Circular Saws?

If it has an electrical cord it is covered here.
De
Dennis

Re: Circular Saws?

Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:38 am

Good point, Steve, if the current worm drives are much like mine, they are nose heavy ungainly things that often get set on the wood with a decidedly loud klunk. Mine will unashamedly slice through 2 inch walnut with a rip cut. The Hitachi didn't like that at all. It wasn't very long before I could tell that the electrics were cooking. I couldn't baby the saw, just considered it a bad investment for my needs. I should have just replaced the cord on the Skill and used it like in the past. Since I hadn't bought a saw in many years, I thought new ones would be highly advanced or something. Seems like there is a lesson in that somewhere.
durbien
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Re: Circular Saws?

Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:33 am

Interesting, one of the things that had me considering the Hitachis was their overload protection circuitry that was supposed to prevent such things from happening. I guess that's not in all the models? So hard to tell - there are so many with very similar model numbers. The Amazon reviewers keep talking about getting the dark green vs. bright green saws, etc. Had me so confused I just figured I'd ask here as maybe someone would have personal knowledge.
De
Dennis

Re: Circular Saws?

Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:19 pm

I'd never heard of dark green vs light green. Mine was a light green color, I recall. Good luck in whatever you do purchase.
durbien
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Re: Circular Saws?

Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:26 pm

I'm guessing they're talking about when Hitachi redesigned their saws from looking "normal" to looking like this:

Image

I think Chris had mentioned Japanese-spec Hitachi saws on his blog earlier (need to search that again - maybe he was talking about the bandsaws), but I think Japanese pro handheld power tools are not commercially available here (unless there's some gray market stuff someone can PM me about).

My instructors are telling me to just get a SkilSaw like everyone else, so considering the feedback here hasn't been great for the Japanese brand saws I will probably go that route. Chris Schwarz likes to use "the cheapest Makita" to break down his rough lumber, but given he's not framing all day and my instructors are, I'll go with my instructors' recommendations instead.

I looked into the Skil 5150 saws Paul mentioned, and the ones on eBay all seem to be full size, not 5-1/2" - don't know if the merits of Paul's saw extend to the latest 5150. I found an exhaustive thread on the evolution of Skil sidewinders on Lumberjocks (not sure if cross-posting is frowned upon here, if so, please let me know):

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/43722

Perhaps Paul meant an earlier version with the smaller blade? If so, I'll try to track down one of those - hopefully some NOS turns up on eBay or Craigslist.

Thanks for all the replies.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Circular Saws?

Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:07 pm

I don't know who's designing stuff for Hitachi these days, but they seem a tad obsessed with the 'high-tech ski boot' aesthetic on a lot of their portable power tools. Looking forward to when they move on to some other design idea.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Circular Saws?

Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:13 pm

What's wrong with this saw?:

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-5007MGA-Ma ... B000RQ68V2

Basic framing saw, cast base, brake, not expensive...
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Paul Atzenweiler
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Re: Circular Saws?

Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:52 am

I think one thing that can be taken from this discussion is that there aren't any glaring "wrong" choices - just some that may be better than others. I bought my DeWalt because I had a Perazi beam saw attachment first which was specifically for DeWalt. I have been happy with it and its cuts like a champ. I also have an old Makita which also cuts good along with my Skil wormdrives. I included the pictures of the Skil 5510 to show size comparison. For framing, the Skil 5510 would not be a great choice probably, but it does great for smaller finish cuts. Chris is right, that Makita is great and the price is right. On Craigslist you could probably find 2 of each for the price of 1 new and compare (money/smunney,right). I do love the Mafells, when my wife asks what I am looking at on the internet I lie and say " . . . porn . . . I am certainly not spending time drooling over tools!"

Earlier I referred to the Skil 5510 as 5150, that was wrong.
Attachments
Plank break down.jpg
Breaking down 2" Oak
Plank break down.jpg (258.81 KiB) Viewed 5961 times
Saws 2.jpg
Label off of the 5510.
Saws 2.jpg (205.28 KiB) Viewed 5961 times
Saws 1.jpg
Size comparison, hey the Skil's for leftys like me!
Saws 1.jpg (240.71 KiB) Viewed 5961 times
Matt J
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Re: Circular Saws?

Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:23 pm

[quote="Chris Hall"]What's wrong with this saw?:

I know three people who own this saw: my father and two coworkers. All three have had problems. My dad had to send his newly arrived saw back twice due to the plate being out of parallel with the blade (no adjustment for that). Once he put it into service, the plastic lever for the blade guard snapped off. He fashioned a replacement out of sheet metal, continued using it, and found that the rubber coating on the cord was prone to crack and chip off when dragged around the jobsite. The hinge that attaches the plate to the body of the saw feels so fragile that he's afraid to let anyone else use it. He may be tougher on tools than some, but he owns Milwaukee and DeWalt sidewinders that have held up fine to his two helpers (I've found that the best way to trash any tool is to lend it to someone else!).

One coworker got tired of problems with his 5007 (mostly the blade guard alternately jamming or coming loose) and bought the Makita 'hypoid' saw. That one died within a year. I think he replaced it with another Makita... impressive brand loyalty I guess.

I haven't had problems with other Makita tools, and a sample size this small may not be statistically relevant, but I wouldn't recommend this saw when there are so many other options.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Circular Saws?

Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:56 pm

Well, those sound like some things wrong with that saw. Good info.
durbien
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Re: Circular Saws?

Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:58 am

Matt J wrote:I own a Festool tracksaw but drool over the Mafell- the KSS 300 is on my "someday" list.
Somewhat off topic, but someone on the Mafell Users Forum is selling their barely-used KSS 300 for $650. Might not find a better price on that for awhile. If you're into Mafell you're probably on that list already..

Back own topic, I ended up with the Skil (for roughly 1/3 of the used Mafell!). I suppose it's somewhat Japanese of me - I obeyed my Master's wishes, and I am conforming to the rest of the group and not standing out.. Excuse me now, as I go admire myself in the mirror holding my Skil and wearing my Blaklader pants.. :)

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