Bosch GAS 50 Professional Workshop Vac
Review and photos: Andrew Potocnik
To call this a workshop vacuum cleaner is an understatement, really it’s a vacuum on steroids, ready and able to keep any workshop clean and dust free, whether used to keep your benches and floor spotless, or attached to benchtop machinery to suck away sawdust or shavings as you work.
To test this product I treated it as if it was something I’d bought to use in my own workshop, so I didn’t hold back. With a motor rated at 1200 watts and a 50 litre capacity bin (according to specs on the box), it worked well beyond expectations.
The 35mm diameter hose couples with a variety of attachments that enable use as a household-type floor cleaner on a variety of surfaces and at three metres long, you’re afforded generous freedom to attach it to various machines without moving the vacuum itself.
The five metre long electrical lead is a welcome extra when moving the vac around the workshop. Fitted with lockable pivoting wheels the unit is easy to manoeuvre, or simply locate just where you need it. And at 16 kg, it’s easy enough to lift, even into a vehicle for transporting to another worksite.
Testing it further, I used it as a dust extractor fitted to a random orbital sander, then a tablesaw, where it again performed beyond expectations. Soon I found myself cleaning dust from all surfaces of machinery, and then around the workshop. The more I used the GAS 50, the more applications I found it could fulfill.
Apart from its excellent suction, it allows you to get into tight spots and remove dust that in my case has been building up for years. Dust, chainsaw shavings and coarse turning shavings were sucked away without a problem. My workshop has never been this clean...and may never be again!
Features that are now becoming standard on machines of this kind include remote auto switching, meaning you can plug power tools into the machine and it will spring into action as soon as you fire up the power tool – a real dust and timesaver. Then there’s a ‘shaker option’ which will clean the filter out and prolong its ability to provide maximum suction and filtration. The GAS 50 has a stated vacuum capacity of 248mbar, airflow of 61litres/sec and a filter surface of 8.600cm2.
At times I found myself cursing its power as I suspect there are a couple of lightweight items that are now missing from my bench and possibly inside the GAS, which in a way is a good problem. There could be nothing worse than a suction unit that underperforms and leaves residue behind.
With increasing awareness of health risks associated with inhalation of fine wood dust, this vacuum is not only an asset that helps keep your workshop tidy, but if combined with good dust extraction will help maintain a safe working environment.
All in all, it’s a small scale portable dust extractor perfect for attaching to power tools for day-to-day use, or cleaning up the workshop at the end of the day to reduce harmful dust build-up.
Review machine supplied by Bosch Australia