Cliff Rohrabacher
03-31-2007, 4:15 PM
Iwas at the Borg with a couple of gift cards in hand and a yen for the Bosch Jig saw. I walked out with the Bosh D Handle jig saw a Rigid combo fixed and plunge router and the new little $40.00 Dremel.
I really like the Bosch right out of the gate. The plate angle adjustment is easy and when set it holds firmly and you can make it more firm with a knob.
The glade guide is far, far superior to my old work horse Makita. It actually guides the blade. I never had a saw that blew the dust out of the way and it’s sort of nice not an air gun by any means but it’s OK. There is a nice tempered steel wire blade guard in front of the blade. It doesn’t seem like it’ll ever be in the way.
The power is very good at all speeds. I ran it through some 2” thick Maple and it seemed to have no issues at all with cutting straight or turning. The finish of the Bosh branded blades is far, far superior to anything I have used prior. It’s the same as FesTerTool’s “finish quality cut.” At least from what I’ve seen of the Fester in the shows.
I have been on the fence between the Bosch and the FesTerTool. I think I made the better choice because I don’t much care about dust collection ( one look at my shop would tell anyone that) and the price delta just can’t get me to buy the fester: $159 compared to $279
I really like the Bosch. I won't regret this purchase.
The Riged was a default. I wanted another router. I wanted the PC plunge router. They didn’t have any. I got to looking at the Rigid. It was cheap enough. It’s well built, pretty solid, has nice a soft start, a nice well made pair of collets that are very much like PC’s in quality and style. The depth stop seemed OK. The depth stop and the collet are the cheesiest things about my Triton. The Rigid’s base swap seemed easy enough and I rather liked the all metal micro depth adjustment. OK so I’ll get one.
I really like the Ridged router. I am comparing it to My PC 690, and it compares well, very well. I also have a Triton 3.25-HP, and a Crapsman with those famous police siren bearings. The Ridged is in the same class as the Porter Cable. It’s smooth, strong, stable, not too noisy, has two really slick and bright LEDS to light your way. It has a nice thick clear plastic base you can see through. One base is has a hole that is large enough to use those larger diameter profile cutters the other is made to take the PC style bushings. The collet was the one thing I held out for I wasn’t going to buy another router with a crappy collet. The guy got me a box and opened it up. I took it apart and was very impressed. Got it home and ran it across some maple and pine. It did great !!
I am going to enjoy using this little machine. The handles are great the lock on the plunge base works flawlessly. The motor is strong and fairly quiet and the speed control is infinitely variable. The depth stop is plastic and adjusts in 1/64” increment snap clicks – the snap clicks are plenty distinct and firm. There is no mistaking when you pass one. I am no fan of plastic parts but brand spanking new it seems to work pretty well. We’ll see what it does in a couple years.
The Dremel is - - well it’s a Dremel it’s small and turns stuff round really fast.
I got a deal to boot. I got $75.00 right at the cash register.
I really like the Bosch right out of the gate. The plate angle adjustment is easy and when set it holds firmly and you can make it more firm with a knob.
The glade guide is far, far superior to my old work horse Makita. It actually guides the blade. I never had a saw that blew the dust out of the way and it’s sort of nice not an air gun by any means but it’s OK. There is a nice tempered steel wire blade guard in front of the blade. It doesn’t seem like it’ll ever be in the way.
The power is very good at all speeds. I ran it through some 2” thick Maple and it seemed to have no issues at all with cutting straight or turning. The finish of the Bosh branded blades is far, far superior to anything I have used prior. It’s the same as FesTerTool’s “finish quality cut.” At least from what I’ve seen of the Fester in the shows.
I have been on the fence between the Bosch and the FesTerTool. I think I made the better choice because I don’t much care about dust collection ( one look at my shop would tell anyone that) and the price delta just can’t get me to buy the fester: $159 compared to $279
I really like the Bosch. I won't regret this purchase.
The Riged was a default. I wanted another router. I wanted the PC plunge router. They didn’t have any. I got to looking at the Rigid. It was cheap enough. It’s well built, pretty solid, has nice a soft start, a nice well made pair of collets that are very much like PC’s in quality and style. The depth stop seemed OK. The depth stop and the collet are the cheesiest things about my Triton. The Rigid’s base swap seemed easy enough and I rather liked the all metal micro depth adjustment. OK so I’ll get one.
I really like the Ridged router. I am comparing it to My PC 690, and it compares well, very well. I also have a Triton 3.25-HP, and a Crapsman with those famous police siren bearings. The Ridged is in the same class as the Porter Cable. It’s smooth, strong, stable, not too noisy, has two really slick and bright LEDS to light your way. It has a nice thick clear plastic base you can see through. One base is has a hole that is large enough to use those larger diameter profile cutters the other is made to take the PC style bushings. The collet was the one thing I held out for I wasn’t going to buy another router with a crappy collet. The guy got me a box and opened it up. I took it apart and was very impressed. Got it home and ran it across some maple and pine. It did great !!
I am going to enjoy using this little machine. The handles are great the lock on the plunge base works flawlessly. The motor is strong and fairly quiet and the speed control is infinitely variable. The depth stop is plastic and adjusts in 1/64” increment snap clicks – the snap clicks are plenty distinct and firm. There is no mistaking when you pass one. I am no fan of plastic parts but brand spanking new it seems to work pretty well. We’ll see what it does in a couple years.
The Dremel is - - well it’s a Dremel it’s small and turns stuff round really fast.
I got a deal to boot. I got $75.00 right at the cash register.