Review: Bosch PMF 180E

[simonmags]

Hi All,

Newcomer to this forum, but bought one of these Bosch PMF 180E, tools the other day and would like to share how useful it is with you all.

I have used the small wood saw attachment to cut through the skirting boards in my house (I was installing some built in robes) and through the cornice as well. It cut very straight with very little effort. It seems to like cutting in on a diagonal and not being pressed on too hard, but it gets through nice and cleanly.

I have also been sanding some window frames with it recently and again it wored a treat. We unfortunatley killed one of the velcro pads as we were overusing the sandpaper and not changing it over often enough but got a new one fairly cheaply which was good. My hot tip would be not to overuse your sandpaper and to check it often.

I was going to cut some square steel tube with it as well but realised it would be a bit to slow so switched back to the angle grinder instead. I did however cut through a aluminum tube (for a roller blind) and it did this very nicely.

I would recommend using ear plugs or ear muffs when your cutting though as it is a little loud, although it can be tolerated without for periods of time.

Hope this helps anyone that is looking at the tool. I found the speed dial on the rear very useful in controlling both sanding and cutting when using the tool and found the weight and size of the tool fit into my hands nicely. At the price I bought it for I find it more than adequte, theres just no way i could justify the extra money to get a Fein...

Cheers

Simon

[renovationman]

Simon,
What you say is all great, but i have been in both seats, had the Bosch machine and it was slow noisy and has limitations, and vibrated apart more than once whilst i was doing some heavy sanding on windows. I had it repaired twice, after the third time Bosch did not honour the warranty. i went to a show in Melbourne and spoke with the Fein guys and they gave me a demo and it was all that i wished the Bosch to be, so i purchased it, came with lots of blades and 3 year warranty. The Fein is chalk and cheese, simply brilliant, strong cutting, strong sanding, you can push it with no sluggish feel. I would now say i wasted $185 on the Bosch and i cannot get the blades to do many other jobs, as the Fein have plenty of blades on offer.

The lesson i learnt, you get what you paid for, cheap means downtime or poor quality.

[simonmags]

Hi Renovation Man,

I am dissapointed to hear that you managed to vibrate one apart 3 times, thats pretty bad, would you say you were using it alot though, i.e. more than 10 hours a week or something along those lines.

I guess I should be okay as I am only doing smaller projects and don't imagine I will use it all the time, just for small jobs when necessary. Sounds like you are doing some pretty serious renos to vibrate one apart.

I would like a Fein Multimaster as they seem to have a few more attachable toys, but as I am only using it on my own house and not working with it as a tradie or anything I just can't justify it still. Although I hate wasting money on poor quality tools I hope the Bosch will last.

For the last job I did it was perfect albeit a little on the noisy side. We stripped paint off 5 or more sash windows with a heat gun and used the sander to get the last of the sticky paint resin off the wood. As I said earlier we also did some little jobs cutting cornice and skirting boards while they were in place, which either tool is perfect for.

I see some stores have a PMF 180 kit for $180.00 AUD and up
The Multimaster kit starts from $279.00 AUD and up

Hopefully this review and comments assist you or others in there purchases.

[renovationman]

Simon

just to complete the scene, the Bosch machine was subject to the small sanding tasks on a home window, i do not use tools professionally i am a DIY renovator in my spare time. The guys at bosch assured me it would do just that which is sanding.

The actual reason for it coming apart as explained by the repairer, they are designed to do the one off job, i was jinxed there, so i invested in a tool that will redeem me the reward of spending money wisely and i do a professional job.

But thanks for the tip.
Cheers
RM