Skil 18V Reciprocating Saw
December 14, 2009 by toolman
Filed under Our Reviews, Tool Reviews
Skil Reciprocating Saw Overview
The Skil Reciprocating saw is part of the Skil combo kit we reviewed. The Skil saw uses an 18V Lithium Ion battery system to power the saw. So looking at the battery we know it has some power to cut. Taking a closer look at some of the specs, we have to say were were a little disappointed. The stroke length is 7/8″ and strokes per minute is 2,800. But again we had to remind ourselves this is designed for a homeowner, not the professional. With that in mind, the technical specs are in line with other homeowner reciprocating saws.
The Skil Reciprocating Saw Review
Now if you have been following us for a while, you know we released our review of the Skil combo kit a while back and you may be asking yourself, why did we wait so long to release this review. Well the reason was because we had some problems with the saw and we wanted to see if it was us or were others having the same problems. Before we get into the main problem we had with the saw, lets talk about what we did like about this saw.
Picking up the saw, we did notice the balance of the saw was very good. We have seen better, but for the home market, it is good. One cool idea Skil had was a blade storage system. On the top of the saw a user can store blades, so they are very accessible when you need to change a blade.
The battery profile of the saw is great. The batteries are not bulky, so it makes it easier for a user to get into tight spots. This is a huge key for those hard to reach jobs. The saw also comes with a turbo mode which in essence is an orbital action to help cut through wood quicker.
Skil is owned by Bosch, so when we were ready to test this, we had a feeling this would be a great saw, just as the bosch reciprocating saws are. Well the one problem we encountered was keeping the blade locked into place. Now this didn’t happen every time, but it did happen enough times where it was very annoying. The Skil saw uses a toolless chuck to lock the blade in place, as do most of the saws these days. If we were cutting a simple piece of wood, the blade stayed in place with no problems. Anytime we did a little harder job or turned the saw to get the blade to bind, the blade would come out. With that in mind a reciprocating saw is used to destroy, so naturally you are going to bind a blade from time to time, so this was a huge annoyance to us. We tested the tool a bunch of times only to find this was happening over and over. We even tried different blades and had the same results. We wanted to be sure it was the tool and not us. We lent the tool to three different people, but never told them about the problem we were having. Each of the three people came back and stated they had the same problem as we did. With this in mind, we knew it wasn’t us doing something wrong. So were thought that it was either a defective tool or this is a defect in their design.
As time has gone on we have received more feedback from our readers and their experiences. While some haven’t had this problem, others have experienced the same problem. So even after all this time we are still not sure if they have defective saws out there or just a defective deisgn.
Final thoughts on the Skil Reciprocating Saw
Overall while this saw had a lot of great features we were very disappointed with the locking mechanism that holds the blade. Under heavy use or even sometimes under light use the blade had a tendency to come loose and pop out of the shaft. While we love the Skil combo set and think the other tools are great, we feel there are better reciprocating saws for the homeowner.
More information on the Skil Reciprocating Saw
You can see more information on the Skil Reciprocating Saw at Skil Reciprocating Saw
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This is a great little review. I really like the added touch with the video. The review is also very easy to read!
This saw came in a combo kit I bought. The blade problem drove me nuts, but I found that the more I used it, the better it got. I don’t know if it needed to be “broken in”, but I am in construction and I am VERY hard on my tools. This saw slowly began to work better, and after a few weeks the blade lock issue cleared up.
SIDE NOTE: The blade clamp actually BROKE OFF a few weeks ago. Skil sent me a new one for free. Again, if you are a home owner, this saw should be fine aside from the minor short term annoyance of the blade lock mechanism. If you are in the trades, you might want something a little more heavy duty, although for the price I guess I can’t really complain. I am overly rough on my tools, they get wet, full of sawdust/drywall, and beat around like a rented mule. If you really want to feel safe, spend the extra money on a Milwaukee. Most true power tool service shops will tell you this line of Skil is “un-serviceable”, because they are cheaply made. However for the price, you can’t beat this saw or the combo kit. Try buying one of those cheap Ryobi or Porta-Band kits they sell at Lowes, and see what happens.
That’s good to know. We have received other emails from people who had problems with the blade locking, so it is good to know that it cleared up for you. I am very hard on my tools also, so it is nice to have something that lasts. I like the analogy of the tools and beating them around like a rented mule. I think that is my new line when I go back to work on wed.