Page 14 - Australian Wood Review №103 2019

TOOLS & EQUIPMENT

Bosch Cordless Trim Router – GKF 12V-8

Reviewed by Raf Nathan

not the point. Don't
underestimate it as
I hogged off a very large
$300
bevel quickly without
SKIN ONLY
any slowing down or
straining sounds from
the motor.

Changing cutters is easy
with the clever spindle
lock, and depth adjustment
is quick on the sliding
thread that can be also be
finely dialed in. There is
not a lot of travel in height,
I could not use some
longer spiral cutters, but
all shorter cutters were
fine to use.

Visibility of the cutting area can be poor due to the low
position of the body and small opening and this applies to
large cutters like rounding over bits. Straight cutters can be
viewed well so you can creep up on a cut.

Run time depends on use and battery size. The smaller
This is a new design for what were once called laminate 2 amp batteries are very light and cheap but be real and get a
trimmers. It features a brushless motor, standard 1/4" collet 4 or 6 amp amp battery which is heavier but offers a massive
and is quite lightweight. Its off-set design offers a different difference in run-time.
way to use a tool like this. In use the front of the rectangular
base can be placed on the wood first offering good support. Pricing is a high compared to corded tools. There is an optional
Then the cutter can be brought into action. On a 32mm wide dust shroud for extractor connection but then it will lose its
piece of wood it can be tricky to balance a standard barrel cordless freedom.
type trimmer and run a bevel along both edges. However the
rectangular off-set base on the Bosch made the job quite easy. It is not as heavily built as some corded trimmers and won’t
like being banged around on-site. The collet was a bit tight and
Compared to a corded tooI it has a slower cutter speed of hence fiddly to remove cutters, and as mentioned the visibility
13,000 rpm without the same power, but of course that's with larger cutters is limited. However, I loved it.

Bosch Cordless Mini Plane –

GHO 12V-20 SKIN ONLY
$300

Reviewed by Raf Nathan

This is a powered block plane and certainly packs a punch.
It will plane up to 2mm in a pass with its 56mm wide blade
and has a rebating function. It’s well balanced to use and
worked like I would expect any electric plane to work. Power
is plentiful and at full depth you can push it hard through the
wood. However, its not designed for that sort of work.

I liked it for cleaning up faces of strips and applying a clean
chamfer on an edge. You can walk up to a board and check the
grain, fit a door to an opening or clean up some small boards.
It uses one reversible carbide cutter and has a tiny drawer in For this tool and the Mini Plane above you will need a
the base to store a spare included cutter. The switch has a charger at around $100 and ideally two batteries at around
thumb lever that has to be depressed before the trigger will $120 for a 4 amp version.
work. This is for safety but it’s a bit fiddly in use, however
I get the rationale. This is a great littler plane for site work. Review tools from Bosch Australia

14 Australian Wood Review