Review: Bosch CS10 Circular Saw

The BOSCH CS10 circular saw is a little heavier and and larger than some of the compact saws we’ve looked at and this one appears to be suited for framing and deck building types of work with it’s power and features. Let’s take a closer look.

Cutting Power & Motor

This saw has some good cutting power and it has a 15 amp, 120 volt motor that can spin the blade at a no-load speed of 5600 RPM. The motor is a brushed motor and the power efficiency isn’t much of a factor since it’s a corded tool. The housing for the motor has removable end caps for easy access during service, when needed.

The power on this saw feels pretty raw. You can feel the torque on startup. It rips through materials with ease even with the included blade. The blade doesn’t have a brake at all so it spins out a little after each cut.

Blade

This saw uses a 7-1/4 inch blade with a 5/8 inch arbor. The blade is on the right side of this saw. Included is a 24T framing blade, which is sufficient to start out but depending on how you are going to use this saw you may want to upgrade the blade. If you’re going to build a deck and chopping through a bunch of 2x4s or 2x6s the included blade is going to work just fine.

The blade is easy to change out. There is a lock button to lock the spindle, and then you can use a single wrench to loosen the nut and remove the blade. When tightening up after putting a blade on, Bosch recommends hand tightening the nut first and then using the wrench to go another 1/8 turn only to keep from damaging parts.

Foot Plate

This saw has a magnesium foot plate and it feels and looks like a good quality part. It glides smoothly over surfaces during cuts and it provides pretty good visibility of the cutting area as well. There are guide notches on the front for both 90 and 45 degree blade positions. Overall, there’s no issues with the foot plate on this one.

Cut Depth & Bevel

This saw has an adjustable bevel and it has a maximum cut depth of 2-7/16″ at 90 degrees and 1-7/8″ at 45 degrees. This is enough to cross cut 2×4 lumber with a 45 degree angle. This has enough power and capacity to work well for cutting framing lumber and plywood sheets.

Bevel Adjustment

The bevel on this saw works well and it can be tilted up to 56 degrees to the right side. There are stops at 22.5 and 45 degrees for quick adjustments. The bevel scale is located on the front of the saw and to adjust the bevel you simply release the locking lever, make your adjustment, then lock again. The locking lever unfortunately is made from plastic and can be a weak point for breakage.

Depth Adjustment

This saw has adjustable cutting depth and the lever is located on the rear. The depth adjustment has stops at 2″, 3/4″, 1/2″ and 1/4″ for quick adjustments to common depths. There is no depth scale available other than the stop depth indications. Some people have issues with getting the saw to precisely set to depths other than the stops, it pushes towards those stops when tightening the lever. The depth stop lever is the same as the bevel lever and is made of plastic, another weak point for breakage.

Both the bevel and and depth adjustments are implemented decently on this saw but they aren’t the best. They work fine but are a little hard to use for very precision measurements.

Dust Collection

With most circular saws dust collection isn’t a strong point and this one is no different. There really is no built-in dust collection port. There is a blower feature that keeps the cutting path clear of sawdust, which work well on this saw.

Bosch CSDCHUTE Dust Attachment

If you really do want to hook this up to a dust collection system there is an option part called the Bosch CSDCHUTE Dust Attachment which adds a dust port to this saw. The port can connect to standard 1-1/2 inch hoses for common dust collection systems. This is worth it if you are using this saw indoors in a shop. The feedback is mixed on the part itself, it’s pretty flimsy. But it works, nonetheless.

Handling & Safety

This saw is operated with two hands and it has comfortable handles with rubberized grips. When held in hand it doesn’t feel awkward and it’s easy to control during cuts.

This saw is light on safety features but it’s still a safe saw to use if you take typical safety precautions. There is no safety lock on the power trigger, so it can be powered on pretty easily. There is also no soft-start or blade brake types of features, so the saw has some noticeable torque when it starts up and the blade spins out for a bit after cuts.

The blade guard is the biggest safety feature. It does a good job of keeping the blade almost entirely covered when the saw is not in use. The lower guard has a lever to help move it out of the way for blade changes or inspection. It also has an anti-snagging feature that keeps it from catching on materials during cuts. The blade guard works well on this saw and doesn’t cause any frustrations.

Build Quality

This saw feels a little heavier than some of the smallest saws we’ve looked at but it still suffers from plastic overuse. It weighs in at about 10 lbs.

The plastic housing and the magnesium foot plate and blade guards have a nice quality to them.

The depth and bevel stop springs don’t feel very precise. In addition, the levers for both are made from plastic and have the tendency to break.

The motor may need maintenance with the brushes and bearings over time if you put this saw through a lot of use. The motor is pretty easy to access for maintenance when the time comes, which is a nice touch.

The saw feels like it flexes and gives to pressure if you push too hard on it during cuts. This can cause accuracy issues and wandering on longer cuts if you aren’t careful. People that have the best luck with this saw are learning to not put so much pressure on it during cuts.

Overall, considering it’s drawbacks with accuracy and fit and finish, this saw is more likely to be better suited to framing work rather than precise woodworking cuts.

Accessories

This saw comes with a couple accessories. In addition to the saw you get the 24T framing blade, a wrench for blade changes and a carrying bag. There is no on-board storage for the wrench.

Also, this isn’t included but there is a rip fence available directly from Bosch that will work with this saw, model number WD7RIP. It’s pretty basic but it works well and it’s cheap.

Setup & Assembly

This saw is fairly easy to get up and running. You may need to install the blade and you will also want to go through and check calibration and alignment of the blade and the bevel. There’s not much else to do and you’ll probably be up and running in less than a half hour with this tool.

Warranty

Bosch offers a 1 year warranty on defective parts or workmanship for their power tools. This is good enough to help you out if you have quality control issues in that first year of use.