Note: This Bosch UK or EU product is not available in the USA.
Yesterday we posted about some decent Bosch 12V cordless tool deals, and in the comments section someone brought up how Bosch’s 12V tool selection is not as expansive as other brands’, namely Milwaukee with their M12 lineup.
Monte chimed in, saying that a new circular saw, jigsaw, and rotary tool will be released in 2014 in Europe, possibly following Bosch’s new compact brushless drill and screwdriver.
This is big news, mainly because it’s Bosch’s first major 12V Max line expansion in a while, and also because there is exceptionally high interest in compact circular saws.
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These tools will be released as part of Bosch’s 10.8V Li-ion platform in Europe. There have been no announcements regarding USA availability.
Bosch Compact Cordless Circular Saw
The new 12V-class circular saw, designated GKS 10,8V-LI Professional, works with 85mm (3-3/8″) circular saw blades and can cut wood and wood-based materials with a 26.5mm (1.04″) cutting depth.
With a 2.0Ah battery, included in the kit, the lightweight and compact saw weighs in at 1.4kg (3.1 lbs). Motor speed is 1400 RPM and the adjustable shoe can pivot up to 45° for angled cuts.
The saw can cut up to 20 meters (65.6 feet) of 18-mm (0.70″) MDF boards per 2.0Ah battery charge.
Bosch Compact Cordless Jigsaw
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The new compact jigsaw, GST 10,8V-LI Professional, features a barrel-grip design, steel-reinforced die-cast aluminum base plate, and T-shank blade holder. It weighs just 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) with a 2.0Ah battery, and is designed for one-handed operation.
Maximum cutting depth is 70mm (2.76″), and the saw cut through ~6m (19.7ft) of 24mm-thick (0.94″) pinewood on a single 2.0Ah battery charge.
Bosch says that two pendulum settings make it possible to adapt the saw to various workpiece materials. We take this to mean that there will be two orbital settings.
Bosch Compact Cordless Rotary Tool
The rotary tool, GRO 10,8V-LI Professional, has a variable speed motor (5,000 – 32,000 RPM), and can be used for general cutting, grinding, deburring, polishing, and routing tasks. It weighs 600g (1.3 lbs) with a 2.0Ah battery.
Honestly, we’re wondering why Bosch hasn’t come out with a 10.8V/12V Max rotary tool sooner, as they could have easily borrowed expertise from Dremel, one of their sister companies.
More Info(via Bosch Germany PR)
Jason
Some cool new tools. I like the idea of the compact circular saw, and the cordless jigsaw looks really well thought out. The rotary tool looks like all of the other rotary tools out there.
Javier
Very nice additions to their 12v like. The highlight of the show is the mini circular saw. I really like how they list how much they can cut per charge to give new buyers an idea if they will fit their needs. Based on the above info I think the circular saw has a very good run time.
Ken
Nice mini circular saw. A year or so ago I made the suggestion that Milwaukee add a mini circular saw to their M12 line up but was ‘nicely’ told it would never happen due to the amp output needed. I ASSume with the advancement of battery technology that Bosch was able to put together a workable product (doesn’t Makita have a mini saw as well?). Kudos to them. Hopefully, Milwaukee will follow suit with a ‘us too’ product. Too invested with the M12 products to invest in another manufacturer’s line up but sure makes one want to justify carrying around another charger/battery system. Any inside knowledge of a like item from Big Red?
Marco
Didn’t I just say I couldn’t warrant getting the bosch 12v line tools due to the m12s selection. Boy did this just close the gap a little lol.
Stuart
Keep in mind that these tools were announced for the European market. If or when they are announced for the USA market, availability might still be a few months out.
Stuart
I’m sure Milwaukee has a few prototypes built, but if an M12 circular saw is in the works for production release, it will be a closely guarded secret.
Milwaukee is not in the habit of making “me too” tools, but this might prompt them to reexamine their M12 release roadmap.
The hesitation makes sense – there is a lot of user demands from these types if tools, but the brands don’t want to disappoint with weak motors or disappointingly short runtime.
With 4.0Ah Li-ion batteries, it is only a matter of time before we see more higher power compact tools like circular saws.
fred
Back a bunch of years Makita’s 9.6V trim saw seemed to sell well for light duty work. There still must be some new old stock laying around because its still advertised at a few places:
http://www.amazon.com/Makita-5090DW-9-6-Volt-Cordless-Circular/dp/B00004YODY
My tile sub – used to have a few with a water bottle attachment and diamond blade – but I seem to recall there were more Makita angle grinders being used to cut tile that these trim saws. I see that Makita now offers a 12V trim saw.
With limited expectations for runtime and use, I’ve also thought that an M12 trim saw might have a place in the lineup – but Milwaukee may have judged that customer expectations would be set too high and lead to tarnishing of the brand. We had liked the idea of cordless saws – particularly for use on staging or on the roof – but found that what was offered by Makita (our 18V platform) did not meet our needs. Much as it irked me to do it – I bought a different battery-platform tool (Dewalt) to go to a 36V saw – following it up with the purchase of a few more attesting to our finding the saw to meet our needs quite well.
Stuart
Yes, Makita does make a 12V circular saw (https://toolguyd.com/makita-cordless-mini-circular-saw-kit/), but it doesn’t seem to be as popular as a Milwaukee or Bosch model might be. A lot of people write in asking about compact circular saws, and when I point out about the Makita, they usually have an eh response. They don’t want a Makita, they want one from Bosch, Dewalt, or Milwaukee.
fred
When I was active – we had invested in the M12 line to the tune almost 200 tools in that lineup – so I would not have bought a Makita 12V either, We did buy some Makita 18v circular saws (6-1/2 inch plus smaller trim and metal cutting saws – but I don’t think that they get taken out of the tool rooms very often.
Marco
Only 18v+ 6-1/2″ Circular saw I like is my Metabo 18v. It ran pretty good for tons of cuts while framing. Then when the 4.0ah batteries came out it got even better. Now I really want to see what the 5.2ah batteries can do. Biggest thing though is keeping a sharp blade. It really robs power of any saw to use a dull blade. The M18 new fuel saw maybe just as good on run time and consistent power.
Josh
I wish Bosch would come out with an 18v hacksall. The 12v hacksall seems like a great fit for my typical uses, but I don’t really want to buy another battery system for just one tool.
James
Still waiting on an m12 circular saw…
Does this jigsaw have an orbital setting? It looks like that’s an orbital selector switch on the side. I don’t believe the m12 has orbital. That’s a nice feature if it does.
Monte
yes – 2 orbital settings
Stuart
Yes, as Monte says, there will be two orbital settings. I’ll add this bit of info to the post.
Dennis
I originally had a couple Bosch 12v (then labeled 10.8v) tools, but I switched over to Milwaukee M12 because of the depth of their line, and killer deals they were making at the time. Had these existed in the US market I probably would have not made the change. It would have been nice if these were brought to the US a while ago. Not to mention with my love of LBoxx, which I’m sure would have been a case option for these, I would have bought up the entire line. The jigsaw is just gorgeous, it looks like a mini version of the corded line. I’ve always wanted a cordless mini circular saw, since I saw Makita’s years ago. And how they have not had a cordless rotary tool is a mystery, aren’t Dremel and Bosch owned by the same company?
Monte
You can always switch back to Bosch if you want to 😀 😉
Dennis
If money was no object…. Although I would love it if there was a universal battery so I wouldn’t have to choose. But then how would Milwaukee or Bosch get “all” of my business?
Monte
A Bosch rep told me that they had to engineer a complete new rotary tool because Dremel is not up to Bosch blue standards (Dremel = DIY, Bosch blue = professional)
Stuart
That doesn’t surprise me too much, but surely cross-brand cooperation could have resulted in a pro-grade model before now. I suppose better late than never would be appropriate here.
RX9
I finally gave up on expanding my Dewalt 12V line and bought into Milwaukee M12 this season for the same reason. Milwaukee’s cordless ratchet was the the key reason. If Dewalt had announced a cordless ratchet coming soon, I would have held off, but I see nothing coming from them. It’s a shame, because I love their build quality and support.
I may just Ebay my 20Vmax drill and switch to Milwaukee or Ingersoll, because Dewalt’s Impact wrench is a meager 350 ft lbs, rather than the 600+ numbers the other two are putting out. My three most important full size tool categories are Drill, Recip. Saw and Impact Wrench (not driver).
I know there’s a lot of money in the carpentry/woodworking market and I understand why most manufacturers focus their efforts there. That said, I think there is a lot of money that could be made if they just threw mechanics a bone every now and then.
Air tools get the job done well, but cordless electrics are more maneuverable, lighted, and more useful to the home mechanics.
mnoswad1
funny that they are calling these “compact”. wasnt that the whole point of the 12v systems in the first place. at least someone is noticing that the 12 volt tools are getting bloated and oversized…….the milwaukee jig saw looks like an 18 volt tool every time i see it in person.
If bosch is putting out a circ saw…….sure milwaukee will be copying…..i mean coming out with one very soon.
Javier
1+ on the idea behind Milwaukee not making a m12 circular saw because of user expectations might be too high. The makita had bad reviews for run time. I’m sure Milwaukee can make an excellent saw with great performance if they sell it to be used with xc batteries. Would be great if it was similar in blade size and cut capacity as Rockwell’s new mini circular saw
Stuart
While a 4.5″ blade sounds good, 3-3/8″ blades are easier to find.
fred
My go to trim saw is still an 40 year old Rockwell-Porter Cable 9314 4.5 inch worm gear saw with a Forrest WW04H407080 40 tooth blade. But I’ve heard that the saw (especially the base plate) got cheapened up (maybe when production switched to Mexico) over the years – and anyway the saw is no longer made
jay k.
PowerSmith has all the main tools I would want on a 12v platform… its’ s just too low end for me – but they even have a 12v angle grinder/cutoff tool… 🙂
Marco
Wow, didn’t realize that. Forget their circular saw, that grinder must last 30 seconds on a battery lol.
Phil
I will probably be buying the rotary tool the millisecond it becomes available in the US market. When the Milwaukee M12 rotary tool came out, I picked one up to work alongside my original 10.8V Dremel tool I’ve had for years. The Dremel is nice, but underpowered. The Milwaukee is considerably more powerful, nearly on par with the corded Dremels I have. However, the M12 rotary is the first M12 tool I’ve been disappointed with. My first one let the lifesmoke out in spectacular fashion the first time I used it, and I barely put a load on the tool. Exchanged, and the replacement would bind up internally from what felt like a bad bearing. This one went right back and I got one more. This one has been fine so far, but like the second one, the bearings are extremely noisy. No binding on this one, just a hellacious racket. I disassembled the tool to see what was up, and the large support bearing near the chuck is rough. My feeling is the bearings were installed improperly at the factory rather than the bearings being of poor quality. The motor itself has ball bearings internally that seem fine. I hope new examples are better.
Since I am heavily invested in the Bosch 12V line, what’s one more tool? I like the look of the tool and the location of all the controls, and I’m sure there won’t be much drivetrain racket out of the box. If it’s as strong as the M18, I’ll be happy.
The jigsaw looks quite tasty, I like the size of this one over the Milwaukee, it seems more a “true” barrel grip. I can’t see if it has variable speed from the picture, I would hope it was so equipped. With everything being made with LEDs these days, I hope it has a worklight too. Being orbital/oscillating in the small form factor is nice.
I don’t have much of a need for the small circ saw, I still use my 14.4V DeWalt 4 3/8 for the small stuff. Too bad the LiIon retrofit batteries are unobtanium now (or selling at outrageous prices – I saw a charger/battery combo going for a cool grand!) My NiCD packs are tired, and those will get a rebuild soon. This one reminds me of the Makita trim saw from 25 years ago. A buddy had one, I used it on some trim and found it lacking in speed and power even for that job. I’m sure the Bosch will mop the floor with that old tech.
Monte
@Phil: yes the jigsaw will come with a variable speed dial
Mister Mike
This new Bosch cordless circular saw will go to the top of my Santa list. I have an old Makita 12V saw and it has been a super tool for cutting thin plywood, paneling, masonite, as well as soft and hardwood trim. The thin kerf blade takes precise cuts, and the lightweight makes it easy to take one up a ladder.
But the Makita 12V NiMh batteries have not lasted well, and no longer hold a charge. A few years ago I acquired the original Bosch 10V (now called 12V) drill driver to replace the Makita drill which was packaged with the circular saw. Recently I needed the circular saw but had no juice. So I attached the Bosch 10/12V battery to the Makita saw with short pigtail wires using spade clips and held the smaller battery on the tool with rubber bands. It works great but now I can make a full conversion from green tools to blue.
Monte
here are some videos of the new Bosch 10,8/12 Volt circ saw:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1MwfB3ZkkQPPfr2j4EkWUQ/videos
(Bosch GKS 10,8) and of the new rotary tool (Bosch GRO 10,8)
Stuart
The circular saw has a track adapter and dust extraction attachment?!?!?!!!!!!
Monte
yes ! track adapter/parallel guide, dust extraction adaptor and LED light !
Monte
2 more videos of the circ saw and jig saw:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNIDwfZU3YQ
Z. Rahimi
They’d better release this in the US. These additions are 2 years late in my opinion.
Jon Littell
Are these compatible with US 12v batteries? If a friend brought one of these over from the EU would it work here?
Stuart
I don’t see why they wouldn’t be, but you should check with Bosch for a definitive answer.
Matt
How are these STILL not available in the US?
Jeff
I want the Bosch GRO
Samuel endalamaw
Bosch is the best product
Jon
Here it is 2016 and these are STILL not available in the USA. I’m thinking of switching over to Milwaukee because of their more extensive 12V line-up.
Travis
And another check in….another cringe inducing moment when you realize that the circular saw and rotary tool are not available in the US yet.
Not to mention the drywall screw gun, shears, brushless grinder, brushless impact (supposedly in August available), brushless 3/8″ impact, and whatever else is out there.
Come on Bosch!
Peter
Did not check for the other stuff but the 18V drywall gun is available or are you talking strictly 12V tools?