I just bought a Bosch PFZ 500 E reciprocating saw for cutting small
blocks of wood to go in my woodburner. It's ok, not as fast as a
circular saw but rather less noisy which is good as I will be using it
often and it will annoy the neighbours less.

The manual suggests only using replacement blades with an 'M' shank.
Are these 'M SHanks blades' some kind of generic fit for other
electric saws. I hope so because the replacement Bosch parts are much
more expensive than jig-saw blades; I thought they would be similarly
priced.

Also, for interest, is there some kind of quiet cutting tool that
could slice its way through a floor joist sized piece of wood? I am
thinking perhaps of a slow turning saw but with high torque, or maybe
rugged highly leveraged guillotine?

Tom wrote:

I just bought a Bosch PFZ 500 E reciprocating saw for cutting small
blocks of wood to go in my woodburner. It's ok, not as fast as a
circular saw but rather less noisy which is good as I will be using it
often and it will annoy the neighbours less.

For faster cutting you need an orbital or pendulum action, which looking
at the description I suspect that may not have. Using coarse "green
wood" blades (if available) however would also help.

The manual suggests only using replacement blades with an 'M' shank.
Are these 'M SHanks blades' some kind of generic fit for other
electric saws. I hope so because the replacement Bosch parts are much
more expensive than jig-saw blades; I thought they would be similarly
priced.

Here I think you may have a problem - it looks like Bosch have set out
to produce a clone of the astoundingly useless (but oddly quite well
selling) B&D scorpion saw! One of its many failing being its proprietary
non standard blades which greatly limit choice.

One of the big attraction of "standard" reciprocating saws is the range
of cheap blades available. Looking at the photos the blades pictured for
your Bosch they don't look exactly like normal blades (the shank has an
extra bit on it). However it would be worth buying a pack of cheap
ordinary blades to see if it will take them.

Toolstatation sell the silverline green wood ones, which are fine for
hacking firewood:

http://www.toolstation.com/search.html?searchstr=49641

On the plus side, Bosch do usually make good blades, so there are plenty
worse brands you could be stuck with.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Thanks John,

I am new to these reciprocating saws and the blades for this Bosch
PFZ500E model are a bit of a mystery. I have been searching Google for
some kind of cross-reference table, and anything that might suggest
alternative blades for this model, but other than a reference in its
instruction pamphlet to an 'SDS fastening system' I cannot find
anything that helps me identify compatible saw blades. The unit came
with a couple of blades, one of which is labeled "Top for Wood M1142H
HCS" and, as you say, it looks different from the ones at Toolstation
and the only places I could find selling it were charging £11 each.

I bought the Bosch saw it from Argos so I think I will return it and
get something with more reliably available blades. I note that
Toolstation sell the Green Wood blades for £2.49 for 5, that's a good
incentive if I can get a suitable driver. Can you recommend a good
model under £100 for cutting firewood logs quickly?

http://www.raidiy.com/imagesbosch/pfz500e.htm

Tom wrote:

I bought the Bosch saw it from Argos so I think I will return it and
get something with more reliably available blades. I note that
Toolstation sell the Green Wood blades for £2.49 for 5, that's a good

Yup I use those for tree pruning and hacking roots in the ground - they
seem to work quite nicely.

incentive if I can get a suitable driver. Can you recommend a good
model under £100 for cutting firewood logs quickly?

http://www.raidiy.com/imagesbosch/pfz500e.htm

I bought the Axminster "white" one, which to be fair is quite rugged and
has worked well. If I were buying again I think I would go for a better
one since it has turned out to be far more useful than I anticipated.
The Axminster one has enough power and is solidly made, however it has
no pendulum action, and the blade change requires an Allen key.

Looking at those available, there are some decent spec ones in that
price range, but I can't see any with orbital or pendulum action for the
price.

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/...ocating%20Saws

The entry level Makita fits the price, but will do rough cuts slower
than a pendulum one.

There is some general background he

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/recipsaw.htm


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/