Bosch’s BITURBO system has essential ly optimised its new brushless motors for use with ProCORE18V batteries, providing up to 2000W on one 8Ah battery and performance that either equals or improves on corded 240V power tools.
But if you haven’t upgraded to Bosch ProCORE18V batteries yet, don’t worry. Any Bosch batteries will work with the new BITURBO tools.
To help put this beast of a Glide Saw through its paces, we enlisted Jye McDonough from Danstruct Builders. Jye was a perfect choice as he uses the Bosch corded 240V equivalent saw every day on worksites across Sydney.
TEST #1: POWERFUL FEATURES
Brute force alone isn’t the only hero of this outfit. A massive 120mm depth and 400mm width cut ting capacity make this 305mm Glide Saw an extraordinarily versatile and important addition to any worksite. We asked Jye about his thoughts on how the saw performed.
“I’m really impressed with the overall performance and experience of the Glide Saw,” he said. “It’s gone just as hard as the corded Bosch equivalent and it smashed everything we threw at it. Even the hardwood has a perfectly cut edge. I didn’t think a single 18V battery-system saw could make cuts of this quality.”
A very user-friendly interface houses the three speed settings, battery-status indicator and ECO mode. The interface is backlit with either a green, yellow or red light which shows the load on the tool. Green indicates ‘good to go’, orange ‘loading’ and red ‘overload’. A flashing interface indicates that a safety feature has activated.
Additionally on the safety front, the upfront bevel control, toolless blade change and a 3-second motor brake combine to keep user’s safety paramount.
TEST #2: CUTTING POWER AND QUALITY
To test the BITURBO capabilities, we first of all grabbed some 90mm x 45mm pine which most tradies would be framing with. It was more a test of the cut quality than performance. The cuts were top shelf and clean as a whistle.
Next we opted for some LVL, before ramping things right up with some 100mm hardwood sleepers.
• Upfront bevel control, toolless blade change and 3-second motor brake
• Compact size thanks to a patented glide-arm design
• Bluetooth connectivity via the Bosch Toolbox app
• Precision cutting on a range of material
Cutting the LVL with the Bosch was like slicing butter. There wasn’t a splinter out of place.
The 100mm hardwood was always going to be the biggest test and gave the most impressive result. The BITURBO motor and ProCORE18V battery combo delivered extremely clean cuts, and listening to the motor it sounded like it didn’t struggle or strain throughout the process, no matter how many cuts we made.
TEST #3: EASE OF USE
The compact size of the saw is a great feature, and the reduced-depth design of the glide-arm design means you can work close to walls. It also makes transporting the saw much easier.
When it came time to physically adjust the mitre and bevel it took on a new level of quality. Jye shared: “The smooth design of the bevel and mitre adjustments made angle changes ultra-easy. Even when making more difficult cuts, like compound cuts, everything worked seamlessly to make for a smooth and effortless cutting experience.
“Also, the dual-laser and LED made precision cuts a breeze. Even the first-year apprentice will be able to place the cut line in the perfect position to get an accurate cut.
“Putting all this technology together to get a saw of this standard and then not addressing the blade-change system requirements would have been a pity. So I was really happy to see Bosch included a tool-free bladechange system.”
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY The GCM 18V-305 GDC Professional BITURBO cordless mitre saw has been a bit of a hit during this test. It’s stacked up well in terms of features and the performance of the BITURBO system. It has exceeded expectations and impressed all who had the opportunity to run a few cuts through the saw.
Of course there’s no need to sell the vast benefits of a cordless system. Previously the only drawback was there being not quite enough cutting power from an 18V system for larger, power-hungry tools like drop/mitre saws. But with the advancements in runtime and power of the BITURBO system, there are now only positives for this impressive 305mm 18V Glide Saw.