In 1946 Bosch was the first to launch the jigsaw as a serious power tool. It was actually invented by a man who attached a hacksaw blade to his wife’s sewing machine, so we imagine the Bosch folks were a little nervous when those tools first went out the door. From that original stroke of genius however most of us have come to own at least 1 jigsaw and if you don’t that should probably be you next purchase. These tools are very handy for every skill level and also very versatile in both materials and projects. The guys at Bosch are very proud of their jigsaw heritage and it is clear they intend to remain on top of the pack with the launch of JS572EL & Barrel Grip JS572EBL (both $299, Ohio Power Tool) jigsaws.
These new jigsaws make no apologies about focusing on serious woodworker tasks but with good reason, the line of Bosch Jigsaws is now 6 deep with 4 distinct levels of performance and finish. In the past the Bosch model 1590EVS was the king and as recently as 2010 won this Popular Mechanic shootout against Dewalt, Festool, Makita and others. The 1590EVS was then replaced by the more powerful JS470E ($159, Ohio Power Tool) and add feature like tool-free blade change & ejection, constant power circuitry, 4 orbital-action settings and other revolutionary features. The new jigsaws, launching now, should expectedly outperform all of them.
There are several new features we see in this top of the line Bosch jigsaw that should make it very appealing over even the other Bosch options. The LED light is a welcome addition putting a little more light on your work surface, especially down in the shoe of a jigsaw. For precision cuts this is definitely handy which can also be turned on and off however the LED bar has been raised and we would expect this from just about any new jigsaw, at any price point.
On the top handle JS572EL the trigger remains a true variable speed but also includes the speed control on the rear of the unit, the barrel grip does not get the variable speed trigger (only controlled on rear) however it is slimed down for one of the most easy to maneuver barrel grips we have seen. The shoe also gets an improvement from the JS470 units with tool free bevel adjustment and the base has a permanent no-mar surface. For rough work there is a separate metal plate (above) that then attaches so not to mess up your what is essentially your finishing jigsaw.
Probably the biggest improvement the JS572 units offer however is the Precision Control II Double Roller system. By using two rollers there are several big advantages including less friction, less flexing, minimize blade deflection, better blade recovery and maintain a straighter cut with the help of auto-centering adjustments.
These units will also include the full dust extraction kit with the new fully pivoting hose adaptor as well as the L-Boxx-2 which can click into any other L-Boxx products. This may not mean much to you now but the push is on for these boxes and looking down the road 5 years these will most likely be pretty common place. We have faith these jigsaws will still be running great 5+ years from now and it’s also a good way to protect your investment.
