Tuesday Tool Talk: RotoZip Accessories

A very special package arrived on my birthday last month. I’m slowly starting to use pieces of it. When Bosch saw how much I loved my RotoZip, they sent me some accessories to try. (Full disclosure: I received these products unsolicited and free of charge.)

Around Thanksgiving last year, I bought the RotoZip with its ZipMate wheel specifically to do the porch and walkway project. For the porch cuts, I used the mortar wheels that come in a two-pack for $5-$6. They work, and work well. But once you try the Dry Diamond Wheel blade (roughly $20 retail) there’s no going back. One of those was among the booty inside this special package from Bosch.

The diamond blade is specifically designed to cut floor tile, concrete, stone, and ceramics. And this accessory alone has proven to be an incredible addition to my arsenal on the porch/walkway construction front. They make pretty quick work of those bricks. This blade also makes it much easier to navigate a cut with a curved end. (If you've been following the walkway progress, you know I'm making a BUNCH of those kinds of cuts.)

They also sent along a tile-cutting wheel and an X-wheel, both of which offer up a bunch of new possibilities to me. (I actually looked at clearance tile – and even some not clearance tile – for our bathroom. Having something to cut it with was always the chief drawback since it is such a tiny room and would be a pretty limited expense otherwise.)

The X-shield makes it possible to do a flush cut at a 90-degree angle. It came with a wood-cutting wheel. (I haven’t tried that yet. I’m wondering where that baby was when I put my floor in last year! It’s the ideal thing for cutting baseboard when you’re installing laminate, wood or tile flooring.)

And until this pack arrived, I hadn’t used any X-bits. That changed last week. When Lawrence roughed out the location for the new outlet in the hallway, I ran out and grabbed my RotoZip, pulled off the ZipMate (which enables the cutting wheels) and jammed in a multi-purpose bit. Snap! The hole was cut for the outlet.

I knew this tool came with a soft-sider bag with good reason. There are all kind of accessories you can get for it! I’ve already invested in a spare diamond wheel (just in case) as the ZipMate attachment has been the thing I’ve used most thus far. And I’ve still got a third of the walkway to finish.

There are all kinds of variations of the RotoZip to be had. I’ve even seen one just like mine (only a refurbished one) online for about $60. If you do a lot of cutting or are planning to, this is an affordable, versatile, and lightweight tool you can’t do without.