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I’ve heard the new Miliwakee’s are coming back to the point of purchase because the chuck is plastic and they are breaking. Anyone out there having the same problem. I’m shopping them out and it appears the Port Cable has the all metal components which should hold up.
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Mark,
My Milwaukee Sawzall was less than a month old when the plastic chuck grip came off the first time. Within nine months I had to have it replaced. My tool doctor told me I could take it across town to get a free replacement part or for $20 dollars he could repair then and there. It seem I wasn't the only Sawzall owner with that problem. He stocked up on the part. I like the tool. I'm not real happy spending $20 dollars more to make it worth the $180 I paid for it. Can you here me Milwaukee ?
*Mark, Two years ago went through the same thing. Only took about a month to break. Had the warranty repair guy change it to the tried and true allen screw. No problems. Matt
*Matt, One of the features I like about the Sawzall is the keyless chuck. The replacement part still allows the owner to retain it. To many lost allen wrenches and/or screws to want that again.
*I LOVE my porter cable. Twist the nut, drop the blade in, let the spring tension lock the nut back, start gnawing wood.
*Yep on the Milwakee. Took the first one back after a month. Exchanged it thinking anyone can have a bad one.They gave me a 75th speacial edition anniversery model. It's now doing it too.
*SOLUTION: I've posted this before; I busted 2 plastic chucks, both times by jamming a demo blade. They replaced the first for free, of course I didn't want a second go-round.Turns out Milwaukee modified the chuck so you can retrofit the METAL keyless chuck onto your Super Sawzall. The shop I use didn't care whether I installed it or they did, and sold me 2 of the chucks for about $7 each. I don't think I'll need the spare if anyone wants it. I'm very satisfied now, too bad Milwaukee isn't getting the word out or dumping the plastic chucks like they should. It's a nice saw otherwise.
*I haven't seen that problem, yet, with the Milwaukee. But that don't mean it's not in my future.Two of our guys have the Porter Cable quick change thing, and they complain that the blade is sloppy in the chuck.Ed. Williams
*Ed, they're right. But all of the keyless recip saw chucks work the same. My Bosch is tighter, but "tight"? No. The old allen key worked every time.For my finish work, I avoid recips... I have yet to cope a tight joint with one... tight blade or not.
*Another fine example of improving things to a fault.Ed. Williams
*Pc has improved their keyless chuck but I still can't get a year of service out of them. I'm looking for an new sawzall. Orbital is important too.Blue
*My Bosch is a beast but I like Milwaukie...and the Dewalt idea is cool if only they put good guts in those disposal grinders....they must balance their yellow plastic budget verses their bearing budget and the yellow wins!near the yellow scream,aj
*I've gotta give the Porter Cable Tiger saw the thumbs up...I work for a design build firm where we take down almost everything we build at least three times. We take out our recipro saws and cats paws first most mornings.The pc will eat wood faster than anything I have yet to see anyone pull out. We can get about 2 years out of one before the guts that make the recipro action work blow up. Never had a problem with the keyless blade holder, except that they sometimes jam up and require a pliers to open.
*Since I replaced the original plastic quick release with the metal one (broke the original about 4 months after I bought the saw), I've had no problems. This including some pretty heavy abuse at times. If Milwaukee had not changed the design, I would have been looking at some other companies.
*Slightly off topic: Speaking of plastic, the f*****g squirrels went after my Paslode Impulse, which I left on the roof under a tarp. They .. or rodents unknown ... tried to gnaw their way into the propane cylinder compartment. Little bits of orange plastic everywhere. Between this and an unfortunate fall from the roof, the poor gun needs several new pieces .. though it still works.So I have petroleum-eating squirrels. Shopping for a BB gun. Wonder if they go boom like the Hindenberg?
*My vote goes to PC hands down. I originally had the PC Tiger Saw with the quick-change chuck - man I beat on that saw and it took it like no other. That prized tool was stolen out of my shop. I replaced it with a Milwaukee Super Sawzall and the keyless blade chuck broke within a week. Back it went and I came home with a DeWalt - big mistake. Now that the yellow toy has long since blown up (within a few months) I'm back to the PC and loving it. I've never seen or used such an aggressive saw. Milwaukee's new Super Sawzall with the imporoved quick-change chuck and orbital action does look pretty sweet though, but I'll stick to the trusty grey beast. Just my opinion - Nick
*Dang, I was hoping someone would tell me that there is a better orbital than the pc. I am sick of buying them. So sick, I don't even have one onsite at the moment. And I'm not thinking of buying one soon.blue
*Mark,I have a Porter Cable Tiger Saw and the thing works great. I'd like it if the quik-change collar had a more positive lock instead of just a spring-loaded mechanism, but it works well, has a good feel, and eats everything with ease. My only other gripe is that the depth guide only pivots a tad and does not extend...that'd be nice if your concerned about cutting too deep into some cavities.
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I've heard the new Miliwakee's are coming back to the point of purchase because the chuck is plastic and they are breaking. Anyone out there having the same problem. I'm shopping them out and it appears the Port Cable has the all metal components which should hold up.