Jigsaw woes...

Brad Taylor (NC)

Brad Taylor (NC)

Well-known member
Most of you know I have been building boats for about 10 years now and up to around 25 or so boats. During that time, I have gone through 2 Bosch 1587 AVS jigsaws. The saw itself still works fine, the problem is, over time the threads on where the set screw for the bevel goes in mar out. There is no way to get in and retap it either. But even with this poor part of the design, the saws have been awesome. The blade holds and never wanders and if I set an angle, its set. So for around $120 I've always considered it a good deal.

Fast forward to this week, the set screw receptacle finally crapped the bed. So I headed on down to Lowe's to pick up another. Which to my dismay, I found out that Bosch had discontinued it. I purchased the saw that was actually supposed to be an upgrade from the 1587, as the one that actually replaced the 1587 line looked somewhat cheaply made, to the tune of $160. Got it home and it was crap, set the angle to cut some 3/4" ply and I would be willing to venture that the angle varied anywhere to 5 degrees on each side of what I had set.

I checked online and Home Depot showed having 3 of the 1587s in stock, so I loaded up, returned the new and not so much improved Bosch and drove the 25 miles to Home Depot. When I get there, no 1587s to be found, they simply used the 1587 sku number on the replacement line.

Back to Lowes, picked up the Hitachi, which also sucks balls. I've been searching online to find a new old stock 1587 but all of the places that show having them, once I inquire, no longer have them.

I even looked at replacing the part where the set screw goes in, however, it is part of the gear housing and in order to replace it you bascially have to disassemble the whole saw.

I'm going to continue my search but curious if guys had any recommendations for a quality saw. I'm not opposed to dropping good money on a quality product but want one that does what its supposed to do.

Thanks,
Brad
 
I know that it's a pile of money but Festool has a reputation for making excellent power tools. Seems like a jigsaw that cuts a decent angle is hard to come by, I'm a carpenter by trade and we've pretty much given up on jigsaws for cutting angles while doing cabinetry or countertops. Good luck!
 
I'm with Chris, find them on ebay. I just went and looked and there are enough there to keep you boat building for a long time.
 
I found a new old stock 1587 and also picked up a 1590 which is supposed to be an equally good barrel grip model. I had checked ebay but only found used ones, which without seeing them in person and verifying everything I hated to drop the money on them. Bosch is supposedly coming out with a new top end jig saw so hopefully by the time I need another there will be some good options. I almost pulled the trigger on the Festool but it seems it has the same type of bevel adjustment as the Bosch which over time would likely fail, so I'd be in the same boat but spent more money.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I emailed Bosch a very courteous letter stating my displeasure with the new Bosch line. I got back some BS thank you for submitting your comments. Not sure what I was expecting but an obviously canned response wasn't it.

Brad
 
I have had great service from deWalt d318. I have found quality of blade makes bigger difference than u would expect when cutting angles.
 
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