Skil 5301 vs Bosch GKS 7000

Cutting small pieces with circular saw is always challenging. What I always wanted was to buy a table saw but as all the table saws available in market are very expensive  I decided to make my own table saw. As I already own a Skil saw I thought of converting it into a table saw as it has enough power 1300W and a decent blade size of 184mm but I wanted a spare circular saw as cutting full sheets of plywood on table saw will be difficult in my small apartment so I bought Bosch GSK 7000.
I could have bought another Skil 5301 as its a good saw but I wanted some variety in tool collection.
Bought Bosch GKS online for 5600Rs from amazon.in and was very happy with the deal till I saw it selling for 4900Rs in another store. Had bought the Skil saw one year back for around 3600Rs from SJP Road Bangalore.
Before starting with the table saw project wanted to do a side by side comparison with both the table saws.

Specifications

Power	1100W	1300W
RPM	5200rpm	5500rpm
Max Cutting Depth 90°	68mm (65mm with 184mm Blade)	64mm
Max Cutting Depth 45°	50mm (47mm with 184mm Blade)	48mm
Blade Size	184-190 mm	184 mm (Clearance to  take 190mm)
Cord Length	2 Meter	2.37 Meter
Weight	3.8 Kg	4.4 Kg

Clearly from the specification you can see Skil is more powerful saw but at the same time it is more heavy. On box and on the Bosch site its mentioned that GKS 7000 is 3.6Kg but on weighing the saw I found its 3.8 Kg. The reason I chose the Bosch GKS 7000 over the GKS 190 was the weight, I feel 1100W is more than enough for cutting the panels. Also its a bit quieter than the Skil saw.

Although the  Bosch is more expensive then Skil saw yet it does not come with all the accessories as you can see from the above image the Skil has an additional handle so you can use both hands during the long cut. The handle for the Bosch has to be purchased separately, but I doubt whether its available locally or online. Similarly the Bosch can be connected to Dust Extractor but again the adapter is not included. There is a same model which is sold abroad which contains all the accessories but in India its not available. 

Screw Hole to Attach the Handle

Bosch GKS 7000 Base Plate

Skil 5301 Base Plate

Base plate of Bosch GKS 7000 is wider than the Skil 5301 14cm vs 15cm. Base plate of both the saws is made from stamped sheet of metal,  Bosch base plate is thicker then the Skil but both the bases are sturdy. The guard on the Bosch is made from plastic and flees flimsy on Skil its made of metal and it feels very sturdy. On keeping the Saw down part of the weight of saw is borne by the saw guard and having a metal guard gives the confidence that the saw can take some rough handling.                                 

Skil 5301

Bosch GKS 7000

Bosch Connector (Left) Skil saw Connector (Right) Connector on Bosch is not good as it fits loose in the socket

Pin can be used to tune the saw if it is not setting 0 degree properly.

Blade Comparison

The stock saw blades in both the saws are similar in every aspect and can also be interchanged between the saw. I never used my original Skil saw blade, from day 1 have been using Bosch expert wood blade in the Skil saw, It's a 60 teeth blade and gives a fine cut when compared to stock blade also the blade is thicker than the stock blade reducing vibration and bending of blade during the cut.
The Bosch expert blade has a 25.4mm bore while both Skil saw and Bosch saw accept 20mm bore blades. Bosch Expert Blade comes with 4 reducer washers so you can fit them in almost all saws. Bosch Expert Wood blade costed around 700Rs but its worth the investment.

Name	Image	Size	Teeth	Blade Thickness	Teeth Thickness
Skill 5301 Stock Blade		184mm 7 1/4"	40	1mm	1.6mm
Bosch GKS 7000 Stock Blade		184mm 7 1/4"	40	1mm	1.6mm
Bosch Expert Wood blade		184mm 7 1/4"	60	1.4mm	2mm

Bosch Expert Wood Blade

Conclusion

Both the saws in my opinion are very good and you will not go wrong by buying any of them. But when you take the value into consideration then nothing beats the Skil 5301. You get more power and similar build quality with more features in the Skil 5301. Also Skil were the first to make the worm drive circular saw that's the reason circular saw is also called Skil saw.
Having said above you will end up owing a Bosch any way, as Skil is a part of Robert Bosch group but they are still maintain the SKIL tradename as it has a great brand value.
I will be starting on my table saw soon will keep you guys posted.

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