Circular Trim Saw Recommendations

[Tarheel]

Hi There,

I am currently in the market for a small ~5 1/2" trim saw. I looked at the Craftsman and it seems nice and light (6.5 lbs) and has the blade on the left. Price wise, it runs about $120. I also looked at the Skil and and the PC SawBoss. (I have owned a 1970's Skil 7 1/4" for a number of years and it has served me well, but it is a little too heavy duty for trim work and sheet goods. I also have a small 6" 14.4V Dewalt that came with a drill combo kit, but it has pretty useless power!

Any recommendations from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Wayne

[brooks]

I vote for the Skilsaw HD5510, 5.5", corded, reliable, lightweight, TOUGH and much steadier than the Porter-Cable 6" Boss it replaced. I was very surprised by this, by the way.

I got this OLD, crusty Skilsaw at a flea market years back and used it for several years - until it was stolen. When I shopped for a replacement, I thought Porter-Cable was the pro brand so I got that and didn't really shop. When I tried it, it didn't seem to cut as well, even though it was new and the old Skilsaw was elderly when I got it. I went to Home Depot and got another Skilsaw. It cuts great. I don't know why there's a noticeable difference. I didn't keep the P-C long enough to measure the runout. I suspect that might be it. The lines were visibly more ragged on the P-C.

I think I paid around $120 at Home Depot for the Skil. The P-C cost about $150 from Amazon.com. It's too bad that Skil's other products put a curse on this little saw, the brand itself seems cheap. Still, in this category, I believe they have a superior product. Give it a try.

I just checked Amazon.com, they have both the P-C and Skil on sale, free shipping. Read the user reviews.

[Tarheel]

Thanks Brooks,

I read the reviews and I don't think that I could go too far wrong! I also checked the Skil homepage and they have it for $103 and free shipping.

Thanks a bunch!

Wayne

[brooks]

Great idea to check Skil's own page. I not only paid more, I paid sales tax too.

However, I have been very happy with it and expect the saw to go 20 years or more, just like the old one I had before. I'm not gonna worry about paying an extra dollar per year of added use.

[JimD]

I use my 18V Ryobi to break down sheet goods. The cut is a bit ragged but no cord is nice. Power is somewhat marginal but it gets the job done as long as the battery is not too far gone. Sometimes I use my Milwaukee but it is a bit heavy so often the little battery saw gets used.

Jim

[Stormbringer]

I use my 18V Ryobi to break down sheet goods. The cut is a bit ragged but no cord is nice. Power is somewhat marginal but it gets the job done as long as the battery is not too far gone. Sometimes I use my Milwaukee but it is a bit heavy so often the little battery saw gets used.

Jim

Ditto.

Regards,
Greg

[jhart]

Will have to say that I've been pretty impressed with the Ryobi 18V. Used it 2 weekends ago to add to an existing deck, cutting the 5/4 X 6" pressure treated boards. Used 4 batteries between the saw and 2 cordless drills, and the project went slick. Just kept the odd one charging. Also use it for cutting down sheet goods and seems to work fine for that purpose.

Had an older B & D 14.4 V that was worthless. Battery would quit after about 6 cuts on some pre finished wood flooring I was cutting about 3 years ago. What a joke that unit was.