Ridgid - R32031 Fuego Circular Saw

Editor's Review: Tool Test: Sidewinder Circular Saws

Features:
Cutline markers: 90° Very Good, 45° Good
Blade visibility: Very Good, even when using both handles
Guard operation: Good
Brake: No
Adjustments: Very Good. Depth adjustment arm with stiff rolled edge and nice ratcheting plastic outboard lever. Bevel set with similar lever, numbers printed on plastic bevel quadrant set every 1°, 45° bypass is simple push button.
Shoe: Lightweight plastic composite. Nearly flat across width, nearly flat across length. The offset distance from the right edge of the shoe to the blade is a convenient measurement of 1 inch.
Stability: Fair, plastic shoe flexes a lot. Less stable design because body to shoe connection is at the blade guard rather than in line with the handles.
Grip comfort: Rear handle Very Good, trigger Good, but small ridge can pinch finger.
Extras: Sawdust blower chute, worked very well
Case: None

Flaws: A serious problem arose from pushing this saw hard during the power test. Even though I held back a lot when this saw struggled, it rapidly developed a persistent buzzing sound under load that I don’t remember hearing before the test. If the noise was a preexisting condition, that’s even worse. With its thin composite plastic shoe, this saw displayed a large amount of flex. And like the larger Ridgid, this model could minimize some of that flex with a body to shoe connection point located in line with the handle instead of the guard.

Bottom Line: Still a novel, yet very capable saw in a class by itself.  Despite being a great framing saw, I’m not convinced it’s a full replacement for a 15 amp 7-1/4-inch blade saw. I say this due to my suspicion that I mortally wounded this one with a challenge that left full-size saws basically unscathed.

Editor Test Results: