Rod Ango

Was wondering about the dcs355 vs dcs356. After using it for a while, was the latter still a good choice? Responding to battery powered circular saws, I bought the dcs373(b) steel cutting l-blade circular saw. Despite warnings, I have used it for cutting wood- it's rated at 3700rpm, I think wood cutting saws are usually ~ 4500-5200. It's very well balanced, and with the small blade and high torque it does well in plywood, and very well in light metals! I have cut some various kinds of scrap steel tubing, and some for projects -- it's a great saw. It's probably not the right choice for production woodwork, but for various tasks and light metal work ✔︎✔︎✔︎

As to blades though, better ones should last longer between sharpenings, be made with teeth that can be sharpened, have enough material in the teeth, be the right grade and quality of carbide, and have a record of good welding process for the tooth attachment (IOW, they don't break teeth in operation, nor fling them off due to occasional poor weld quality.) If a saw tooth breaks or flies off, it's like a super hardened bullet shot in a random direction. Keeps me away from discount blades!

We used to have a Builder's Square, but they lost the battle to HD and closed their stores here. Now Lowes is deep into that battle. HD might be winning, but I think they could retrench and make a comeback. With no competition, HD raises prices through the roof, and good service was never their game. Neither is selection. Klein may be a good, lower-mid-level brand, but there are alternatives. But not at HD. They are so expensive for things like dewalt batteries ($200+ for 2x 4.0Ah, in store @ HD, recently-2021.07!) that I buy on the 'net. It often seems that they don't clear old inventory so that a lot of shelf stock has been filtered by remaining after the rest was sold. The upshot is to shop at Lowes, try to keep the competition strong. We, constractors and DIY's benefit!

I heard the Diablo line of circular sawblades was occasionally throwing carbide teeth. Wonder if the recip blades will hold up?

I would be concerned about tool condition -whether the tools worked when sent out and how they were upon return. Tool rental houses use certain brands and models, often, that tend to cost more but hold up better and/or can be serviced. A lot of homeowner level tools won't hold up and may not be serviceable due to lack of parts or "one-way" construction. When you get to the level of pro- tools, you start competing with existing rental houses I bet there's more than one near you. Where I live, several HD's rent tools. Strangely, the tools they rent are a different class from what they sell. Good luck

Aha, 'picclic' to the rescue!

Honestly, ~$90 for a laser guide and it doesn't even include batteries...seems 3x expensive. Might be useful if it stays in register, but that's an 'if'

Been hoping to get a slow-speed grinder for a long time, for chisel snd plane blade re-grinding and general tasks. Never saw one come up on CL or FBM that I could buy before it was gone or that looked decent for less money than NEW! While I've tried to swear off both Delta, grrr, and mainland Ccc, here'tis, and pretty decent. Specs & observations - 5A, 120V (maybe convertible to 240V?) - wheel measures 7 25/32", arbor is right about 0.625" - there is an On/Off switch with pullout lock-key - potentiometer knob for 2000 to 3400RPM - there is a water dunking-trough right under the switch and knob - toolrests and polycarbonate-eyeguards are a little basic, but adjustable snd well thought out - the supplied wheels are 36 + 60 grit, slightly over 1", and a little vibraty, but usable - finally, there are flat rubber feet on the bottom which help absorb vibration.* Plan to get some pink or white finer wheels and a buffing head, & probly a wirebrush. There are some good toolrest mods on YT, but mainly for machinists who can pull out their metal lathe, milling machine, cold rolled and al-angle scrap. Imma see what I can do, but the supplied toolreasts are usable once you figure out how to assemble them: I had to scout some pics on the internet, the directions are for s****! Maybe coulda found it for $20 less, but bezos had it in my hot little hands in 36hrs via prime, less than U$155. I think it's a rebrand of the white ShopFox, bothhave them made to order, and apparently identical except for color and labels. If I'd had too much money, woulda been happier with a Baldor version, but at 4-6x times the price? I'll get some mo-betta wheels in finer grit soon, and consider a CBN or possibly a lapidary disk and backing plate, hmmmm! Best of luck, pist below is you have one, are deciding to get one, or think the tool or my brief review are SHITE! [Deutsche: shiesse!]

Things that happen can happen faster than we can react! That's why I plan every cut as though it will have a pronlem, even thick or wide materials. Then any accidents don't occur, if something tries to go wrong, I'm not in the flight path nor are my hands nor fingers AT RISK! I'd rather use pushsticks and featherboards and learn to be accurate using them (it's not hard) than depend on a 'probably'!

Do not let any part of your body possibly closer that 6" to the blade. Do not let your hand go over the blade. Use push sticks, featherboards, fence/miter-guide/sliding-table and guards!

This conversation is what I've looked for - considering 9AH vs 6AH, the 6's in Flex or XR. Sheesh a lot to consider. Another pair of factors that I doubt most could answer directly are tool life and battery longervity when used for longer periods at one time. In many such cases heat is the culprit. I just looked and can get the 9/Flex for US$180 and think I'll bite. I know there'll be more tools in the future, right now I'd just like to finish the front and back yards in one go - with Dewslt's battery leafblower, forgot the # ATM.