Power Saws Reviews

Building a deck, 30 cuts, tops. At about 15 cuts, the roller spring fell off. Couldn't figure out how it went back on. Had to finish the job. The blade kept hopping off the roller, and the roller chewed up the back of the blades. Broke 4 blades, because of the roller. Finally got the clip back in, we'll see how it goes. Up and down cuts end up mitered, no control. My other Jig Saw was a 35 year old Craftsman. If I could find a speed controller for it, I'd still be using it. This thing is junk, plain and simple. The ONLY good thing I can say, is that it does move the blade up and down, when it isn't breaking it, or falling out...

If you need to make a casual straight cut in something that you otherwise would hand cut, this may be good enough for you. But if you need to make any kind of curved or scroll cut, forget it. This saw is just not very precise. Curve cuts end up with a non-vertical bias that ruins the piece.

I had a Skil 3/8" VS drill that had play in the bearings and eventually failed after a year or so of light homeowner use. I hate to bash Skil in general, but this the last tool I buy with their name on the side. Their stuff is cheaper for a reason.

This is a case of getting what you pay for. Trust me, you'll want to pay a little more.

Bought this saw a year or so ago and have found it to perform pretty good. I do a lot of woodworking for a hobby but use this tool very little. When I've used it, it has done well however I have never used a jigsaw of better quality so I have nothing better to compare it to. I was bummed when the sightlight burned out almost immediately though. For a tool that I use once a month or less I think I got my moneys worth but if you use it any more frequently and require a lot out of it I would say look in to a higher end tool
Ben

After buying this Black & Decker jig saw, I would never buy another B&D tool. I saw a jig saw from Skil for $5 less, but it didn't have all the features this one did, so I went for the B&D. The skid plate is held on by 2 screws, and very poorly.... I couldn't get it tight enough to not bevel the board I was cutting. The knob for turning the blade popped apart the first time I went to try it, had to go searching for the spring. Absolutely no quality engineered into this tool. I returned it after trying to use it for about a week and purchased the much better made Skil.

I picked up this jigsaw because of the relatively low price and because my father has a B&D jigsaw that has never given him any problems. I also liked the quick clamp blade system.

For light work around my house the saw does an adequate job. However, as soon as I cut anything tougher than 3/4 inch particle board I notice the blade wandering. At first, I thought I was feeding the saw too fast but even when creeping through the material (pine 1x6 as well as a 1 3/8 inch solid core door) the blade still wanders.

Additionally, the dust blower/extractor doesn't work very well.

Finally, this little saw really gives you a workout from all of the vibration that it produces.

If you only need a light duty jigsaw and don't want to spend a bunch of money, this saw will work for you. If you will be cutting tougher stock, I would recommend spending the extra money and going with a higher end saw (personally, I have my eye on the new Bosch jigsaw, as 6.4 amps should cut through anything).

Just bought this saw today to help round some plyboard edges. By the 4th corner I had it perfected...but the saw still shook a lot. I had it cranked on 6 so maybe that's why (I like the variable speed feature). Quick blade insertion mechanism was fantastic and I did not have the blade pop out even once. I tried to use the included tool to cut some straight 1 inch cuts but I couldn't keep the screw tight enough to maintain the 1 inch margin... B&D, good idea but you need some other way to secure this (even torque with a wrench didn't help). I didn't attempt using it for the circular cuts, just used a compass instead which did the job.
Nicely removes dust as you saw, although my vacuum cleaner didn't fit onto the contraption that blows the dust out the back (good idea though). I'm happy with the saw and the soft-cover case for the price I paid.

I purchased this item quite a few months ago to do some light (ie 1/2" to 3/4" pattern cutting in pine) cutting. It was chosen primarily because of its variable speed, relatively low cost, and the quick release mechanism.

It was adequate when I used it for only a few minutes at a time (though it was relatively unstable due to the vibration), but when I was cutting some 1/2" soft pine for my wife's picture frame, it burst into flames after about 10 minutes of continuous usage.

No, I'm not kidding -- it caught on fire (the housing specifically). Well, fortunately I only encountered 1st degree burns, but this sure angered me. After opening up the item afterwards, the design defects were obvious. Apparently, the bearing datums in the plastic housings were not well designed, leading to overheating and finally a short circuit.

I bought a Milwaukee (6266-22) afterwards. Trust me, spend the extra money if you plan on using this device for more than a few hours in its lifetime. The Milwaukee is a pleasure to use. Or, if you want to skimp on the money just avoid B&D.

I purchased this item quite a few months ago to do some light (ie 1/2" to 3/4" pattern cutting in pine) cutting. It was chosen primarily because of its variable speed, relatively low cost, and the quick release mechanism.

It was adequate when I used it for only a few minutes at a time (though it was relatively unstable due to the vibration), but when I was cutting some 1/2" soft pine for my wife's picture frame, it burst into flames after about 10 minutes of continuous usage.

No, I'm not kidding -- it caught on fire (the housing specifically). Well, fortunately I only encountered 1st degree burns, but this sure angered me. After opening up the item afterwards, the design defects were obvious. Apparently, the bearing datums in the plastic housings were not well designed, leading to overheating and finally a short circuit.

I bought a Milwaukee (6266-22) afterwards. Trust me, spend the extra money if you plan on using this device for more than a few hours in its lifetime. The Milwaukee is a pleasure to use. Or, if you want to skimp on the money just avoid B&D.

I don't typically have use for a jigsaw, so when a project I was working on required one, I purchased this product mainly because it was cheap. The first one I purchased I had to return because the "Quick Clamp" mechanism was broken. Once I got a working one in use I was disappointed with its performance. Instead of cutting smoothly through wood it has a tendency to jump around, particularly in plywood. It isn't well built either. Several of the high stress points, including the~ "Quick Clamp" are made of cheap plastic. If you are at all serious about your wood working, look elsewhere. If your primary objective is minimizing your costs, then this may be a fit for you. It does work, but leaves som

This is one of the worst tools I have in my shop,First off it will only take Pinned type blades which limits the cuts you can do,Second while it is crafted entirely from cast iron(which is normally a good thing for good shop tools)in this case it seems they used a very soft iron,which flexes too easily,the cutting arm at full speed is not only moving up and down but is moving from side to side on my unit there is about a 3/4 inch side to side movement(this is with no pressure on the blade) so when cutting you have to take into account the side to side travel.
another thing to consider is since the arm is moving up-down,and also side-side there is ALOT of vibration,My suggestion is buy a scroll saw with a stiffer arm assembly.another point of interest is the table while it is large and made entirely of cast iron they chose to mount it by using 2 screws,1 on front of table 1 on the back which allows you to set the table miter,pivoting on the 2 screws and locking it in place with a knob on the front,and while this setup may work with smaller lighter tables it just doesnt seem to work well with the large heavy table on this model,in retrospect I would not have purchased this saw if I knew how it operated.

I cut sheet metal (24 guage cold rolled steel, copper and aluminum) with scroll saws. I would like a larger saw as a second or third saw.

The "c" arm type of saw is usually far more aggresive when cutting metal. Since I do not cut thick packs of material, the differance of the cut from top to bottom on this kind of saw would not matter too much.

Of course, the saw would have to have a quick change type of blade system for me. I use a lot of blades. It should have at least 1700 rpm and preferably a belt drive speed control.

Sounds some what like the Delta Q-3? Yes it does. However, I have found that the quick clamp blade parts Delta now sells do not hold up well. Wear of the "link" on the top blade assembly is excessive in a short period of time. The "link" is made of soft metal and should be hardened metal. I have found three out of four new top and bottom quick clamp blade assemblys that I purchased would not even work as designed.

Some one out there needs to manufacture a good, larger size, quality industrial scroll saw at a resonable cost. That unfortunately is not likely to happen.

I have hoped that Grizzly Tool would do so.

Scrollerbear

I found one of these used for $25. I figured for that much I couldn't go wrong (I got a few blades with it, so I guess I didn't do too bad), but I'd rather have my money back now. The workings of the saw are about what you'd expect from a consumer saw...mediocre at best fence and miter guide, but it "works". Or it does up until the low quality plastic motor housing fractures and cracks apart at all the screw joints, pretty much sending the motor to table saw hell.

I purchased this table saw with stand 3 years ago at Home Depot. It's the worst piece of hardware I've ever bought. The 5/8 non standard miter slot created by Skil is the biggest joke I've ever seen produced. Have you ever opened up Wood magazine and you wanted to create a jig for the table saw? Good luck. You have to fabricate the rail for the miter slot first before anything and it isn't even worth the time or effort. I wish I can just cut the miter slot out and replace it with a 3/4 standard miter track. The motor works well and cuts, but most of my cuts are aweful. I've found it better to create a jig for my new Porter Cable circular saw and fitted it with a 40 teeth Freud blade to be easier to rip or cross cut my plywoods or any wood I have. This saw was the first major tool I've ever purchased and I've been regretting buying it ever since. I should have bought a Delta, Bosch, DeWalt, or anything else with a standard miter slot. The body of this saw is also made of very cheap think plastic. Mine cracked and this saw is so loud and unstable. I've since taken the saw completely apart and I'm going to fabricate a new top, body, and miter track for this thing. The only part I can salvage is the motor and its assembly to tilt. I've tossed the body and don't know what to do with the table top. I might try to find some use for the attachments for the tabletop. All I know is that this this is terrible. Don't buy one folks. Skil should have done a better job building this thing. They gave you lots of features that were nice, but the quality and proprietary steps they took was terrible.

This saw is OK for someone who needs to do nothing other than simple straight rips. The power is adequate, and the saw is stable when mounted on a stand.

However, my MAJOR complaint is that the miter slots on the table are not standard. This is a big problem because it is almost impossible to find miter guides and other accessories such as sliding miter tables, etc. that will work with this saw. To make matters worse, the miter guide that comes with the saw is a joke. It is not very accurate, and it is very short. This makes it impossible to deal with anything wider than about 8" on the table.

I'm going to replace this saw on this basis alone.

I bought this attachment and the 400 XPR Dremel kit. I thought I would regrout the Batroom tile. BUT NOOOOOOOOO!!!! There's no way this attachment will fit my Tool, even with the adaptor. I own a Rotozip tool that Dremel says this attachment will fit. I'll give it a shot, otherwise this waste of time is going back.

I too used this tool with Dremel's rotary ADVANTAGE saw along with two $15 grout removal bits (3/16") to remove SIX LINEAR FEET of 1/4 inch grout. This tool was very effective until the bits broke. I figured maybe I put too much pressure on the first bit, so I took it real easy with the second one, but it broke too.

I have returned my Advantage saw, and will now have to try some other way of removing the grout from my 300 square feet of tile. $5 per linear foot of grout costs way too much! I'm also going to send a letter to Dremel hoping that they'll refund the $25 I paid for this tool along with the extra $15 I paid for the second diamond bit. I'll update this review once I haer back from Dremel.

Upon examining the package at a local store, it clearly stated on the front that it comes with an adapter to "Fit most rotary saws." I do not own the Dremel Advantage, but I do own the Dremel 2-speed Multi-Pro #285 Type 5. Seeing that it contained an adapter for non-Advantage saws, I bought it.

Boy, was I wrong! There's no way in the world that adapter works on the #285 model. I assumed that by saying "Fits most rotary saws" that it meant it would fit the Dremel product line. I assumed wrong. Looks like this attachment is going back.

Bottom line: If you own the Dremel 2-Speed Multi-Pro (model #285), do NOT buy this attachment.

No power, not much of anything, I had it in case of emergency and with Katrina it was. Ended up having to use a hand saw. You might want to consider spending a bit more but get what you should worth the money.

Bought this item for my wife for yardwork-tree branches and the like. Then the charger took a dump-Can't figure out why. It was a clearance item at Amazon.com partner Target. But guess what? Black and Decker changed batteries/chargers and you can't buy the older ones anywhere! You can drop $60+ dollars on a DeWalt charger, or scrap the whole kit and kaboodle. So we now own a 10 pound paperweight. Yipee.

I love Dewalt tools and all of my major tools are Dewalt. They are, in my opinion, the best tool maker. Having said all that this tool is the worst jigsaw I have ever used. I totally agree with the list from James and I found the same flaws. Another problem I found with this tool is the blade changing system. I can't get it to work right. I am going back to my Milwaukee for now and hope that Dewalt wakes up and fixes this piece of junk!!

This is by far the worst tool I've ever bought.

Normally I'm very satisfied with the quality of Dewalt tools and honestly this is the only one out of many that I have any complaints about, but when they screw up they do it right.

Most jig saws have a problem cutting through thicker stock and keeping the blade perpendicular to the cut, it's the nature of the beast. The Dewalt however, takes making warped cuts to a new level. No amount of adjustment, feedrates, quality blades, etc was able to help this thing cut a square line in any thickness or type of wood.

Another annoying factor of this tool is the mechanism they use to lock the base of the tool to whatever angle you want to cut. The lever wiggles it's way loose after a few minutes of operation and the base starts wobbling.

I've had this jigsaw for about 2 years and have tried to use it a few times. It has not failed to disappoint me. I'll now be buying the Bosch and will put this tool in some deep dark corner of my shop to collect dust.

i own 5 different chainsaws, this was the first for a troybilt, figuring the price at 109 was ok...BUT even at that price it is worthless to me. it was very hard to start the first time, then within one tank of fuel stopped running - period. i changed fuel etc etc and it just will not run. service from troybilt is non-existent.

when the saw did briefly run, for all of 15 mins, it was very cumbersome with it's weight distribution so far out front that when using a saw horse to buck up wood, the front end weight caused me to have to use great counterforce on the back side, which caused me to get sore very fast. normally i can chainsaw on the horse for about 2 hours with my other saws before the toll is rung up on my back muscles...but in the 15mins the saw ran, my back was aching.

shoulda coulda bought even a sears saw, at least there would have been service. but lesson learned troybilt is NOT what it once was, it now seems to be part of the cheapened down product lines with matching service.

do yourself a HUGE favor and really think about MTD and troybilt- you can do much better elsewhere.

Purchased this item only two months ago and already doesn't want to start. Contacted Amazon and was told no returns if over 30 days. Troy-Bilt website doesn't accept emails and it's impossible to get a hold of a live person over the phone. Went to a authorized MTD service center to get fixed and they wouldn't honor the warranty because I purchased it from an out of state dealer. MTD Definitely not a customer friendly company.
Very bad shopping experience.

I purchased this item on 1/14/06 and have received several postponement messages as well. No explanation why. Just that Amazon wanted to let me know that there is a delay with some items in the order I placed. There was also an apology for any inconvenience, and a link to bail out of the order. There is now a delivery estimate of April 17, 2006 - May 5, 2006. I should have purchased this elsewhere. It's time for Amazon.com to pressure this supplier into making good on their offers.

The Amazon supplier of this product acording to Amazon customer service was not the manufacturer (MTD). I ordered this product for a Christmas gift on December 8th and have received no meaningful explanation for "no delivery" as of this date 2/8/06. I called the manufacturer and was told there were no production problems on this new model. I get a weekly computer generated message from Amazon telling me that the anticipated delivery date is one more week.... one more week... one more week. After 10+ of such emails I get the distinct impression the supplier is unable to fulfill its obligations and should be removed from this sight, lacking either the desire or capicaty to deliver on its advertised 1-2 week delivery dates.

I hesitate to order a different make or model thru Amzon for fear that ordering another chainsaw will result in additional business for the same unknown supplier who is unable to deliver either the product or plausable explanation for failure.