The Bosch 4100 10-inch Portable Table Saw has both a solid motor and table, and a fits well with Bosch's other high-quality tools. The motor is quiet for this class of tools, and should continue to work well and last long with the proper maintenance. The Bosch 4100 offers enhanced features to help make the saw more precise, safer, and more durable then the previous 4000 series Bosch Saw. The 15-amp, motor generates a up to four horsepower and 3,650 RPM for clean cutting. Bosch engineered into this saw numerous feature unique for the portable table saw category. The saw features a Smart Guard System, a durable sub-base with carry handles, a Rip Fence with auxiliary fence slots, and a t-slot miter gauge. Other features include a single-point bevel movement,and enhanced dust collection. The arbor lock system makes blade changes quick and easy. A finger-sized and shaped hole allows the removal of the throat-guard without having to us a screwdriver. A plastic insert between the blade and front of the table acts as a pre-cut kerf indicator, and allow you to mark and locate where the blade enters your workpiece. The marks allow aligning the cut accurately without moving the workpiece near the moving blade. On-board storage for accessories and the Smart Guard System makes it easier to move between jobs.

The tabletop is 29" x 21 1/2" with a 25" rip capacity that can handle sheet goods and large stock. The aluminum table is completely flat and makes sliding wood easy and will slide effortlessly by applying a little wax. This saw includes a standard precision machined aluminum rip fence slides along the rail and will lock into place for solid cutting performance. Again adding a little wax will make it slide effortlessly.

The Smart Guard System is a improve design that includes a blade guard, true riving knife, and anti-kickback pawls. All the elements are modular and tool-less, allowing for a quick removal, and allows components to be added and removed independently. The barrier guard is a narrow aluminum bar that projects over the blade and is split, with a clear line-of-site to both the blade, workpiece, and measurement marks. Both the guard and the anti-kickback pawl can be stored on-board beneath the saw. The riving knife prevent material from pinching the blade, reducing the experience of kickback and is an excellent addition for a portable table saw. Extended to it's full height, the riving knife accepts a snap-on anti-kickback pawl and clamp-on guard. With two independent arms the guard moves out of the way for cross cutting or ripping, and can be elevated separately and supported by a positive stop so the guard won't interfere with moving the rip fence right up by the blade.

The riving knife allows for full upright, splitting, rabbets and other non-thru cuts. For non-thru cuts the guard and pawl can be removed and the riving knife lower to its secondary position setting, just below the height of the blade. For dadoes the riving knife can be lowered further to a third position, beneath the table saw. The riving knife slides out of the way and locks below the table. smart, easy to use and efficient.

Blade height is controlled by a standard elevation wheel on the cabinet front. Blade angle adjustments can also be made by using a switch located behind the wheel, the tilt angle is shown on the blade bevel scale also located behind the wheel, it can be set between 0 and 45-degrees, and secured by the blade bevel locking handle.

Accessories

The Bosch 4100-09 comes with a standard quality carbide tipped forty tooth blade. The blade produces good cuts with softwoods like pine or plywood, harder woods will cut, though not smooth. The stock blade is a good secondary blade or light cutting, but will need to be replaced for any high quality cutting. The replacement blade must have a kerf width of .092" or more and plate thickness of .088" or less.

The miter guide has a single wheel that locks the lead bar in the track. It's easy to pull out after making a cut and is ready to move on to the next cut. A lock lever frees the blade for mitering flat stock. The gauge has some side to side play and fits loosely in the slot. If you use the miter gauge for anything requiring accuracy, you're going to need to replace it.

The saw was designed to accommodate all the accessories. The rip & miter guides, guard, and kick-back pawl, each have their own respective hangars. And there is a well on the side to carry additional blades. A knob holds the push stick on the back and hooks on the back for spooling the power cord.

Dust collection is strong owing to the shroud design, connected to a shop-vac or dust collector system does an excellent job of making this a effective system that will keep the work area remarkably dust free.

Operation

The soft-start and constant-response system has the power and delivers more torque when needed to regulate the power output to match the workload, allow a smooth ramp up speed and keep cuts smooth and precise. The Bosch 4100-09 can handle rips and cross cuts with ease and a strong level of accuracy, consistently with a high level of craftsmanship in workpiece production. Feed rates are slower than a full sized machine but not do a degree to become unmanageable. The saw has plenty of power to run a full dado stack and can cuts dado up to 13/16”. The table saw lacks the sheer power and capacity of the full-scale machines but in most cases those deficiencies are manageable and have no impact on most woodwork projects. The motor allows for smooth operation, with little vibration , and is quiet enough to allow it to run between quick operations.Digital Measuring Display

The Bosch 4100DG-09 also come with the Bosch DC010 digital display. The display is a high-visibility LCD display for accurate and quick measuring cuts. After installation and calibration the display is magnetically attached to the saw's rip fence, so that the two work in unison. Designed to maximize accurateness, in its measurements are true to 1/32 Inch.

The assembly instruction are simple and clear and is easy to set up initially and use. It can be connected to or disconnected from the rip fence using built-in magnets rather than tools. The digital display allows faster setup for repetitive cutting tasks, it is also repeats very precisely. The readout is large enough to see easily and bright enough for work outside. The display is easy to reset to zero and then to set rip dimension. It works well and allows a reading for a wide rip with the sliding table and gives accurate readings.

Unfortunately, it seems to need frequent calibration, and will turns itself off during extended use. Hitting the on/off button will cause it to go back to the set reading. Because of this I find that the optical scale often works easier.