Bosch 4100XC-10 Portable Table Saw Review

A portable jobsite table saw is the perfect tool for you if you don’t have space to dedicate to a cabinet-style table saw. And the Bosch 4100XC-10 is one of the best on the market. It’s the successor to the popular Bosch 4100-10, upgrading the table size and rip capacity.

Overall, I highly recommend this tool for DIYers, hobbyists, or beginning woodworkers. Its only real shortcoming is a tendency to collect dust inside its cabinet. With proper dust collection, it’s a really good portable table saw.

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Features and Benefits

I’ll walk through the most important aspects of the Bosch 4100XC-10. If you’re new to table saws, you might want to check out our complete guide to buying a table saw for a more in-depth discussion of what to look for.

Motor and Power Supply

The 4100XC-10 has a 120-volt, 15-amp motor, so it can be used on a standard residential electrical circuit.

Like its predecessor, it spins at 3650 RPM, which is less than most competitors in this category. Don’t get too caught up in comparing RPM numbers, though. Manufacturers always measure these with no load on the motor, which never reflects real life situations.

The motor produces plenty of torque for any common home improvement or hobbyist needs. You should have no trouble cutting even hardwoods up to 2” or so thick. Just recognize that a portable saw will never perform quite like a cabinet saw. You may need to feed your workpiece a little slower to keep from overtaxing the motor.

The motor has a soft-start feature that quickly ramps the speed up to avoid unnecessary vibration on startup. This will also help avoid tripping circuit breakers, which can happen when sudden load is applied. And once running, the motor is relatively quiet for this class of machine.

The power switch is very large and can be turned off with your knee, which is an important safety feature in case your hands are busy. And if you lose power while the saw is running, the saw has restart protection that automatically turns itself off. That prevents a dangerous situation where the saw could unexpectedly resume spinning once power is restored.

Table and Fence

A larger table is one of the main differences between the Bosch 4100XC-10 and its predecessor, the 4100-10. Bosch has added an inch in both dimensions, for a total of 30” wide by 22 1/2” deep. That’s just over 8% larger in total surface area, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is noticeable when working with larger pieces.

The table itself has a thin coating on it that helps material like wet wood slide more smoothly across it. That’ll help you achieve more precise cuts than if you had to force it using more pressure. The 4100-10 did have a few reports of this coating wearing off over time, reducing its effectiveness. I’m not sure yet whether the 4100XC-10 will have the same problem, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

The other big difference from the 4100-10 is in rip capacity. It’s been improved to a full 30” with the rip fence to the right of the blade. That’s one of the largest rip capacities in this class of table saw. You’ll appreciate the extra 5” compared to the 4100-10 if you need to deal with especially large workpieces.

There’s no additional outfeed support at the back of the saw bundled in the box. But you can purchase add-ons that provide an additional 12” of support to the left and an additional 18” of outfeed support.

Stand

Bosch wisely kept the impressive folding stand from the 4100-10 mostly alone, with one major improvement. The “gravity-rise” stand lets you set up the saw without needing to lift it, unlike many competing models. You just lay the unit on its side, press a lever, and then walk forward. The ingenious design of the stand does the rest.

The one drawback to the original stand was its 8” inflatable tires. While they were great for going over uneven terrain, you did have to keep them inflated. If they started going flat, the table saw came out of level. With the 4100XC-10, Bosch has replaced the tires with solid ones that do not need inflating. This should be a nice boost in ease-of-use, since you don’t need to remember to check the tires before moving the saw.

If ease of portability is important to you, the stand alone may be enough to recommend the Bosch 4100XC-10.

Blades and Cutting

The 4100XC-10 includes a 10” 40-tooth blade. This is a general-purpose blade that’ll do a decent job both ripping and crosscutting. It’s nice to get a general-purpose blade rather than the 24-tooth blade many saws come with. Those blades are really only appropriate for ripping wood, meaning you’d need to shell out for another blade for crosscuts.

That said, the blade is pretty average. You can use it just fine for a wide variety of home improvement tasks. But if you’re serious about getting the best results possible, you’ll probably want to upgrade your blade.

Related: The 9 Best Table Saw Blades

The blade height and tilt can be adjusted via controls on the front panel. With the blade fully vertical, you have a maximum cut depth of 3 1/8”. That’ll let you easily cut through 2x4s and similar material, but not quite all the way through a 4x4.

As with most table saws, the blade can be tilted up to 45 degrees to make bevel cuts. At the maximum 45° bevel, the cut depth is 2 1/4”.

If you’ll be doing woodworking with this table saw, you’ll appreciate its support for dado stacks. With an optional insert, you can use dado stacks up to 13/16” wide.

Miter Gauge and Slots

This saw has two T-shaped miter slots, one on each side of the blade. The supplied miter gauge is of decent quality, but can be a bit sloppy in the slots. Additionally, you may need to recalibrate the head on occasion, as it does come out of alignment and may not give you truly accurate miter cuts.

The miter gauge itself can be stored on the saw body, and it snaps in securely so it should not come loose during transport.

As usual with this category of table saw, if you intend to use it for any sort of precise work, an upgraded miter gauge is a must. You can check out our roundup of some of the best aftermarket miter gauges.

Related: The Best Table Saw Miter Gauges

Dust Collection

A standard 2 1/2” dust collection port in the rear of the saw allows you to attach a shop vac. You will want to do this if you can, because the partially-open design of the blade compartment allows dust to fall out. There are nooks and crannies inside the body of the saw where dust will accumulate and, if you don’t blow it out after use, this can eventually damage the mechanism that raises and lowers the blade.

This is one of the few aspects of this saw that seems like it could use a redesign. I would not recommend using this saw if you do not have some sort of dust collection system, even just a shop vac.

Safety

The Bosch 4100XC provides three main safety features that you should consider must-haves:

• A riving knife behind the blade keeps wood from pinching the blade when it exits, preventing kickback. The knife is 0.091” thick, so may be just too tight for wood exiting a thin-kerf 0.092” blade. Consider using .098” or thicker blades to ensure wood does not get caught up on the knife.
• A blade guard made of aluminum and clear plastic that fits over the blade to prevent your fingers from getting too close, while allowing your workpiece to slide under.
• Anti-kickback pawls behind the blade that dig into wood if it is thrown forward, again reducing the danger from kickback.

These safety tools can be attached and detached quickly without any tools. So if you need to remove them to make specific kinds of cuts, it’s easy to put them back after.

And the restart protection I mentioned above should also be considered a key safety feature. It prevents unexpected saw restarts when power is restored after an outage.

Overall Pros/Cons

Alternatives to the Bosch 4100XC-10

If you want to compare the Bosch 4100XC against similar products, here are a few that are worth a look.

Metabo HPT C10RJS

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If you need even more rip capacity, you may want to look at this product from Metabo HPT. Its table is roughly the same size, at 28 3/4″ x 22”. But its 35” rip capacity is the largest in this category. And it features up to 10” of additional outfeed support at the rear of the table as an included accessory.

The design of the stand doesn’t get such high marks as the Bosch, but the trade-off might be worth it if you need the additional capacity.

Compare: Bosch 4100XC-10 vs. Metabo HPT C10RJS

Full review: Metabo HPT C10RJS Portable Jobsite Table Saw (Review)

DeWalt DWE7491RS

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This DeWalt 10″ jobsite table saw has a smaller table (26 3/8″ x 21 7/8″), but its maximum rip width of 32 1/2″ is in the same ballpark. It also features an additional dust-collection port attached to the top of the riving knife, in addition to a 2 1/2″ port in the rear of the blade assembly. This can provide some nice extra dust collection if you have the adapters for it, but if not, the upper port tends to blow sawdust several feet away.

As far as portability, the stand on this model is excellent. While it isn’t quite as effortless to use as the Bosch stand, you should have no problems moving it around.

Compare: Bosch 4100XC-10 vs. DeWalt DWE7491RS

Full review: DeWalt DWE7491RS Jobsite Table Saw Review

SawStop JSS-120A60

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SawStop is the only table saw manufacturer right now that offers blade brake technology. Using electrical conductivity to detect the presence of flesh, it can instantly stop a blade and leave you with only a minor nick.

The features on this saw are similar to the ones above, though its rip capacity is lower at 25 1/2”.

You’ll pay quite a premium for the blade brake technology, so it’s up to you to decide if the extra peace of mind is worth it.

Conclusion

The claim to fame for the Bosch 4100XC-10 is its industry-leading folding stand. It’s easy to raise and lower, and the solid tires fix one of the few complaints about its predecessor. If portability is a concern, this Bosch table saw should be at the top of your list.

That said, it’s not perfect. The tendency for dust to accumulate inside the body of the saw could be a hassle if you’re not able to keep it connected to a vacuum or dust collector all the time.

All in all, Bosch has won many fans for its line of table saws, and this is a quality product that delivers a lot of features for the price.

Specs