Orright You Gurus, Which Recip Saw?

samthedog

My problem is I am limited by 10 amps. Many of the old houses i work on have 10 amp circuit breakers and a 13 amp in the kitchen. That scraps many of the 'big guns' right away.

AtlanticWBConst

What we have:

Dewalts: They do the job, easy blade changes.
Porter Cables Tiger Saws: Good, powerful and reliable saws - one in my personal work truck.
Milwaukees: Have 2 that have various parts from a cannabilized third saw = obviously lots of issues.
Sears: ha, ha - 21 year old industrial version saw - kept in the drywall truck, not used much, but still works.

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XanadooLTD

Bosch or Hilti will do the job.

wizendwizard

Mines been soaked a few times, still works like a dream. It's also inexpensive enough I can easily afford another if it goes. Thanks for the info though.

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TempestV

I'd lean towards Dewalt then- they make a good saw that only draws 10 amps, and I've found the Dewalts to keep up, as far as cutting speed, with saws drawing much more power. Plus, it seems that since I got mine, they've come out with some new 4 way blade chuck that everyone is raving about.

BeetsZ71

I didn't believe you until I went to their website. Sure enough there is a 15am sawzall now from Milwaukee. They must have just come out with it because I just looked over their site a few months ago when I got my second 13 amp Milwaukee Super Sawzall.

http://www.milwaukeeconnect.com/weba..._192213_192137

Interestingly though the tool weighs the same (both 13 and 15 amp versions are 9.8 lbs. ea)

JPV123

Now that I decided to go Green here is my new saw...

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WarnerConstInc.

I've had th 15amp one for 4 years, it was only like 199 or 219 worth its wieght in gold.

robert c1

I'm curious about the difference in tools, Europe to America- 220volt vs 110.
Are there different motors put in the tools, or some kind of converter. If so, would milwakee have a motor optimized for 110 while festool designs its tools for 220 and are slightly less efficient when sold in the USA.

samthedog

The tools made in Europe are optimized for 220 - 240 volts. Because of the higher voltage the tools do tend to have more grunt. If we use American tools here we need a step down transformer which basically bleeds off the power from 220 down to 110 volts. It's just a case of Ohms law
Voltage = current X resistance
So yep, tools optimized for a countries electricity supply will always run a bit better in the country they were designed for. Not sure how it work with European tools in the US though.

WarnerConstInc.

Festool has some crazy electronics in their tools, especially when hooked to the dust extractor, It has what is called power brokerage system to keep them under a 20 amp load, there is little difference from what others (across the pond) have told me in performance. I just always try to make sure I plug it in a 20 amp circiut.

samthedog

Right then, I bought the DeWalt DW304PK with the 4 way adjustable blade. It hasn't got the adjustable shoe but I think having the blade direction adjustment is more convenient when cutting around door frames and working above my head. Anyone used this saw and have any opinions of it?

samthedog

Aha, sorry, a few people posted about their DeWalt. Have you guys found the non adjustable shoe a hassle?

TempestV

my old dewalt had the non adjustable shoe, and it never bothered me. My new one does have an adjustable shoe, and I don't think I've ever used it.

Geoff MRT

Bosch should be plentiful there, being made in Germany. I bought a Bosch recip saw a few months ago when my 15 year old DeWalt quit right before lunch. It cost me $119 and worked better than expected and I decided to go forward with it until it quits.

I lived in Spain years ago and had a Hilti hammer drill. You would have thought I had the Holy Grail when that came out of the case. It would have cost a month's salary for them back then. Mostly they were amazed to see someone make something completely out of wood...no masonry. LOL

Geoff MRT

Same here. I forgot it even had it until you mentioned it here.

Somehow, I still have the original hex key too.

The young kids on jobs would laugh when I got that old thing out of the box. I would tell them that they were still pissing in diapers when I bought it and with it, I paid mortgages, bought cars, trucks and boats and made a nice life for my family. When they could match my ability with their new, fancy recip's, THEN they could laugh.

I still have that old DW and will keep it until it really dies. Turns out it was just a frayed cord.

bcradio

not to mention a 110v might run pretty hot in europe

robert c1

I've had the 4 way Dewalt for about 6 months. Nice little saw, and yes I've found the different angles useful. Not as powerful as the Milwakee or Ridgid but strong enough.

OCRS

I have a Hilti now. The bulky body means you pretty much have to run it with the blade plunge style the whole time and there's always probs with the trigger. I had a Porter-Cable before but the shaft broke. I actually miss my old 10 amp Milwaukee. It ran very smooth, very little vibration.

2ndGen

By the way guys, the Milwaukee 15 Amp is "officially" on the market now.

Home Depot had it for $199. (with the recent sale, it would've come out to about $169.).



Milwaukee Introduces New 15 Amp Super Sawzall® Recip Saw: The 6538-21

http://www.toologics.com/Manufacture...080322615.html

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