I have the D handle 1590 EVS. At the time when I bought it, it was the best jigsaw ever made, with the most respected reputation in real life, as well as the highest scores in magazine and online reviews at the time. Little did I know back then that it would STILL be the best jigsaw ever to have been made, even today.
In Roy Berendsohn's comparison review published in Popular Mechanics in April 2010, the six "biggest and toughest jigsaws we could find" were gathered and pitted against each other... cutting both wood and steel.. in a face off test, with all saws using a fresh copy of the same brand (Lennox) blades.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/a5531/jigsaw-comparison-test/
The testing at Popular Mechanics resulted in a "clear winner and some close contenders." The clear winner was the Bosch 1590EVS. As an example, even though the Festool PSB 300 EQ claimed a spec of 2900 strokes per minute, while the Bosch topped out at 2800 spm, the Bosch was able to crosscut through 4" of 3/16" thick steel in 25.4 seconds, while it took the faster stroking Festool almost twice as long, at 42.3 seconds, to make the same length cut in the same thickness and type of material.
So tool effectiveness isn't just about how fast the stroke is.
The 1590 and 1591 were made in Switzerland, and these jigsaws operate with the precision and reliability of a Swiss watch. The D handle version of this jigsaw (the 1590) is also made like a Swiss Army knife, with a comprehensive feature set on board that has no rival... including
- an adjustable dust blower for keeping the cut line clear (no vacuum needed)
- an available vacuum port chute that installs and removes quickly without tools
- an available clear plastic shield to increase the effectiveness of the vacuum chute
- four settings of orbital blade cutting action
- six settings for speed, on an easy to read dial positioned away from accidental changes
- full travel variable speed trigger that provides finger sensitive variation up to the limit of each speed setting. Speed dial setting 1 is variable from 0-500 spm, Speed dial setting 2 is variable from 0-800 spm, and so on, until Speed dial setting 6, which is variable from 0 to 2800 spm. So for each speed dial setting, there is still soft start, and still infinite trigger actuation variability, within each of the six settings of final stroke speed at the end of trigger travel.
- stroke per minute range of 500 to 2800 spm
- trigger lock on button on both left and right side of handle for ambidextrous operation
- a one button quick ejection of the T mount blade (hot blades can be released and dropped out of tool without burning fingers from touching blade)
- tool free blade insertion and lock,
- dual directional 45 degree bevel capability left and right with positive lock detents,
- tool free quick release base plate bevel activation and retention
- base plate back shift mode for to clear obstructions in close quarters
- a replaceable, snap in, snap out, two position (narrow and wide blade) anti splintering zero clearance insert
- a replaceable, snap on, snap off anti surface marring protective base/sole plate cover
- an effective internal counterbalancing anti vibration mechanism
- all cast metal case housing for mechanisms, nose, and base plate bevel assembly
- overmolded comfort grip handle
- "Precision Control" blade guidance that not only includes a grooved back bearing, but also includes two metal fingers positioned at each side of the blade that reach down immediately above the cutting plane to help prevent lateral deflection of the blade
- a 6.4 amp (120v) motor, among the most powerful motors available in a jigsaw
- soft start motor to reduce reactionary full amp starts that unnecessarily wear out internal parts
- fully automatic constant response load and current sensing circuitry that monitors the motor and appropriates power as needed to maintain the selected blade speed for the load applied. In my usage, the blade has never bogged down or stopped. It just works.
Switzerland is home to Scintilla, AG, the company that introduced the modern day shape and form factor of the jigsaw to the world 75 years ago. While it has been disproven that Scintilla's Listo jigsaw of 1944 was the very first jigsaw invented (patents from the 1930's demonstrate that the idea existed prior to Swiss toolmaker Albert Kaufmann attaching a section of scroll saw blade to his wife's sewing machine), there is little doubt that Scintilla, later acquired by Bosch, established the market for the production of jigsaws, making them portable and palatable in commercial and common use. The Swiss also set and continually raised the bar on how jigsaws should be made, and the Bosch 1590EVS and 1591EVS is likely the highest that bar ever got.
Today, the overwhelming majority of Bosch tools sold in the USA market, including Bosch's two most popular and common jigsaws, are all made in China. This includes "The Saw Guy's" top choice in jig saws for 2019... the Bosch JS470E 120V 7amp top handle model. While barrel grips were not compared, the corresponding barrel grip version of this Bosch jigsaw is the JS470EB. Both models are Made in China. Still, Bosch lands at the top of the heap of the six jigsaws that TheSawGuy compared this year.
A more affordable Bosch jigsaw model, the JS260, is also Made in China. At about half the price of the JS470E family, the JS260 lacks a lot of the key features that make the nicer Bosch jigsaws such a joy to use. For example, the JS260 requires an allen wrench to do stuff to it. Once you've experienced a one button blade drop and a toolless blade swap, using an allen wrench seems is like having to get out of the car and walk up to the radiator to crank start the engine. In the pouring rain. While sloshing though two feet of snow. Facing down hill. I'll take a used 1590/91 thank you.
Bosch's current top of the line near equivalent to the Swiss made 1590/91 series is their latest JS572EK top handle and JS572EBK barrel grip jigsaws, both models last known to made in Hungary (unless production of these two models has shifted to China recently). Every Bosch tool and accessory that I've purchased in the last 3 years has been made in China, which is quite different from twenty years ago.
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