Approximately 10 months ago I purchased a new Bosch GST 135 jigsaw. Eager to try it out the following day, I proceeded to cut some 18mm MDF using a variety of Bosch blades, including T111C (Basic for wood),
T101B (Clean for wood), T144DP (Precision for wood) and T301CDF (Bi Metal-Clean for Hard Wood). I made the cuts with and without the use of a straight edge to guide the saw and at all the various pendulum settings. I also enabled Precision Control.
I was very impressed with the power of the machine and the saw cut through the MDF like a knife through warm butter. I then held a small, accurate engineers square against the cut wood and was a little disappointed to see that the cut edges weren't perfectly square. The out of squareness seemed to fluctuate throughout the length of the cut. In places the cut was pretty square and in others it was out by several degrees. I tried the same test on some 2" pine and received the same variable results, with blade deflection much more pronounced.
I'm not one to blame his tools and my thoughts were that it's obviously user error. I hadn't had much, if any, experience with jigsaws and I assumed that my technique would improve with time and practise and I would be able to produce square cuts.
It's now 10 months on and I certainly now feel that I've used the jigsaw enough to be able to eliminate user error. I had a word with a Bosch employee at one of the tool shows and his advice was not to use the tool against a straight edge (even though it advises this in the instruction manual). I once again did some further 'freehand' test cutting and still obtained variable results. I'm fully aware that if you push a jigsaw through a cut, this can cause blade deflection so I've always been extremely careful never to do this. My blades are brand new and sharp and the only forward momentum used is allowing the blade to pull itself through the cut. I've checked and double checked that the baseplate is dead square to the blade and securely fastened.
Whilst I can live with 18mm deep cuts being out a degree or two. On two inch wood it might be as much as 5 or 6 degrees, which can be a real nuisance.
Am I expecting too much from the saw or do you think I should try and get the problem put right (the saw is registered for a three year warranty), assuming it is a problem and not just the way it's supposed to be?
I'd be interested in hearing from other Bosch 135 owners on how satisfied, or unsatisfied, you are with the squareness of cut from your machine.
Thank you.
T101B (Clean for wood), T144DP (Precision for wood) and T301CDF (Bi Metal-Clean for Hard Wood). I made the cuts with and without the use of a straight edge to guide the saw and at all the various pendulum settings. I also enabled Precision Control.
I was very impressed with the power of the machine and the saw cut through the MDF like a knife through warm butter. I then held a small, accurate engineers square against the cut wood and was a little disappointed to see that the cut edges weren't perfectly square. The out of squareness seemed to fluctuate throughout the length of the cut. In places the cut was pretty square and in others it was out by several degrees. I tried the same test on some 2" pine and received the same variable results, with blade deflection much more pronounced.
I'm not one to blame his tools and my thoughts were that it's obviously user error. I hadn't had much, if any, experience with jigsaws and I assumed that my technique would improve with time and practise and I would be able to produce square cuts.
It's now 10 months on and I certainly now feel that I've used the jigsaw enough to be able to eliminate user error. I had a word with a Bosch employee at one of the tool shows and his advice was not to use the tool against a straight edge (even though it advises this in the instruction manual). I once again did some further 'freehand' test cutting and still obtained variable results. I'm fully aware that if you push a jigsaw through a cut, this can cause blade deflection so I've always been extremely careful never to do this. My blades are brand new and sharp and the only forward momentum used is allowing the blade to pull itself through the cut. I've checked and double checked that the baseplate is dead square to the blade and securely fastened.
Whilst I can live with 18mm deep cuts being out a degree or two. On two inch wood it might be as much as 5 or 6 degrees, which can be a real nuisance.
Am I expecting too much from the saw or do you think I should try and get the problem put right (the saw is registered for a three year warranty), assuming it is a problem and not just the way it's supposed to be?
I'd be interested in hearing from other Bosch 135 owners on how satisfied, or unsatisfied, you are with the squareness of cut from your machine.
Thank you.
