Bosch CS20XC Circular Saw Review

Disclaimer: I am rather annoyed with Bosch Tools right now - take this review as you may.

Quite some time ago, I bought a Bosch jigsaw. I was amazed at how good it was and I took it as an object lesson in "you get what you pay for." Up until then, my power-tool collection was a mishmash of whatever I could get cheap, and my old jigsaw was, well, crap. I almost never used it because it barely worked; the only time I pulled it out was when it was the only tool I had that could make the cut. Then, after I bought the Bosch jigsaw, I started using everywhere - it was the best power-tool I had. After that, I bought a Bosch dual-base router set and was just as pleased with how they worked. When I decided to replace my circular saw, Bosch was the natural choice. I picked the CS20XC, which I assume is the Canadian equivalent of the CS20. The CS20 has the detachable cord and the resin base, while the cheaper model, the CS10, has the fixed cord and metal base.

When I first looked at the Bosch circular saw, the first thing that struck me was the resin (tough plastic) base. If it had been on one of those cheap $49.99 saws, I wouldn't even have considered it. But, this was the high-end Bosch tool and I was willing to believe them. I figured, if they were going to put a resin base on their circular saw, well, they knew what they were doing and it would be better than the metal bases on all the other good saws. I trusted Bosch.

I should have gone with my original instincts; the resin base is crap. I shouldn't have trusted Bosch. Oh, it was okay at first. The saw is well balanced and operates smoothly. The detachable cord system is a really, really good idea. But, a while ago, the saw started to get hard to push through a cut. It wasn't the blade, it was the base. The base warped. The warped base makes the saw rock back and forth, gouging the work, and it is also making the base dig into the work rather than slide over top. It actually scratches the work along the left side while sliding along. Very, very annoying. Of course, my warranty had already expired.

So, with my recent experience in having my out-of-warranty Panasonic camera serviced for a dead CCD at no charge, and even having Panasonic pick up the return shipping, I was hoping that Bosch too would stand behind their products. Nope.

I sent a request to Bosch Canada... here's the response I got back:

...
Bosch is constantly trying to improve the power tool line and any
deficiency is looked after at all times. Your concerns are duly noted
and passed on to our quality control in USA. Thank you.

D Everett
Service Manager
Power Tool Division
Robert Bosch Canada Inc.
...

Needless to say, I'm not particularly overwhelmed that my concerns have been noted. I guess it's too much to expect a simple tool company to have the same tech-savvy that Panasonic showed in dealing with their CCD issue. But, in the world of Google, where a simple blog like this is available to anyone searching the web for reviews, Bosch is going to have to smarten-up. Bosch is in the business of selling their name, for a premium I might add. If they're not going to stand behind what they sell, they're asking too much.

If you have one of these with a warped base, leave a comment here.