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Doing a little survey of my own…..was wondering if anyone else (come on I know you have) has ever cut the cord off a circular saw while using it??? It has happened to me a few times and it always seems to be with a certain brand of saw (and I’ve used all the big brands) so my survey here is to find out if one brand is more apt to have its cord cut than others. (all my local carpenter friends have cut cords on the same brand as me and thats what leads me to think maybe I’m not so careless, maybe it’s the saw. So anyway your feedback on what saws you’ve actually used and what ones you’ve played cordcutter with would be greatly appreciated.If you don’t want to post your feedback here, feel free to email me directly and I’ll keep all feedback anonymous.
results so far:
I have cut 3 Makita cords and have used: portacable,dewalt,milwaukee,hitachi,makita & skil
My friends and coworkers have all used all the above brands and have a combined 7 Makita cuts and 1 milwaukee cut.
how bout you?
Replies
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makita 16" beam saw-first cut-took out the cord-after 15 years my buddy still gives me a hard time over that-
saws used:milwalkee wormdrive, skil 77, porter cable, black & decker wormdrive, makita wormdrive & beamsaw
*skil 77 first day as a framer, (gaaurd wired up and useless) Stupid careless kid cut the cord.Saws don't cut cords people cut cords.jim
*My helper cut the cord on my old milwaukee wormdrive the other day. First cut. Heavy-duty cord. I've cut the cord on a Makita and a skil sidewinder. Never cut cords on my Porter Cable or my Dewalt. Mike
*Jim you are so right. on the other hand...I think everyone does this if you run em long and often enough. My grand dad always ran the cord up over his right shoulder while he was cutting plywood, never dawned on me why, until I cut the cord on my new worm drive several years ago. Been running the cord over my shoulder whenever possible ever since, no cords as of yet, knock on wood. This little trick works well when ripping sheet goods or trimming sheething/ decking.For what it is worthWTN
*nicked an old rockwell about twenty years ago...never since..but then i'm slow....rockwells (315)...skill... porter cable.. milwaulkee.. and skill worm
*not only have I cut a cord (once) but I have discovered that a belt sander will suck one in and waste it very well.
*Cut the cord on my Milwaukee so much, I changed it more than the blade.....The PC had a chunk knocked out of it once.......so did the cord on my 4" Makita grinder.....and I even nailed an air hose to the roof once when I was nailing off sheathing....maybe I should be more careful???????
*My first dog chewed the cord off one. Does that count? He also chewed it off the belt sander, radial saw, vacuum, router, any extension cord. Stopped doing that when I started keeping them plugged in...Haven't cut a cord off yet but did beltsand one. Guy on last framing crew I worked with cut the boss's makita cord off, lots of laughs that day! He was a really good framer too, maybe there is something to that. After getting the Dewalt framer's saw, I wish I'd cut the cord off the old makita 10 years ago. What a difference.I ran over a fishing rod with my truck once, does that count? Where's that makita, I gotta get into this club somehow. Does intent matter?MD
*Geez I thought I was alone on this. Just a weekend warrior but I have had (shame) Black & Decker, (shame shame) Craftsmam, and (applause) Makita circular saws and managed to cut the Makita cord 3 times vs none for the others. Maybe it likes the attention. Of course I have used it much more than others which had disturbingly short lives. Who knew bearings are supposed to wear out before the blade, which is what happened with the Craftsman.
*I've got 2 other cut men on the crew besides me. I replace the stock cords on the 77's with 50'ers out of the box, keep a supply of spade terminals in the truck and replace the cord when they get to less than 30'(put a receptical end on what's left, and get a short extension cord) Long story short....it happens,sloppy..inattentive stupid..dangerous....but ....it happens.Keith C
*I've cut the cord one time. It was on a Craftsman. When that saw died I bought a DeWalt. I haven't cut the DeWalt's cord yet. But I would guess that 95% of the time, I think about the cut cord just before I start the cut. 100% of the time I also think about the time the Craftsman kicked back and put a hole in my blue jeans and just did draw blood. I'm not so stupid that I can't learn some lessons on the first try!Rich Beckman
*Cut the cord on a skil twice in one day. Taped it up used it for about a year and finally got down to replacing the cord. I should have waited for the commercial. I was replacing the cord on my couch when I took it apart the switch went into pieces. Didn't buy I new switch for a few months and finally fixed it. It all took about a year and a half.
*This is a logical impossibility.I. The saws need power to operate.II. If they cut the cord they won't have power.III. Therefore, if they cut the cord they won't have power to cut the cord.
*Duct tape, dude, duct tape.Logic has nothing to do with it. Why would any logical person cut his cord in the first place.It's magic.
*I haven't cut a cord for quite a long time. But air-nail a hose to the roof-I-did. Not sure which is worse....
*Cut the one on my P/C sidewinder twice. Could have been the wired up guard, but I doubt it. The skil 77 is still whole. Tend to think I handle it a bit more deliberate.
*Yeah, I did that once, too, while working as a tin bender (sheet metal worker is technical term). Borrowed a big Makita, finished the cut, sliced the cord immediately. The sawdust eaters were angry with me the rest of the day.My dad's little Porter-Cable looked like a war victim: for some reason, he loved to slice away at the cord. Usually just nicked the insulation, somehow, so it wound up with lots of electrical tape on it. I'd still love to inherit it from him.
*I always thougt that the old style PC's were the cat ass because the cord came out of the top-side of the handle away from the blade. This makes alot of sense to me, makes it very hard to cut the cord. Maybe it was on of those ideas that was too good. You cant sell replacement cords if you make it to hard to cut them!!! Mr. T. (milwaukee sidewinder user) p.s. Anyone out there have a preference towards worm drives or sidewinders???!!!Just kidding!!!!
*Never cut a cord but did one in by dragging a sheet of the old 3/4" particle board underlayment over the cord. used one milwaukee and burned up 5 77's in twenty plus years Usually because we had to run on long cords or gensets in the winter, the last one has lasted nearly seven years, around here the sign of a carpenter you want to hire is if he has a 77
*Peter, What gauge cords do you use when pulling off a temp pole? I have used 10 ga. for the long runs with a shorter (50' or so) 12 ga. to run saws, and have not had a problem.Jon
*We have used 10 and 12 ga but the problems we have run into have usually been from either way-long runs, 200 yards or more, or from using Gensets that did not have the guts to do it. For a while we did a lot of cabin and rural work and that was nice work but it took us a while to figure out that the power issue was more expensive than we knew. We finally bought a German made AC/DC diesel 10Kw generator and that solved it. It was a Deutz brand genset. It would run all day on a gallon of fuel or so and was meant to be used in like a motor home or a tour bus It was very, very quiet, both Perkins and Mercedes Benz make good ones too
*"I haven't cut a cord for quite a long time. But air-nail a hose to the roof-I-did. Not sure which is worse.... "Well if you cut your power off you can always use a hand saw but lose your air hose and try blowing air into the gun.......ha haI cut my Milwaukee drop foot about three times but then I used it regular for about twelve years. Never cut my old PC. Borrowed a new PC lefty and cut it right away - same day - because I have a habit of giving a little flip to shake the cord out of the way of the Milwaukee but that same flip worked the cord right into the blade of the left hander. I replaced the cord of course before returning it. I had a Millers Falls drop foot for a long time too but it was so long ago that I can't remember if I cut it. I never owned a Makita though I've used a few on jobs working for others.All of this doesn't count all the nicks - just the good work stopping cuts.I'm cuious whether drop foot saws vs swivle foot vs worms make a diff in this.
*Sounds like you should feed your dog once in a while
*PC, one time. Fixed it with two wirenuts, it looks real sharp that way!! I didn't even trip the breaker, but it made a nice big spark. They should sell blades that don't conduct electricity so you don't shortcircuit.
*I have nicked the cord on my black and decker twice over the last 20 years and just last week severed it. It happens after my finger is off the trigger while im setting the saw down. I've used makita worm drive ( horrible thing) skill 77, porter cable, milwakee. eric in washington
*I thought you were supposed to go thru the cord just as you complete the cut. How else do you shut off the saw?Does anyone make a saw with an electric brake? I thought that PC makes/made one. Any worm-drives with a brake? Small saws? Aside from switch complexity and cost, what is the down-side of this? --jim x 3
*Jim Jim Jim, whew, PC still offers a brake version of both their left and right blade saw. I think the part number ends with a "K".As for me I haven't cut a cord yet. I run a PC righty. Knock on wood.
*seen someone back the bobcat over his brandy-new sawzall, the thing got all churned up in the tracks.
*I left the cord on my Craftsman hang out the van door and drove over it and pulled it off. I taped it together and used it for 10 years after that.
*Does this count? When I was 16 years old I cut an extension cord with a hedge trimmer, also cut my elbow requiring two stitches to close the worst of the wound. Haven't had any trouble with cutting any power tool cords since, altho' I have repaired quite a few. Now dropping or letting a power saw fall for example is another story. How about a cell phone (still connected to a girl I no longer see) from atop a house roof into wet cement. I'm outta here.......
*My guys cut My PC right hander once, Makita (two saws, four cuts). Own one 77, one Milwaukee and four DeWalts with electric breaks for the guys. The electric breaks eliminated a good deal of the cord cuts. You can bet that the guy on your crew who can't cut a smooth jack rafter to save his life is the same guy who can make a perfect compound miter through your brand new personal saw that wasn't even supposed to leave your truck. It seems to usually happen when he is mistaking your staging planks for 2x10. Funny huh?Personally I usually tend to lean towards completely demolishing tools when I have accidents. My lull works great for this. You can set lifts of plywood down on saws. Leave saws in that handy nook behind the cage and crush them on the way down, or simply back over the kid cutting your staging plank holding your brand new Milwaukee with the cut cord.
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Doing a little survey of my own.....was wondering if anyone else (come on I know you have) has ever cut the cord off a circular saw while using it??? It has happened to me a few times and it always seems to be with a certain brand of saw (and I've used all the big brands) so my survey here is to find out if one brand is more apt to have its cord cut than others. (all my local carpenter friends have cut cords on the same brand as me and thats what leads me to think maybe I'm not so careless, maybe it's the saw. So anyway your feedback on what saws you've actually used and what ones you've played cordcutter with would be greatly appreciated.If you don't want to post your feedback here, feel free to email me directly and I'll keep all feedback anonymous.
results so far:
I have cut 3 Makita cords and have used: portacable,dewalt,milwaukee,hitachi,makita & skil
My friends and coworkers have all used all the above brands and have a combined 7 Makita cuts and 1 milwaukee cut.
how bout you?