Being a home-owner, or just renting, doing some DIY projects is often a way to make the property you live in to be your true home. It can be creating new things such as building a new piece of furniture, new decoration, improving your garden or fixing things that broke that might not necessarily need replacing for new ones.
As a fresh home-owner myself, redecorating some of the rooms was one of the first things that I had an urge to get done as soon as we moved in, and that’s when I purchased this little Bosh Jigsaw 500W. It comes as no surprise that you often get a property that has been neglected in some way, even when it often might not be necessarily on purpose and I thought a jigsaw would surely come in hand a couple of times over time, although I won’t be using it on a daily basis.
For this purpose, for occasional fixes, DIY or other projects, a budget power tool is often a very good purchase.
In this article
Bosch Jigsaw 500W – Corded Jigsaw PST650
Whether you are cutting curves or straight lines, this Bosch 500w 240v corded jigsaw will do the job.
What’s in the box
Bosch Jigsaw PST650 comes with a very handy carry case to keep the jigsaw and its blades in perfect order. Inside the box, you’ll find:
- Bosch Jigsaw
- Manual
- 1x Bosch blade
As this is a corded variant, there isn’t anything else in the case. You’d also get a charger if you’d go for the cordless variant.
Specs and Features
This being rather a tool for small projects, I don’t expect to have top-notch features or extremely high performance, although it is to be pretty efficient in what it’s supposed to do.
The jigsaw is rather small and sits well in hand, thanks to a non-slippery surface. It’s 33cm long and 10cm wide and 28.5cm high, so the handling is pretty easy.
The corded variant has also quite an acceptable long cable – 2.5m which shouldn’t limit you in any way. The start button inbuilt inside the top handle is rather standard and is just enough sensitive to start the jigsaw only when you need it, although a bit of caution might be required when, for instance, you are lifting up the jigsaw.
In line with the blade-holding mechanism, you’ll find a switch for a dust blower. This is also a standard feature in many jigsaws on the market. It comes in very handy to blow away any wood dust that might prevent you from following a straight line.
At the bottom of the jigsaw, it has an adjustable metal base plate, that can be tilted up to 45° for cutting at an angle – a very good feature to cut corners of skirtings, for example.
Is this jigsaw 500W loud?
Living in close proximity to our neighbours, this is often my concern when it comes to doing some work around the house.
Although the jigsaw is not specifically loud, such as a deafening Mac Allister tile cutter I used before, it makes a noise that makes my neighbour’s dog go a bit crazy. But you’ll do just fine without earplugs, as the noise isn’t really too extensive.
How powerful is it?
I must say, that it depends on the material you cut and perhaps the blade you use. With a blade supplied in the box, I’ve cut through some thick wood with no issues whatsoever. The specs say, its maximum cutting depth is 65mm in wood and 4mm in metal. I’ve cut some 4cm wood with a supplied blade in no time.
Cutting MDF took a bit longer, especially due to the nature of the material but, still got there in the end, with a nice clean cut.
How to change the blade on the Bosch 500W jigsaw?
Although the included manual doesn’t provide exactly clear instructions on how to use the jigsaw, given being a powerful tool, changing the blade turned out to be a really easy task.
The blade-holding mechanism at the front of the Bosch jigsaw is designed as just a simple push-in system, so you don’t need any other tools to change the blade. Push the red grip inside and carefully slide the blade in. This jigsaw comes with a T-shank-fitting blade that is normally interchangeable with most of the new jigsaws nowadays and can be found in any of your nearest tool stores.
After pushing the blade in, make sure it sits inside the red lever firmly, all the way.
I tend to do a little test after changing the blade, to ensure everything is in order.
How to cut straight with this jigsaw?
The Bosch 500W cuts straight as any other jigsaw in a higher price range. Although it doesn’t offer a laser line pointer, you can easily follow the pencil line you drew on the cut material before and it’s even easier with the dust blower on. Make sure to hold the jigsaw firmly with the bottom metal base plate levelled with the surface of the material you cut.
Conclusion
Bosch PST650 500W is a good little companion for little DIY projects and necessary work around the house. It works well, without any hiccups, leaving a clean, straight cut. Although it offers only the basic features, for a price of just £50 (at B&Q), it’s just convenient to have such a tool at home, to use it whenever you need it.