Dewalt’s New TrackSaw

Dewalt is launching their new TrackSaw that will be released this November.  We haven’t tested this new saw, but it looks like Dewalt is going after Festool’s Guide Rail system and dust collection.  As the name suggests, the TrackSaw follows a track to help you make a perfectly straight cut every time.  According to Dewalt the cut will produce splinter free cuts which makes sense once you see how the track lays right by the cuts. 

With this saw you can make beveled cuts, cut on inclines and more.  The tracks come in a variety of sizes and you can always join them together.  The saw is a 12 amp 1300 watt motor, variable speed (Corded) and has an anti-kick back mechanism.  The saw is avaliable in a corded or cordless version.  Both have a plunge system in place, so you can start your cut from any point.  This system weights in at 12lbs.  On the bottom of the track there are two friction slips which means you do not have to clamp the track down and damage your project.  Again we haven’t tested this TrackSaw, so we are not sure how well it holds especially if it is cold out side or a little damp.  You can replace the top or bottom strips if they wear out.  Again we do not know how long the strips last before they need replacement and at what cost. 

As we get more information from users, we will update this post about the Dewalt TrackSaw

 You can see Dewalt Video and other Information at Dewalt TrackSaw

Milwaukee V28 Circular Saw Review

         

 This tool review is for the Milwaukee V28 Circular saw.  This circular saw came in the Milwaukee combo kit 0928-29, but you can also buy this power tool seperately.  The model number for this saw is 0790-20.  We bought this kit through tylertool.com because it was the best price around and we have always had nothing but great luck with them.  We usually get all our tools delivered the next day. 

The Milwaukee circular saw is a 6 1/2″ saw and provides a 4200 RPM.  This saw has an electric brake that will stop in under two seconds after taking your finger off the trigger.  This saw is extremely light, weighing only 7.1lbs.  The weight reduction is due to the fact they use high strength aircraft aluminum. 

Putting a circular saw through tough tests is a fairly enduring process. Unlike the Sawzall, which is designed to cut through different material under different conditions,  a circualr saw is designed to cut through wood for the most part.  Because a circualr saw can only cut so deep, we can not really stack a lot of materials on top of one another to see if we can bog down the saw.  So for this review we really wanted to cover how the saw handled and operatered.

Once you pick this saw up, you can feel how light it is, but not to light.  You don’t want a circular saw that is very light because you need some weight to the saw, so the blade stays down in the material you are working with.  When making our first cut, it cut through 1″ plywood with ease.  The feel of the saw is extremely nice.  We like the way Milwaukee has the handle positioned, so you always stay in control of the saw.  Not that we recommend this, but this saw is very easy to use with one hand.  The D-handle in the back is at a great angle, so when you are working above the saw, you can get good reach while staying in contact with it.  You can still keep the saw in front of you,  making sure the blade stays in the material you are working with.  One note, this saw comes with a framing blade.  We used this to cut through the plywood with ease.  Once we changed the blade to a plywood blade, it made a big difference as the cut was even easier.

A nice feature that we used a lot with this saw was the blade lock.  The blade lock enables the user to very easily change the blade.  All saws have a blade lock to change the blade, but some manufacaturers make the lock ackward to use, thus changing the it becomes a chore.  Milwaukee includes a Hex tool to make this even easier.  We wanted to try different blades on this saw to see the difference, so we did a lot of blade changing. 

We did put some dull baldes on this saw that we had left over from other tests to see if we could get this saw to bog down or overheat.  While the battery would get warm, which is expected, the saw itself didn’t produce a lot of heat.  As you know, you want the heat to disapate so it doesn’t put wear and tear on the motor.  In terms of bogging the saw down, it was very hard to do, even with a dull blade.  We cut through some oak 2×4’s and treated 4×4’s, but the saw just cut through with ease.  We ran through a couple batteries, but that was due to how much cutting we were doing.

 

Over all,  we gave the Milwaukee circular saw a 5 blade or highest rating.  There is not much to circular saws, but this has the power to cut through some serious materials and we had a hard time bogging this tool down.  Your hands feel natural on the grips, so you never feel uncomfortable using this saw.

 

Milwaukee Introduced New M18 Line

        

 Milwaukee announced their new power tool line of 18V called the M18.  Some of the new tools are the:

• M18 Sawzall - 2620-22
• M18 Circular Saw - 2630-22
• M18 Impact Driver - 2650-22
• M18 Hammer Drill - 2611
• M18 Drill/Driver - 2610
• M18 Work Light - 49-24-0171

These are all powered by Milwaukee’s 18V Lithium Ion Batteries. 

Here are a couple key points about each tool.

1. The saw has a 3,500 motor.  A little slower than we would like to see, but will still cut some serious materials.
2. The Milwaukee hammer drill can produce 650lbs. of torque which is more than their 28V, pretty impressive.
3. The Milwaukee M18 Work Light has a head that will rotate 135 degrees.
4. The impact driver looks like it has an LED light on it, not sure if this will be good or more of a distraction. 

Overall the new line looks pretty cool. 

This new line of Milwaukee M18 power tools looks to compete with the other 18V Lithium Ion tool manufactures out there.  We hope too test these tools in the near future. 

Skil Worm Drive Saw Power Tool Review

Specifications- Skilsaw Worm Drive

Amps - 13.0
Volts - 120
RPM (No Load) - 4,300
Cord Length - 8 Ft.

Other Features
Carrying Case
D Handle
Anti Kick Back Design
Oil Pressure relief bellow

What do you think of when you think of bandages? Band Aid. You don’t ask someone for a tissue, you ask them for Kleenex. Well the Skilsaw is the same way. You don’t ask someone for the circular saw, you ask for the Skilsaw, no matter what brand you are thinking of. The reason is simple, Skil makes one of the best worm drives available. In this review we tested an older model called the Skilsaw Professional. Skil makes a newer model that has a magnesium case. This makes the tool lighter. To take a look at the new models you can go to tylertool.com and see the difference.

A worm drive is different than an in-line saw. We have an articlethat talks about the differences. A worm drive is a true professional circular saw, lots of power. Skil, which is owned by Bosch, has one of the most well know types of work drives on the market called the Skilsaw. The Skilsaw we tested is one incredible saw. Before we tested the saw, we went to a job site where it was going to get a lot of use cutting 1″ sheets of plywood for concrete pouring. On the 3rd floor they were cutting Maple and Oak pillar sides, so we also had this saw cutting some hard wood. We gave this saw to Jimmy because we knew he would be tough on it. He’s the type of guy who abuses tools before, during, and after use! You know this type of guy, he abuses tools because they aren’t his own! 

After we got the Skilsaw back, it looked like it went through a concrete mixer and was about 85 years old. We didn’t get much verbal feedback from Jimmy, so we ran some of our own test. First we changed the blade because three teeth were bent. We know this Circular saw has power and that was not the issue, so we wanted to test the anit-kickback system and oil relief.

The first thing we did was cut through some Oak 4×4’s. We wanted it so once the saw was in the center of the cut, the wood would bind on the blade. This is always a scary test because if you have every had a worm drive kick back, it can be violent and hurt like heck. I think I would rather be tazed than have a worm drive kick back. Well actually neither of them sound appealing. Anyway, we got the wood to bind, but we couldn’t get the saw to kick back or even slow down. No matter how many times we ran this test in different situations, we couldn’t get the oil to leak out anywhere either. We even ran the Skilsaw through so many cuts we got our Carbide blade to dull.

All in all we had fun with the Skilsaw. We are going to test the new version soon with video and more. Because this is an older version, we didn’t go as in-depth as the new review will be!

Pro’s - Plenty of power to rip through anything, great balance or as good as balance you will get for a worm drive.
Con’s - A little heavy, but again this is an older model. The new models are about 3 lbs lighter.

Professional Power Tool Guide Rating
Value

For a worm drive, you get a lot of power, good options and what we feel is a great value

Performance

The are no questions about the performance. It Does everything you want. More than enough power.

Ease of Use

The Skil saw is very easy to use. Depth adjustments and more are easy.

Balance

The balance is great for a worm drive, but again, the way a motor sits with a worm drive, they tend to be a little heavier than in line saws.

Feel

This is an extremely solid power tool. When you press the trigger and start cutting, you know it will cut what you want, and without hesitation.

Overall

Overall we are giving this a “5 Blade” Skil owns the worm drive market. These tools are made to last. If you are considering a worm drive saw, the Skil is the number one choice!

You can buy A Skil Worm Drive direct through Tylertool.com.

Sawstop - A new bread of table saws

One of our forum users found a very interesting table saw, one we have never seen before.  He made a post in our forum about the Sawstop. 

Sawstop is exactly that, a table saw with anifty safety option. How it works is when your finger or body part comes into contact with the blade (two teeth), the blade automatically stops and drops into the table.  You can see the video here - Tablsaw Stop

Basically its a professional table saw with a 1.7 5 hp motor.   It has everything a traditional table saw has including an aluminium fence and cast Iron table.  The difference with this saw is its safety feature.  The Sawstop has an electronic electric system that monitors changes.  This system recognizes the electrical changes from a human to a piece of wood.  If it detects a change in an electric status, a brake is applied and the blade drops into the table in milliseconds.  You can read about this table saw here.

This is a pretty cool safety feature that we are sure will catch on.  But don’t let it fool you, you still need to be careful because kick backs can happen or lose clothing can get caught in the blade.

Next Page »