Bosch 18 volt Lithium-ion 6-1/2" Circular Saw CCS180 Review

Carpenter and builder Rob Robillard from http://www.AConcordCarpenter.com reviews the Bosch 18 volt Lithium-ion 6-1/2" Circular Saw

Visit Rob's website where he shares his industry training and experience to provide solutions to your problems and to make appropriate PRO recommendations for purchasing products, tools and accessories.

Every carpenter I know owns a circular saw but not all own a cordless one.

Cordless circular saws have been out for years. I'm a remodeling contractor and for many, many of those years I have resisted using and buying a cordless circular saw. They just did not impress me

After reviewing the Milwaukee and Dewalt cordless versions a Facebook fan asked if I would review the Bosch CCS180 Circular Saw.

http://www.aconcordcarpenter.com/2013...

The folks at Bosch sent me a CCS180 circular saw with a Bosch 18 volt, Fat-pack, 4.0Ah battery to review. The 4.0ah battery is a fairly new release for Bosch and is truly a game changer for their cordless tools. The exciting part of these batteries is that the charge lasts longer, they run cooler which results in the battery lasting two times longer than their predecessors.

READ MORE on the Bosch 4.0 Ah battery

First Impression:

I was not surprised when I pulled the CCS180 out of the box an immediately noticed how well balanced and light the saw was. At 6.6 pounds this saw can easily be wielded one-handed.

The tool and all of the features has that feel of quality that all professional jobsite worthy tools need to a be viable under rugged working conditions.




Using The Bosch CCS180 Circular Saw:

The Bosch CCS180 will cut to 2 1/8" depth on a 90 degree cut and can bevel to 50 degrees.

Like all cordless circular saws it will bind if you twist of push it to hard. Used properly this tool "plows" through framing lumber and plywood. With the correct blade, It also makes nice cuts in trim and was enjoyable to use on staging. READ: Choosing A Saw Blade.

http://www.aconcordcarpenter.com/2011...

I really liked using the depth of cut gauge when making quick fast cuts where I needed to adjust the blade for the cutting application. It saves time from having to hold the tool against the material to be cut or from pulling out your tape measure to check the blade depth.

The guard blade has a beveled angle on the tip that first contacts the material being cut. This angle was designed to help prevent the guard from snagging.

The CCS180 has a large oversized ambidextrous trigger safety that requires you to push in prior to pulling the trigger. The size of this safety is large enough to easily find as well as use with work gloves on . I personally found the safety awkward and it took me time to get used to it. This is a personal preference and I prefer the thumb push down safeties.

Bosch CCS180 Circular Saw Features:

Durable, impact resistant polycarbonate lower guard.
Large and easy to operate spindle lock
On board blade wrench
Blade size 6.5 inch
Speed: 3900 rpm [Max].
Arbor diameter: 5/8 in.
Cutting Cap. 2: 1 3/8 @ 50 , 1 9/16 @ 45 , 2 1/8 in @ 90.-Max: Cutting Angle: 50
Exclusive Anti-Snag Lower guard
Easy-to-read Depth of Cut Gauge
Heavy Duty Aluminum foot and upper guard
Weight 6.6 ponds

Pros:

A lightweight, durable and extremely powerful saw. When combined with the 4.0Ah battery this saw goes and goes and goes!

I especially liked the depth of cut gauge and the anti-snag blade guard -- I was not able to get the blade to hang up on angle or on thin cut offs.

Cons:

The bevel gauge is not clearly marked and the instructions that come with the tool do not address this. When the tool is adjusted to 45 degrees it would be better to have an arrow indicator clearly identifying where the bevel mark is. Once you learn where this mark is its easy to use but any other carpenter who was not familiar with this tool would have to pause to figure out the bevel angle.

Overall Impression:

The Bosch CCS80 was a pleasure to review. Bringing new tools to a jobsite always attracts attention and the Bosch CCS180 was not exception to this - everyone on the job site wanted to try it out and play with it. Some even wanted to keep it!!

While I'm still a huge fan of corded circular saws the cordless circular saw is quickly becoming more viable on the jobsite, especially for cutting trim in place, small repair work and hard to reach areas.

If you considering a cordless circular saw and want a comfortable, easy to use and very powerful saw check out the CCS180. If you're already using the Bosch 18 volt platform then this saw is a no brainer!