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I’ve used a Makita, Black&Decker,Craftsman,DeWalt,Milwaukee, and Porter Cable. I perfered the Milwaukee by far over the others……it seemed to be much smoother esp for varible speed cutting….I also had a Porter Cable Tiger Cub or something that was a piece of junk for more than anything but extra light duty stuff….the gears kept stripping out. They may not even be making it any longer. I would also suspect the Bosch and the Hitachi to both be very good…most of their other tools are.
Dave
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Milwaukee has the shortest stroke (3/4") of all. Which makes it better for cutting in tight places. The quicklock cord is also nice.
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Only the cheapest one. The others are longer (1 1/4"?) which makes for MUCH faster stock removal, less clogging/burning in thicker material, and longer blade life. True, it does make it more likely the blade will pop out of the material.
The nicest thing about the Milwaukee is that it is so smooooth. The PC with orbital action is much more of a brute, good for demo. Someone said they use a jackhammer to settle themselves down after using the PC a while? :-)
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I'm interested in getting a sawzall whats the best for the $100-130 range
*The DeWalt. But spend the extra money ($50?) for a Sawzall or PC Tiger. I ended up buying two saws, though I did manage to sell the first -- now that's expensive.
*I beat the heck out of a Makita 6.0 amp recip saw for about 5 years. It was a very good little saw. When I finally burned it up, I got a Dewalt 10 amp. You can buy one and try it for 30 days. If you don't like it, you can take it back for a refund, no questions asked. During the 30 trial period, I used a Porter Cable Tiger saw. Nothing fancy (no quick blade change or anything extra) just a hard working, 9.6 amp recip saw. I loved it. I took the Dewalt back, and bought a Porter Cable Tiger saw. I paid $89.00 for it by negotiating and shopping around. I found the saw at Lowe's for $99.00, but it had no case. I saw it at Home Depot for $129.00 with a case. The numbers were the same, so I made Home Depot sell it to me for Lowe's price, and an extra 10% off. You may not fare so lucky, but it is still under the $130.00 range.Whatever saw you choose, look for a saw with at least 9.0 amps. The more amps, the more power, and the longer the motor will last. A 6.0 amp saw is fine for homeowners who don't cut much. If you use it much, you will be glad you bought the higher amp saw.James DuHamel
*In my opinion, the Bosch beats the pants off any recip saw out there. I've had one for a year and a half and I have cut down whole houses with it, cut 9" I - beams with it, and everything else that stood still long enough. I have used a Porter-Cable and a Dewalt and the Bosch kills them both.I realize that it is not in the $100-130 range but it is well worth the extra $50.
*greg29,My vote is for the Milwaukee. They just seem to hold up for years and years worth of remodeling use and abuse. The HD here has them for $129.00 with case.Ed. Williams
*Pricing -- I was thinking of the super sawzall with the quick-change chuck -- a nice feature (I lose hex wrenches instantly) but be careful: if you jam the blade a lot in demo you'll shatter it (I did, they replaced it for free).Greg, I can see where this going -- you'll get a recommendation for almost every brand and have to make up your own mind anyway.
*I've used a Makita, Black&Decker,Craftsman,DeWalt,Milwaukee, and Porter Cable. I perfered the Milwaukee by far over the others......it seemed to be much smoother esp for varible speed cutting....I also had a Porter Cable Tiger Cub or something that was a piece of junk for more than anything but extra light duty stuff....the gears kept stripping out. They may not even be making it any longer. I would also suspect the Bosch and the Hitachi to both be very good...most of their other tools are.Dave
*I used a Milwaukee for 9 years of hard, plentiful, dusty use, also lending it to new crew members, dropping it, etc. etc. etc. I had to replace the trigger once. There are good Milwaukee people at every tool store and the parts are usually in stock and cheap.I don't think I'd buy anything but a Milwaukee.BTW--I don't own anything else by them, but I really don't think you can beat their sawzalls.