75 years of Bosch power tools

In 1928 company founder Robert Bosch began with the production of the first Forfex electric hair clipper, which was designed with the motor built into the handle. From these beginnings the company developed into the market leader for power tools, with sales totalling 2.7 bn euro in 2002.
Today Bosch offers a portfolio of products for professionals and DIYers that ranges from impact drills to portable circular saws. According to the company, included in the range are such important Bosch inventions as the jigsaw, the SDS chuck and the Wallscanner, the detection device first launched in 2002. The current catalogue includes more than 8000 different accessories. The Forfex was a big improvement on the conventional hair clippers of the time, with their suspended motors and flexible drive shafts. The new clipper was invented by Ernst Eisemann, the founder of the company of the same name that had been taken over by Bosch some years previously. Within a short period of time Bosch succeeded in developing the concept into a fully marketable product.
Making work easier still today remains one of Bosch’s major goals. Whereas the previously external motor was then located within the machine, nowadays the source of energy itself has become integrated into the tool in the latest products. Today Bosch offers cordless systems that function independently of the mains supply. Its programme includes 9.6V or 12V battery packs that can be used to drive lightweight, versatile screwdrivers or impact drill/drivers, and more powerful 14.4V or 24V battery packs to drive planers, angle-grinders, circular saws, jigsaws or sabre saws. The 24V battery pack even offers sufficient power to drive Bosch rotary or demolition hammers and circular saws for precise rip, cross and mitre cuts in all types of wood.
Today Bosch offers its portfolio of products under a variety of names, just as the Forfex was marketed under the Eisemann trade name all those years ago. The brands distributed in Europe are Skil and Dremel, in addition to Bosch, and the Bosch subsidiary Hawera has a good reputation for accessories for working with stone.