Milwaukee Reviews

I just finished gutting a garage for a renovation and wanted to put this tool to the test...it passed with flying colors. Ripping through studs and rafters, NO problem. Sawing through an 1 1/4" solid wood exterior wall for a door opening, NO problem. Sawing through a double 2 x 12 header beam, NO problem. Cuts right through heavy duty mild steel 1/8" easily. The adjustable handle is great when up on a scaffolding or working down near the floor...and the reversible 18 volt battery is another great feature. Lightweight, but has all the power of a corded tool in my opinion. The orbital action is another nice feature...and it does speed up rough rip cuts when neatness doesn't count.

This is the 1st time I've used a quick blade holder on a sawzall, and it is one of the best features going. I also recommend the blade kit...very nice to have. Changing blades has always been one of the worst and slowest parts of using a sawzall...now it's not even an issue.

FWIW, I also have an 18 Volt 1/2" Lok-Tor Driver/Drill Kit so I just use my battery charger and 2 batteries for both tools. You will definitely need 2 batteries with this tool. After about 8-9' of continuous cutting through a solid wood 1 1/4" thick wall and 7-8 studs, the battery needed to be swapped out, but had to cool down for a few minutes before accepting a charge. I'm not sure it's even an issue, and the charger gave me the heads up signal that the battery was too hot, so I set it aside for a couple minutes, then charged it right up no problem. Regardless, you will get a lot of cut time on one battery, and a lot of power too. I can't imagine a situation where you would be slowed down as long as you have two batteries.

These tools are tough as nails too. One night after a long night of overhead work I was tired and fed up, so I threw my new 18" drill from 10' up on a ladder down to my concrete shop floor to see what it was really made of, and it took the hit with nothing but a scuff to the body. I've owned alot of Milwaukee tools over the years, and still do. This and my new 1/2" drill are by far the best. Well worth it and a great deal. Both feel great, good balance, and work great, period.

I've read a lot of reviews on this site when buying tools,and many have been very helpful, so I've decided to return the favor to hopefully help someone out. I'm a coppersmith who started out as a roofing contractor, and have been working in the renovation and building trades for 26 years. and have been been in business since 1986. My website is copperwork.com

I bought the Milwaukee Hatchet combo kit about a week ago and its one tool I use alot!!! I was thinking about buying a Makita Sawzall intill I saw the Milwaukee Hatchet. So I bought it instead. ITS WORTH IT! BUY THE HATCHET THEY GOT THE PATENT.

Wow! I love this hammer drill and sawzall combo set. The hammer drill is machined perfectly and the power that the drill delivers is just fantastic. I usually believe in buying all American made products, but I will gladly grant an exception. Milwaukee has taken the best of all worlds and put them together. The hammer drill is made in Germany, the batteries are made in Japan, and the sawzall in the US. Put these components together and you've created some of the best tools available. The only downside is that the sawzall drains the battery pack fairly quickly, but the battery does charge in about an hour. So, I think I'll get another battery. Quality, you do get what you pay for... Good job Milwaukee

I got one of these saws last year. I consider it the one of the most valuble tools in my collection. Milwaukee invented the reciprocating saw and they still make the best ones. This saw is at the top of their line. It's extremely powerful (I've cut down a few trees with it), and the Quick-Lok blade clamp is great; It allows you to change blades in a couple seconds without getting burnt by the old blade.

This is the first saw I had that was orbital. It makes a big difference when cutting wood, especially plunge cutting. It has a dial type speed range controller and also a variable trigger.
That plus the orbital adjuster allow you to adapt the saw to any cut.

This is the most durable tool you can buy. I've had mine for a year and it works just like new, despite being dropped many times, and spending a night out in the rain.

The carry case that is included is great. It has all kinds of space for different size blades, and also enough room to toss in another tool or two. The case is built to the same high standards as the tool.

Milwaukee has a great website which includes a "tool talk" forum to ask other users and Milwaukee reps any questions you may have.

This is the best corded Sawzall Milwaukee had ever made. It is worth all the money, because it will last forever. Lifetime warranty

I just took delivery of the beauty pictured below. I'm not a professional, I'm just a tool-obsessed DIYer.

I have only used one other reciprocating saw -a Craftsman 2-speed unit. This Sawzall is, to say the least, a world apart from the Craftsman. First of all, some things I really like about it:

1. SMOOTH. The counterbalance on this thing is amazing. There is very little vibration when it's running free. In orbital mode you can feel a slight vibration owing to the fact that the vertical component of motion is not counterbalanced. Nevertheless, even in orbital mode this saw transmits less vibration into my hands than my truck does at 65 MPH on the highway.

2. The "Cord Lock" feature. I didn't really think this would be worth much, but it turns out its quite convenient. You insert and remove the cord by twisting it to lock/unlock it. Plus it comes with a 10' cord; much longer than most power tools.

3. 13 amps of destruction. That's a ton of power. Note that Makita makes a 15-amp model now, so it's only a matter of time before Milwaukee upgrades to 15 amp (probably about a month after I've had the one I just bought :rolleyes.

4. Clutch protection for the drivetrain. If you suddenly lock up the blade the clutch protects the innards from grenading.

Things I don't like (so far):
1. The plastic shoe adjustment lock (noted in the second picture). This is very thin plastic. Fortunately it's also very flexible, so it's not brittle at all. But I feel this part would be better in aluminum. I've written Milwaukee to suggest this.

Things I'm neutral about:

1. Extensive use of plastic. This thing only weighs about 10 lb, which is great. Unfortunately this weight savings is achieved mostly using plastic. The entire rotating handle is plastic. Don't get me wrong, this tool is metal in the most important parts (motor and gear case), but I'd like to see a nice aluminum or magnesium handle. I don't fault Milwaukee for this, because everyone's making their tools this way now. I don't think there are any all-metal tools left on the market.

2. The 360 degree rotating handle. This thing has the potential to be really convenient, but I haven't used the saw enough yet to form a worthwhile opinion on whether this feature is worth the additional cost (about $10 extra).

I'd like to note that when I first took it out the orbital selector was very difficult to operate. So difficult, in fact, I thought it was defective. It wouldn't be so bad if there was more than just a tiny nub to grab onto. After using the saw for a bit, it did loosen up and it's much easier to slide now.

Also, the saw is built very "tight" from the factory, and the speed variation through the trigger was a little "clunky" for the first 25% of trigger pull. I'm happy to report after using it for a bit that it breaks in nicely and things operate smoother now. It makes sense that it needs to be broken in; I don't think they run them very long at the factory.

Nowhere on this tool is it indicated where it's made. I did finally locate, in small text at the bottom of the cardboard packaging, a line that read "Made in USA". I discovered that Milwaukee was recently (2005) bought by a Chinese company, TTI (Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd.) This brought on intense fear that my beloved Milwaukee might be [gulp] Made in China! I called Milwaukee and asked and they assured me the tool was made in Jackson, MI. It's amazing how rare it is for a power tool to be made in the US anymore.

Cutting performance is, as expected, stellar. Vibration level is very low. I tried the saw out by cutting up an old water heater. Sliced around the circumference with no effort. Then I cut vertically down the entire length of the heater in 2 places. "The Torch" blade that was included was dull 25% through the second vertical run, which really slowed progress. When those Milwaukee blades are sharp, though, look out!

I can't adequately describe how awesome it is to work with such a quality tool. I'm sure the offerings from Makita, Bosch, Dewalt, and Porter-Cable are also great saws, but there's a certain satisfaction in owning one made by the company that invented it.

This product meets all my expectations. Powerful, easy blade changes, and the rotating handle helps releave arm fatigue.

The power is more than adequate - the high speed being just perfect and the low speed providing enough torque to undo all but the most stubborn of screws and bolts.

The clutch is extremely handy because it prevents overtightening and breaking off screw heads.

About my only complaint would be that battery management isn't what I'd like. Not quite enough battery life on a charge - and batteries seem to wear out (as in become unuseable and won't take a charge) relatively quickly. However that is just my personal view - Perhaps my expectations are unreasonable. Conside that my experience is that the B&D Versapak battery system isn't as long lasting as this.

I do not recomend this as an all-day tool for someone who works on an assembly line, for example. But certainly it is a more than excellent device. Beautifully designed and built with real metal gears inside.

I have had this tool for over 10 years and absolutely love it. It is no substitute for a cordless drill, but for small threaded fasteners it can't be beat. With the angle attachment you can get into some very tight situations. I just bought my third battery last year, and this is one of my most used tools (and I have too many, just ask my wife). I gave myself carpal tunnel using a 7.6 volt drill to install cabinet hardware. This screw driver is much more ergonomic.

I just picked up 5 of these for my crew. We have used several different brands in the past, but these are hands down our favorite. The unit is very light weight, which is important when you are using it all day. This gun also has a switch that you can flip with your thumb to change it from single fire to contact fire. The other feature that I really like is that it has a reload inidcator that lets you know when you are out of nails.

I will update again when we have used them for a few months, but as of right now I couldn't be happier with all the features that this gun has.

Great tool for driving,screws. You can tell this unit has lots of torque. Be careful,when first using it you can drive screws too far and split 2x4's. Wish it was made in U.S.A. but it is a power house.

I had tough time choosing to buy drill or an impact wrench and after asking many experts I found that neither will do the other job %100. But I needed a small tough drill that can drill tighten or loosen screws. Drills have more speed RPM wise but not enough torque to tighten or loosen screws. So I choose an impact wrench that can be used as a strong drill but nothing major like drilling 3/4" holes into concrete and in the same time it will help screwing too. I just bought this unit and will update you later on its performance.