Recommend or unrecommend a circular saw
My Black & Decker Sawcat has finally succumbed to old age. I guess it’s time to buy another. Anyone care to offer positive or negative comments. Thanks
My Black & Decker Sawcat has finally succumbed to old age. I guess it’s time to buy another. Anyone care to offer positive or negative comments. Thanks
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Replies
I'm pretty happy with my new (relatvely speaking) PC (conventional drive). Don't know the model or anything, though.
One thing to look for in a low-end unit is a stiff, flat baseplate. Many cheap units have a flimsey thin stamped steel baseplate that isn't flat and that flexes too easily, making it difficult to make straight, square cuts. If they beef up the baseplate then they've probably put some muscle in other areas too.
I like worm drives and SKIL makes the best , I have one for over twenty years now . Not a bad return for about $150. However I do like the Porter Cable Sawboss. Light with plenty of zing, easy on the wallet to at around $130 .
Skil Mag 77 or Bosch equivalent. A second saw, right blade but lighter for trim and overhead work. Mak makes a nice light-weight sidewinder and PC has a 6" that I'd love to try.
yo
i had the pc 6" for years. when it died i got the new pc 7 1/4 as it was lighter than other saws in its class. love it. mine has the blade on the left, they make it with the blade on the right also. + it costs less than the 6" boss. theres a lot to choose from -good luck. paul
PC 7 1/4". aluminum fence, not crappy. Plenty of power and well designed.
remodeler
The closest thing to the old sawboss is the Dewalt sidewinder, but the visibility is much less than on the sawboss. The base also likes to warp.
The Bosch worm drive seems like the best saw out there. All the advantages of the Skill 77, plus a sturdier base and a rafter hook.
The PC sidewinder isn't a bad saw at all, great base, but feels tinny for finer work.
My 2 cents.
I purchased a porter cable sidewinder and love the way it cuts, the balance and how smoooooth it is..
I'm with mike maines. The Bosch worm drive is great. I also like the De Walt for the lighter stuff.
have two pc s one left blade and one right blade, love them both
plenty of power, nice stiff base, easy to adjust
ive mitered prefinished panels for kitchen cabinets with them for island backpanelscaulking is not a piece of trim
I've tried several, but always liked the Makita sidewinder the best. Great balance and best blade visibility thru the 'housing window'.
If you work a saw then you have no choice but to buy the Mag 77 by Skil. More Normal usage and I can highly recommend the Mikita. It's light and has a great deal of power so far mine seems fairly indistructable.
I tend to judge saws by a couple of things and the ability to cut a straight line is highly prized.. Some saws seem to kick up a bunch of sawdust and others make it hard for you to site the cut line.. Mikita doesn't do either.
I bought mine after doing an informal suvey of which saw seemed to be well loved by professional framers.. They are the hardest on saws and anything they recommend is something I'd buy..
If you work a saw then you have no choice but to buy the Mag 77 by Skil
Not so fast there frenchy, the bosch worm is the same saw only improved...
personaly I love my Bosch and both my PC's both blade left one 7 1/4 and one sawboss...my old skill 77 non mag is relagatged to demo and other such not nice things
You've just shown the weakness of using recommendations. I've tried the Bosch and prefer the Skil. To me the Bosch vibrated more and seemed to have less grunt. My Skil seems to be more solid..
Production tolerances could account for the differance, as could a number of factors.. I will say that of the 20,000 plus contractors that I've seen in the last 13 years by far the most common saw out there is the Skil 77 in either form ((mag or non-mag)
I'll agree the old Non Mag 77 is pretty heavy and I understand why you religate it to demo work. Yet there is something really wonderful about a tool that will take that much abuse..
As for the PC, They do seem to be the fad of the year.. I see a lot of new PC equipment out there purchased by young start up crews where cost seems to be the first consideration..
The bosch is the skill 77, From what I understand Bosch bought skill so they could make the 77, well anyway, they make the 77 in the bosch version, using both the mag and the bosch I prefer the bosch personally.
Frenchy,
There's alot of good stuff to be said about the old HD77's....but CAG's got it right. The 77's have a 13amp motor while the new Bosch is sporting a 15amp. Bosch also has a sturdier table, rafter hook, and better bevel and depth of cut guages. It's the same old thing....only better.
Think for a minute please.. !5 amp vs 13 amp..
one requires a 10 guage extension cord and max's out at 50 feet or you pop the circuit breaker or burn out the motor
the other can get by on a 12 gauge and can use up to 100 feet with a 10 guage cord..
I love power, except when it's not practical!
I can see that convincing you isn't going to be possible. You said something to the effect of the Bosch bogging down or feeling weaker than the 77, that's why I posted the specs. Believe whatever you want to believe, but Bosch's rework of the 77 resulted in a better saw. Period.
Actually, the amperage rating for a motor is the MAX working amps. A motor will draw current based on the load, so a larger motor doesn't really draw much more current for a given workpiece and rate of feed.
I had this illustrated on a Habitat build in Denver where we were strung out on about 200 feet of #12. When one of the guys with a big pro saw would start cutting my puny B&D would barely spin, but he'd have no trouble.
So, within reason, bigger is better (amp wise), regardless of the wiring situation.
there is something really wonderful about a tool that will take that much abuse..
Boy, you said a mouthful there.
gave my 20 yr. old Milwaukee to a customer last summer..his little POS was a B&D..
Had a problem with the Milwaukee..it would not die..
so, I bought another one..nuff said?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Milwaukee. Well built, aircraft aluminum base, lots of power. The power cord is easy to replace if your helper cuts through it (I know you would never do that...)
Billy
Had my Milwaukee worm-drive for 12+ years... solid base, easy adjustments, great performance...
I have a Milwaukee, about 15 years old. It's been fine, except the depth-of-cut adjustment is really poorly designed and hard to use in my opinion. Maybe they've improved it since I bought mine, but I would fiddle with it in the store before buying.
Bill.
Yeah, things to check in the store are the weight and general feel, the flatness of the baseplate, the ease of depth and angle adjustment, and how likely the settings are to slip and/or be affected by flex in the mechanism.
Something that's probably hard to check in the store is how parallel the baseplate is to the blade. My old B&D (may it RIP) was parallel on the right side but slightly off on the left (ie, the baseplate was a trapezoid). It was probably less than 1/16", but it meant that one had to learn to slightly twist the saw when making a cut referenced to the left edge. (I still did some pretty good work with that saw. Since the baseplate wasn't very flat anyway, I fitted it with an Plexi base that corrected both the flattness problem and the alignment problem.)
The Makita might be lighter than the others you're considering, so if you're used to a lighter saw, go for the Makita. Blue is good. The new ones are more powerful, they've gone from 13 Amp to 15. But the old ones worked fine for me; I've got one about 15-20 years old so I bought another used one for parts. However the second one turned out to only need a new cord (it looked like somebody chewed on the original cord??!), now I've got two real nice working ones. I've also got a PC right blade, I cut the cord on it first thing. Pick them up, see what feels handy for you. And then check for square with the base and the blade.
D&L
I got the PC to replace my B&D from the late 60's. One thing not mentioned is the adjustable dust port/deflector. Does a good job keeping the sawdust off the cutting surface and out of your eyes. Can be equipped with a flexible hose and vacuum to keep the mess to a minimum too.
gotta agree the Milwaukee is a great buy. Like they said, aircraft aluminum base, with a great feature, the line guide shows the blade kerf, not the egde, which works great for bang on compound rafter cuts. The blade also tilts a handy 50 degrees and has the highest depth of cut at 45 degrees in the 7 1/4 class. The tilt lok also has an ajustable handle to help in over cuts and reduce fatigue???
if it's not red, it will soon be dead
i ain't never killed a makita- got three- one must be lemme think-fiften years old come may. replaced a lot of cords. don't like their adjustment knobs and levers- oh and the bevel scale is useless- that dumb little dot is invisible if you ain't in the sun.
i bet i would love a new milwakee or pc but these damn things won't die.
love my skill worm- but mostly it has a diamond blade in it.
i saw with either hand so left right don't matter much- skirts are about the only place it matters.
most worthless saw i own is an 18 volt dewalt- it sucks
get the pc. best saw ever. mine is 6 years old, gone through 5 or 6 cords (yet i still lower it down by the cord-i figure my back is more important), and is still my favorite tool. try to find one without the new blade changing widget before they run out. i think they introduced it just to make me buy two more regular arbor ones to keep for later. sawzall, sure, but you don't change blades on a circ saw enough to make that feature worthwile, and if you're changing them that often, it takes 10 seconds to change a blade. it's not about having to go get the tool, 'cuz you have to go to the truck to get a blade anyway. i hate change for change's sake. just something else to get f'd up.
unless you frame houses or want to build arm strength, don't get a worm.
My mag 77 wieghs about what some sidewinders do.
Sawcat or Super Sawcat ?
We used both. In fact, I still have two 8 1/4 Supers which I hardly ever use because the company supplies the power tools. The DeWalt 81/4 sidewinder has served us well since then. We also use the Skil 81/4 worm drive, but only as a demolition saw. It is just too heavy and big for everyday use.
carpenter in transition
The PC 424MAG looks like a good saw, the only one I can find that has both blade on left and the brake for safety. Yet it looks like it has been discontinued according to Amazon. Anyone know what is up with this saw?
buy:
milwaukee
skil
pc
don't buy
ryobi
hitachi
crafsman
might want to qualify that buy a skill with only the wormer... there sidewinders mostly suck
My old Milwaukee drop foot saw is getting close to 15 years old. It has a lot of miles on it. The gears look like new.
Over the same time period, a guy I have worked with has gone through 4 Makita saws. I don't know what the new ones are like but with the Mak saws I am familiar with, if you jam it once, you will slightly warp the gear carrier at the inside end of the armature and it will shriek forever afterward. I have had the blade guard stick open about every third time I pick up a Makita. Nearly took a piece of me the last time I touched one. I've walked past a lot of Makita saws since then to get my Milwaukee.
Ron
I have a worm drive / good heavy saw with plenty of power. a hitachi / light duty saw fair. dewalt 7 1/4 elec brake, round front knob to guide and adjust base depth , the same saw as the saw cat. great saw. dogboy