays and for how long. So far a real time saver and pleasure to use.

All the best,

Paul

p.s. the saw was made in Germany which is what you expect, but just looking at my 18v drill which is made is Malaysia, when did that start? Had to swap the drill as it developed ‘strange’ noises, but got that from Screwfix, so they swapped it there and then.

p.p.s Sorry if the post is a bit epic.

I don't think you'll regret it. I have to say though that Bosch aren't doing themselves any favours by not having a video showing the features of the saw. What's going on BOB? Why not knock together a video? Instead when you search for vids you get that overdubbed German bloke showing you 1:30 secs of circular saws! Sure you're missing out on sales as people are not sure whether to buy the tool because of lack of information/demonstration.

Hi guys

In regards to the video. We have one in the pipeline. Infact it will be on our You tube channel early next week. I'll put a link up once it has been uploaded. 

We will be rolling out a number of wood working videos with the help of Adam Holtham so you will be able to see these tools in action in a number of real life applications.

Kind regards

The Bob Team

Well actually yes it will! :)  

The video will show all the different guide rail lengths we offer and the different combinations. We will show how simple it is to assemble the new guide rail.  Thesystem has a number of different length sections which allows many combinations. This allows you to replicate standard rail lengths from manufacturers such as Festool and Mafell. Infact due to this 'mix and match' system we can offer a greater range.

Kind regards

The Bob team