Tools that used to be great

[Muhammad]

Recently I bought a skilsaw. I did so because I have borrowed one many times and it was always my favorite saw. Powerful, accurate, easy to use. It was about 15 years old and beat up pretty well. So that's what I was expecting when I bought mine.

As for the title of the thread... the skilsaw that *I* bought could not be further from my past experience. This saw has practically no power... it can't even rip cut a KD 2x4 without severely bogging down. What's worse is that when I bought it I was only cutting 1/2" plywood and then set it aside into my next project. Didn't know it wasn't like the old skilsaws until I couldn't return it... stuck with this underpowered toy saw.

 

[4570Man]

A different blade option might improve your experience but skil brand is definitely at the lower end of the spectrum now days.

 

[dstig1]

Always look at the amp draw on the motor plates. Compare a few other models and it will tell you a lot. Do this on any tool, especially if you are unfamiliar with them. With the proliferation of cheap chinese store brands, you will often find a model or two that are much lower than the name brands. I needed a "disposable" circ saw for cutting stone, so i looked at the cheap house brands. They had one that was dirt cheap but it had some pathetic low amp motor. Another one for a little more was much closer to the Maktia/Bosch/Milwaukee models in amps, so I got that.

 

[Roadworthy]

I don't believe Skil brand is all that bad, though DeWalt does tend to be somewhat better. Are you talking about a Skil brand circular saw, some other brand circular saw, or some other saw type by Skil?

 

[dstig1]

Skil is the low end brand of Skil/Bosch USA. They were the innovator in circular saws 60+ yrs ago, but now it is just a name that they are still trading on but have cheapened the tools to garbage....as Muhammad found out.

 

[Raines]

Bostitch , Bosch, Craftsman, Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, Metabo, and many others I can not think of atm, all sell lower end products, at lower prices, at the big box stores. Like was stated , you have to look at the product info to see what you are actually buying. They all have great products but they will not be the ones that they have sent to the big box stores to compete with cheap crap. Makita is my personal favorite but I buy them from a local hardware store as they stock makita's full lineup of tools. It is like an adult's candy store!! I love looking at all the different tools Makita makes in their cordless lineup. You can see the difference there versus what Makita markets at the big box store I saw them at. I have been slowly trying to build a big Makita cordless tool stockpile.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Recently I bought a skilsaw. I did so because I have borrowed one many times and it was always my favorite saw. Powerful, accurate, easy to use. It was about 15 years old and beat up pretty well. So that's what I was expecting when I bought mine.

As for the title of the thread... the skilsaw that *I* bought could not be further from my past experience. This saw has practically no power... it can't even rip cut a KD 2x4 without severely bogging down. What's worse is that when I bought it I was only cutting 1/2" plywood and then set it aside into my next project. Didn't know it wasn't like the old skilsaws until I couldn't return it... stuck with this underpowered toy saw.

From now on, nothing but rigid corded tools. I know, I Know, the batt stuff is ok in certain circumstances and I have a couple sets,

Ryobi, POS, and Dewalt, good tool but they stroked me so bad on replacement batteries that I’m done. $100 for a Chinese batt?

Then, I guess after their patent ran out, $15 knock off batt that’s been working well for 2 years.

If Dewalt wants to gouge their customers, good for them. I would never buy another Dewalt tool for that reason alone.

Rigid stands behind their products better than any company I’ve ever dealt with. I don’t even shop, straight to rigid!

I’m buying the rigid trim saw, miter box, chop saw, whatever you wanna call it saw. It’s real expensive but if it breaks in 15 years, they will fix it for free!

It is amazing to me how so many of these tools can’t cut a 2 x 4. I think they are made for the young couple that just watched a DIY show and figured.....that can’t be too hard, and they go buy Ryobi. I love the look on their faces when they find 90% of their fixer upper is rotten! Been there, done that, never again!

Remember, you must register your Rigid tool, then it’s good for life......your life, not it’s life. I’m putting all my new Rigid tools in my kids name.

 

[Muhammad]

From now on, nothing but rigid corded tools. I know, I Know, the batt stuff is ok in certain circumstances and I have a couple sets,

Ryobi, POS, and Dewalt, good tool but they stroked me so bad on replacement batteries that I’m done. $100 for a Chinese batt?

Then, I guess after their patent ran out, $15 knock off batt that’s been working well for 2 years.

If Dewalt wants to gouge their customers, good for them. I would never buy another Dewalt tool for that reason alone.

Rigid stands behind their products better than any company I’ve ever dealt with. I don’t even shop, straight to rigid!

I’m buying the rigid trim saw, miter box, chop saw, whatever you wanna call it saw. It’s real expensive but if it breaks in 15 years, they will fix it for free!

It is amazing to me how so many of these tools can’t cut a 2 x 4. I think they are made for the young couple that just watched a DIY show and figured.....that can’t be too hard, and they go buy Ryobi. I love the look on their faces when they find 90% of their fixer upper is rotten! Been there, done that, never again!

Remember, you must register your Rigid tool, then it’s good for life......your life, not it’s life. I’m putting all my new Rigid tools in my kids name.

I have one rigid tool, a mini router. Gets the job done for light duty stuff. It doesn't like oak or digging more than about a quarter inch into pine. But that's not what a mini router is for. The quality is certainly there and like you said the warranty is second to none right now.

 

[rhunt]

Remember, the cord size is very important also. When purchasing an extension cord, wire size is most important. A 12 guage wire size usually is good for most applications. Bob

 

[newbury]

Recently I bought a skilsaw. I did so because I have borrowed one many times and it was always my favorite saw. Powerful, accurate, easy to use. It was about 15 years old and beat up pretty well. So that's what I was expecting when I bought mine.

As for the title of the thread... the skilsaw that *I* bought could not be further from my past experience. This saw has practically no power... it can't even rip cut a KD 2x4 without severely bogging down. What's worse is that when I bought it I was only cutting 1/2" plywood and then set it aside into my next project. Didn't know it wasn't like the old skilsaws until I couldn't return it... stuck with this underpowered toy saw.

You should have bought a 15 year old one.
I grew up using a 7 1/4 Skil saw from about 1960 to 1963. My Grandfather, Father and I built a duplex in Vermont and most of the framing was cut with my Grandfathers Skil saw and his 10" Delta table saw (now in my basement).
In case you had not noticed ALL TOOLS are subject to being just rebranded crap. A company sells their brand, quality control is lax and what once was great and reliable is now useless.

 

[Oaktree]

Rigid stands behind their products better than any company I’ve ever dealt with. I don’t even shop, straight to rigid!

Was at HD yesterday and saw a display for some Rigid tool that stated free batteries for life. I'm sure there's fine print somewhere though.

Only Rigid tool I have is a cordless drill that's about 10 years old. Decent drill, but battery life sucks and only NiCads available for it (if you can find them).

Back to the OP's comments, I haven't bought (or needed) to buy a circular saw in years...got 3 of them now, all 40+ years old that all work fine. I think the only thing I've needed to do to them is replace the cords.

 

[kenmbz]

I have some really ole Makita and recently bought knock off batteries and they still work!
Mostly Milwaukee battery(M12) and corded now though I did buy a cheaper Dewalt Sawzall for cutting at roots, and that is really taking some abuse well!
I shy away from the box store house brands, bought drill bits in the blue box and broke the first bit drilling aluminum :-( bought other house brands when I neede something quick-that was a mistake, my Milwaukee tools have been working for years now without issues.

I even have a (very) old sears brushwacker- looking at the sear products a few years back-decided to just fix the old one. The newer weedwackers looked like I could bend them and the motors had too much plastic.

 

[cdaigle430]

I have a Craftsmen compressor for 15 years and still runs great to this day but its not very portable because of its sixe and weight. Bought what I was told was one of the better pancake compressor made by Porter Cable 3 years ago and its already dying, sounds like a bunch of nuts and bolts in a dryer. I think that all brands have junk versions no matter how good the reputation was.

Have a Ryobi 40v weed wacker-the best weed walker ever - I would buy again but I cant kill it....and its been going strong after 6 years with the same battery....but I also have a Ryobi 7.5 inch corded skill saw and orbital sander-biggest piece of junks ever, lasted 1 year just after warranty ended.

 

[downsizingnow48]

My 35 year old Skilsaw wormdrive finally died a few years ago. I replaced it with a Bosch which is an excellent saw. The current cost for the Bosch is about 30% more than the wormdrive Skilsaw.

I would be tempted to return the Skilsaw and get something else. For light renovation there are several top quality cordless saws with left side blades that would be good choices. I use a Makita cordless all the time these days, unless doing something that requires a huge amount of power.

 

[Oaktree]

I shy away from the box store house brands, bought drill bits in the blue box and broke the first bit drilling aluminum :-( bought other house brands when I neede something quick-that was a mistake, my Milwaukee tools have been working for years now without issues.

I put the box store house brands in the same category as HF tools. Good enough for the suburbanite who's only going to use it a few times, but generally consider it disposable. Unfortunately, a lot of formerly good brands (Porter Cable, Craftsman, etc.) are now kind of in that category. Getting harder to tell what's the "good stuff" and what's junk.

 

[mcfarmall]

I recently bought a Skilsaw brand abrasive cut-off saw on clearance at Menards. I was pleasantly shocked at how quiet, powerful, and well made it was considering it was made in China. It has features that are nicer than the Metabo we have at work and I only paid $70 for it.

 

[Snobdds]

The mag 77 skilsaws are still good. They know better than to mess with them. This is a tried and proven saw. This saw built california and all of the US west of the Mississippi.

 

[grsthegreat]

the Skill 77 (sidewinder) is still an awsome, but heavy saw. mind you, they make 2 different variants. the homeowner specials with plastic gears and the pro series with steel gears. I was given this nice bit of education when i brought my 25yo one into shop for service. iwas thinking of replacing this with a newer one. the service tech talked me out of it. i was able to get a new switch for mine fairly cheap. he said mine will outlast any of the new ones. Who would use a plastic gear in a saw. cheap people.

 

[jaxs]

Don't blame mfgrs,blame consumers that want the cheapest price to be found. Just read the posts here on TBN reccomending HF tools. If we are to believe what we've been told,a $90 flux core is all you need for 3/8 steel and you can buy beer with the $1k you save by not buying an overpriced Lincoln.
There was a time when B&D tools were a good investment for homeowners but I compare them To HF now. Concuring cordless tools,especially drill-drivers,here's a tip to make any of them last longer. Don't bump,bump,bump the trigger,don't adjust the clutch to max torque,set speed on hi then "feather" the trigger to control speed and torque. When you notice change in battery power,stop and switch batteries,don't keep at it til tool stall's for lack of battery. Your tools will last much longer. If your tool fails before going through at least a secound set of batteries,you are abusing the tool.

 

[grsthegreat]

Don't blame mfgrs,blame consumers that want the cheapest price to be found. Just read the posts here on TBN reccomending HF tools. If we are to believe what we've been told,a $90 flux core is all you need for 3/8 steel and you can buy beer with the $1k you save by not buying an overpriced Lincoln.
There was a time when B&D tools were a good investment for homeowners but I compare them To HF now. Concuring cordless tools,especially drill-drivers,here's a tip to make any of them last longer. Don't bump,bump,bump the trigger,don't adjust the clutch to max torque,set speed on hi then "feather" the trigger to control speed and torque. When you notice change in battery power,stop and switch batteries,don't keep at it til tool stall's for lack of battery. Your tools will last much longer. If your tool fails before going through at least a secound set of batteries,you are abusing the tool.

well, to be honest, most harbor freight tools dont last until the battery is dead. but all joking aside, i heard that B&D is building a new manufacturing facility in .... texas i believe. i hope they come back with some descent products.