PRICE: $130 (bare tool), tested with a 3.0-Ah battery ($72) and a charger ($40)
WEIGHT: 7 lb. 10 oz.
MAX BEVEL: 50°
MAX DEPTH: 2-1/4 in.
RPM: 3400
LIGHT: Incandescent
10 CUTS THROUGH 2X12: 90 seconds
LINEAR FT. OF PLYWOOD: 75
FEATURES: The Hitachi is comfortable to hold and comes with a rip fence. Because it’s so light, it’s easy to use for extended periods of time.
FLAWS: I found a number of red flags in the durability department. The thin metal baseplate looks like it’s one small drop away from being bent, and the rail for the depth-of-cut adjustment sits behind the blade, fully exposed and begging to be damaged. While all of the other tools use a hex wrench for changing out the blade, the Hitachi uses a T-handle nut driver that’s too big for on-board storage. I like that the saw has a light, but it didn’t work very well.
BOTTOM LINE: This saw ranked last in the power test and next-to-last in the run-time test, and it suffers further from weak overall construction.
Comments are closed.