As initially showcased to your trade customers in our sister publication PHPI, professional plumber Becky Bates offers a qualified user’s verdict on the latest Bosch Professional X-Lock Angle Grinder.
I’ve been looking forward to testing this Bosch X-Lock Angle Grinder for quite a while. It is, in fact, replacing my old Bosch grinder which has lasted about eight years (possibly more) so I had high hopes from the start.
Once I got my hands on it, my first thoughts were that it’s a little weighty in comparison to my old grinder, but I put this down to the build quality. The power cable and plug, which can often be easily damaged, are particularly robust and I get the impression these will last well.
Being a new product with the unique quick-change chuck, this was a new experience for me. Fortunately, the X-Lock feature is brilliant! It didn’t feel at all fragile and was so easy to use, and made changing between disks a doddle — there’s no silly spanner to lose!
All you need to do to remove a disc is flick a lever on the grinder, which is easy even when wearing gloves, and the tool does the rest. Putting one on was just as easy — you just have to press the accessory down until you hear a click.
Because it’s such a new system, I was a little limited to where I could purchase the disks, as I needed a diamond cutting disk for tiles, but I was able to get hold of them in the end. I’m sure they’ll be easier to find in the merchants once the tool has been out a little longer, though (I was testing it in July, and it only was only released in May).
With the quick-change X-Lock chuck being so quick and easy, I did wonder if the quality of the cutting disks would live up to previous standards. Having used them on three different jobs, I’m pleased to say I wasn’t disappointed:
- Job 1: I used the diamond cutting disk to chase into a brick wall for shower pipe work and it glided through that.
- Job 2: A metal cutting disk was used to cut off some old steel brackets — no problem.
- Job 3: I used the tile diamond cutting disk. Performed brilliantly and left a nice clean cut.
I’m told you can also purchase carbide multi-wheels for cutting wood, plastics and other drywall materials.
The other great feature is the quick and easy way to rotate the guard. It has a quick release lever which enables you to rotate the guard in seconds to whatever position you need, which saves having to have a separate tool to undo the lock nut.
Where I created a lot of dust, the button did stiffen up after a while. The guard also got a little hard to rotate after a while, but a little clean and it was right as rain!
Becky’s verdict
Another solid bit of kit from Bosch and I would highly recommend this product.
There are six X-Lock angle grinders and numerous accessories currently available from Bosch Professional.
To view the full range, go to https://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/x-lock/
