Help me choose a reciprocating saw

[Hacksaw]

Hi,

I'm just your garden variety weekend warrior home improvement type. I'm not in need of professional quality tools in order to make a living, but I also refuse to buy cheap tools as I'd rather pay a little more for quality and get the job done right the first time and not have to replace tools frequently. So while I don't need top of the line, I don't mind spending what it takes to get a good tool.

I'm in the market for a reciprocating saw and have it narrowed down to two manufacturers (Milwaukee and DeWalt), but would like some advice. From what I've looked at, I think I'd be comfortable somewhere in the $150-200 range.

First of all, corded or cordless? The portablilty and freedom of a cordless is attractive, but I don't want to run out of juice in the middle of projects.

Secondly, which models of each would you recommend.

10 amp, 11 amp, 13 amp?

orbital, non-orbital?

DeWalt has a 4 position blade which seems nice, but Milwaukee is pretty much considered the cream of the crop for recip saws.

Can anyone help out?

[b19str]

Hands down I would go with the Milwaukee. Dewalt is a great tool also, but I love the weight distribution, the blade lock and durability. I have a Milwaukee and never had one complaint. I think it is the best of the best. You can get a very nice Milwaukee for about $150.

If you have other Milwaukee cordless tools or plan on getting other Milwaukee cordless tools, as a weekend warrior this will do the trick. But if I were you, either way I would go with a corded saw for a couple of reasons. First you never have to worry about running out of power. Second, batteries can only take so many charges and last technology changes very quick. The batteries you have now may not even be around in 10 or 15 yrs, so will have to replace your saw. As a weekend warrior, a corded tool will last you a lifetime. I have seen some very old, old sawzalls still working today. One item I would get is make sure you get the Milwaukee saw with the quick connect power cord (this is one of the best inventions I have seen). This saw is used to demolish items, which means they will fall to the floor and eventually cut the cord, maybe not today or tomorrow, but sometime it will happen. Replacing just the cord is so much easier.

10, 11 or 13 amp will work. I own an 11 amp, corded (quick connect) sawzall and it has never bogged on me. As long as you have a good blade in the saw it will cut through anything. Just remember if you ever read through some reviews of an saws, the people who saw their saw doesn’t cut well (any brand) is probably using an old blade. I have seen this time and time again, people just don’t think.

Anyways, I would go with the orbital, it really does cut a lot faster through wood.

They also make a variable speed which I didn’t think I would use, but actually I use it a lot.

One of the main things I love about the Milwaukee is the blade lock. I have never had a blade get stuck in the shank or come out while using the saw. They have a very nice locking feature that no one else has.

You can get want you want based on your needs, but these are just suggestions for a nice saw. I bought mine so long ago, I am not sure if everything I told you might be over your $200 limit. Hope this helps

[usa]

I agree with B19. Seems like he covered everything.

[lijj_0]

i am not sure what kind of job you will do in your weekend, but i could make a suggestion that you could try hand hold band saw, the advantage of it comparing with reciprocate saw is that band saw could cut much faster than recip saw for the blade of the band is running in one direction, but the recip saw is running in two direction, one of the two is no cut function, the shortcoming is the dimension of material cutted has been limited