Reciprocating saws

[hobbyfarm]

I agree [somewhat] with MarkCT.
You've got to Cherry Pick your power tools. Turning your back on any brand (for brand's sake) is foolish.
Some tools - like your circular saw gets used almost constantly on some projects; and therefore needs to be a decent prefessional quality. Ditto for your drills. But, say you are a hobby welder as opposed to a professional welder, your angle grinder could be of semi-pro or even consumer quality and would last for years.
However, for me, even though say Hitachi or Bosch are top shelf products, If I have to send it away to Mississippi for servicing or warranty work, I'm just less than interested.
In my area, we have local, quick turn-around authorized servicing for Milwaukee, Dewalt, Porter-Cable, Hilti and Makita.
These brands can pretty much cover any power tool need.
I have been seeing the new Ridgid brand tools on a bunch of jobsites around here.
Hitachi has a 5 year warranty now, that's cool.
9 times out of 10, when you rent a tool, it is either a Bosch or a Milwaukee. That's because they hold up well to abuse.
Just my $0.02.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I have an old corded Makita that has served me well. I have to say that years ago I was working with a friend who had a Milwaukee Sawzall and he did something with his I've never forgotten. We needed to cut some 2x4's off at the sill and he just removed his blade and reinstalled it in another slot which allowed him to make the flush cut. I couldn't have come close to doing that with my Makita.

 

[bontai_Joe]

For a corded model, the Milwaukee is about the best. It's a little heavy, but built very solid for contractor use. I don't have an opinion on cordless models, but have learned form this thread new uses for them I never considered.

 

[markct]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The Ridgid pipe wrenches I've seen at the large home improvement stores are not the same quality as the Ridgid wrenches I had used for years. )</font>

thats a shame, i didnt realize they had cheapened up the hand tools too, i realy cant say that i have bought any rigid tools new ever, but have alot that came from pawn shops,tag sales and flea markets, and all are great, sad to see another great name going down the tubes, nowdays it seems that just nothing is made to last anymore

 

[NIXON]

Alan . At work we have a variety of corded and cordless tools
Our corded sawzall is a milwaukee ,the cordless are Makita , Ryobi and Dewalt (all 18 v). They all seem to be well made ,and can take daily use and abuse . Having said that I believe the Ryobi is just a shade less able to take as much grief as the others . But that's just a subjective feeling on my part . And as you don't intend to use it everyday will be a good choice .
Being a contrarian ...... I just bought a Bosch cordless (18v)set . /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif John

 

[higgy]

I am a fan of bosch tools and own a few. I have been looking at the cordless set and thnking that I should try it. Let me know how it works for you.

Dane

 

[goodoleboy]

A reciporcating saw is one of the best tools you could own. We own a dw307 (heavy duty model) identified by the aluminum hand grip area.

I use mine for pruning mainly and some demoltion. When stuff does not fit in the trash cart. I start choppin away at things like tables, camper shells and I stuff it in the garabage. The money isaved on dump fees alone has made my $70 investment worth it.

If your getting cordless get a cheap one, because batteries fail and the "good" brands replacemnt batteries run about $90 a piece.
Also get a quick release blade system.

Over the last few years I have been buying cheaper tools.But cheaper i mean Harbor freight and such.
I have really never found a cheap tool that didnt do its job except for cheap drills.

Yeah some tools do the job smoother ,faster and are cooler looking w/ better colors. But No tool I have ever bought has failed to complete its job.

 

[Bird]

Yep, the kind of reciprocating saws we've been discussing here are great for the larger jobs, and the little air reciprocating saws, such as the IR429, CP880, and several others, are one of the handiest little tools you can have in the shop where you have an air compressor. They're light weight, work fast, easy to use with one hand, etc.

 

[johnday]

Bird; How are they with sawdust? Doesn't the exhaust blow it all around?

 

[Bird]

John, I never had a problem with them blowing sawdust. I've owned Ingersoll Rand and Blue Point, and repaired some of both of those brands as well as some of the Chicago Pneumatics, and those had the exhaust straight down just behind the blade. Lots of new ones have come out that I haven't seen, such as the CP7900 that is supposed to have a rear exhaust, so I would assume that would blow the sawdust, or metal filings, even less.