Bosch PSB 400-2 Hammer Drill

The following article is not quite a review of the Bosch PSB 400-2 Hammer Drill but is intended to be an info page with some description, photographs and technical specifications as provided by the manufacturer.

The Bosch PSB 400-2 Hammer Drill is an old power tool, a really old one.

My dad bought this in the late 80s, and it has drilled into many brick- and concrete walls of a few houses over the years. My dad is no longer around – he died in 2002 – and although he never left this in his will to me, by virtue of my interests and hobbies, I believed I was the most suitable person in the family to assume next ownership.

He was very careful never to loan this tool out, as he knew no one would look after it as well as he would. And this is quite clearly seen in the photo at left – the hammer drill looks almost as good it is today as when he first bought it over 25 years ago. I carry the same credo today with my own set of power tools, to never loan them out, including this old-timer.

These days, the Bosch professional power tool series come in blue, and the home and garden series come in green, like this particular drill.

I cannot remember how much my dad paid for this, but I suspect it was somewhere around the RM400-plus region. It doesn’t come in the usual hard plastic case like you’d expect to see with the drill sets of today, but the included accessories in its cardboard retail box were quite comprehensive and includes an auxiliary handle for two-hand operation, a circular rubber pad to which some bundled cut-to-size circular sandpaper could be attached to for sanding jobs, and a red plastic drill bit diameter and depth gauge, which had proved to be quite handy throughout the years.

At over 20 years of age, the chuck is already due for replacement. I have purchased a new chuck from Bosch, but haven’t got around to replacing it yet. When I do, it will be shown here.

The Bosch PSB 400-2 is quite unlike the drills of today, where speed control is by means of a switch usually located at the top of the power tool. Here, speed is controlled by pressure on the trigger switch – a light depress on the first level runs the drill at 2,200 revolutions per minute (rpm), and a heavier depress on the second level runs it at 2,800 rpm.

In hammer drilling mode, these two levels sets the vibration at 32,000 beats per minute (bpm) and 41,600 bpm respectively. A separate slide switch at the top of the Bosch PSB 400-2 sets the drill between conventional drilling mode and hammer drilling mode.

SEE ALSO:

• Bosch GSB 500 RE Professional Hammer Drill
• Bosch GBH 2-20 DRE Professional Rotary Hammer
• Bosch GDR 10,8-LI Professional Cordless Impact Driver
• Bosch GDM 12-34 Marble Cutter
• Bosch GWS 8-100 CE Professional Variable Speed Angle Grinder
• Bosch GLM 80 Professional Laser Rangefinder