Milwaukee Reviews

Overall I am very happy with this saw. I bought it to replace a $50 Skil that I purchased years ago. The Skil still worked fairly well and survived some good abuse, but wasn't a real powerhouse. I've used this Milwaukee several times already and here is what I've noticed:

Pros:
+ Nice power
+ Very nice and easy adjustments for depth and bevel: This uses levers vs. a butterfly nut on my old Skil.
+ Tilt lock is a nice feature. Though many people who have this saw never use it, I have actually used it a couple of times: different adjustments when cutting lumber vs. when trimming doors.
+ Guide visibility is excellent.
+ Base is about 1/8" thick solid aluminum, nice and flat, and solid feeling.

Cons:
- The base is flat all around. My old skill, for example, had a lip on the back and front side. If you're stuck using a somewhat flat, and inadequately clamped guide (like a straight thin piece of plywood that you trust), that may slightly lift in the middle, you run the risk of the base plate riding under your guide. As a result, at some point I may modify the base by screwing on an additional 1/8" lip on the inside top.
- Case: Very minor complaint: it would be nice if it included some blade storage. I have some extra blades, including a cheap plywood blade and an expensive finishing blade. I would love to be able to store them in the case with the saw.

Overall, I have no regrets and recommend this saw. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 in part because of the base plate, but also because I can't recommend it above all other circular saws. Both the Journal of Light Construction and Fine Homebuilding had circular saw reviews. This particular saw, a specific Bosch, and a specific Porter Cable, were in the top three for both reviews. Though in the top three of both, This Milwaukee made it into the top 2 favorites/recommended in one article but not the other. Before purchasing this saw, I would recommend finding and reading those articles to decide which of the three would better meet your needs or preferences.

OK the fact is I havnt even used the saw yet. I own 3 other Milwaukee tools and feel they are the best. One reason I buy one tool or product over another is where the tool is made. I have bought Milwaukee and Porter Cable and have been happy with both. My problem is the saw is not made in the U.S. per the technical data page. That doesnt mean its not the best saw on the market. The feel of the tool is of high quality, I plugged it in and ran it up and tested the brake which functioned perfectly. I am pleased with the service I recieved from Amazon. The tool arrived in only a few days in perfect condition. I was however, disapointed it was not made in the U.S.This causes me to wonder about long term quality. I have a milwaukee angle grinder (made in U.S.) which has been abused for years and works flawlessly. In another buisness fabricating in metal we had a Milwaukee Magnum Hole Shooter drill (made in U.S.) which was the best power tool I ever used. My ex partner still uses it to this day. and it will still break your wrist if you dont treat it with respect.I gladly pay more for products made in the U.S., and often do not shop other brands. If Milwaukee is going to manufacture tools outside the U.S I will be more open to shopping other brands. Americans without jobs dont buy tools. I will write another review after using the saw for a while. I must admit it looks like all I expected and I'm sure its a great saw.......OK I've used the saw for a few weeks now...I'm loving it so far...feels great in the hand,good sight to blade, not too much dust in the eyes...the only complaint I can think of so far is the plastic blade guard...I find myself placing the saw down gently for fear of breaking it. Probably irrational but I think about it every time I put the saw down. Time will tell but so far I'm thrilled. M.R.

This is the very best saw on the market today. Durable, powerfull, and very well balanced with incredible line of site with outstanding bevel adjustment mechanism !

This kit looked nice, Milwaukee had a good reputation and the specs on each unit looked much better than the competition. How I was decieved. After three-four months of everyday contractor use, two batteries failed. Luckily when I purchased the kit there was a extra battery rebate (should have raised flags). While the two batteries were sent back to Milwaukee for free replacements (One Year Warantee) I barely survived on one battery and my 10 year old (still running great) Porter-Cable 12v drill/driver. Got back my two new batteries and two months later the gears on the cordless saw failed. Sent the saw out for free repair (Five Year Warantee) survived on my 8 year old (still running great too) 14.4v Dewalt cordless saw. Three months later the bearings on the drill burned up. Sent it out for free repair survived once again on my PC 12v drill now 12 years old. I now have all tools operating and batteries holding their own. The only tool which has not needed repair is the light (go figure). After two years of this kit, I've had it and currently shopping for a new Kit. Bought out by Roybi Int'l and manufacturing facilities moved from USA to China & Taiwan and stiff price competition by Dewalt, P-C, and Bosch has led me to the poor quality of these tools. I was going to give this review zero stars however the replacement/repair system is great. Milwaukee corded tools by my experience are top notch and would never trade my hole-hawg, sawzall and hammer drill, but the cordless kits need to go back to the drawing board.

For anyone looking for a complete set of tools the Combo-Kit gets my vote. The Milwaukee brand got good reviews in Fine Homebuilding Magazine, for the cordless tools. I am an advanced woodworker, and am involved in a big remodeling project, and have used the tools. I also own Mikita, Bosch, and Hitachi. They all make great tools, but the cordless Circular Saw, and the Hatchet, are the first ones I purchased after using corded tools. I spent months investigating the competition, and these stand out!

Really. I've only used corded tools for 20 some years of work and I laughed at the elelectrican who brought one of these drill drivers to the worksite recently. I was sceptical of the ability of these things to do extended work. No problem, after working with this drill a couple of days I bought this combo set with the radio, sawsall, saw and drill and flashlight for myself. Now I have to really think about taking the corded handtools out to do the job. I do take all 3 batteries with me to work with the charger and can burn through all of them in a day of heavy use. I've used the drill most, but all the tools in the set are first rate and all my corded milwaukee tools I've had for at least 7 - 10 years so If their name is on them I'm hoping for the best.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had problems with defective saws.
I've been a Milwaukee fan and user most of my life. I'm 52. So when I needed a miter saw for a job I naturally went straight to Milwaukee. I ordered a 6497-6 10 inch from an on line dealer (no one in town had one in stock) after quite a bit of compairison shopping. I actually almost bought a DeWalt because everyone in town had them in stock. Well the saw was delivered last Thursday 7-6-06. I set it up in my garage to test run it before taking it to the job site. During the test I set it on a 45 degree bevel and started to make a cut. The lock pin slid right down and engaged, locking the saw in the down position and causing it to jam. At that point it kicked so hard that it actually cracked the housing around the pin. Okay. Not that big a deal but now I couldn't take it to work and had to make about 25 phone calls to the supplier and Milwaukee to get a new saw sent out. Well the replacement came today 7-12-06 and I never even got this one out of the box.
While unpacking it I wanted to check the lock pin and make sure it worked. ( no need to unpack it if this one is defective too )
I never did find out if it worked because the pin on this one was actually completely broken off. I found it lying in the bottom of the box. I understand production and know that sometimes things just happen, but what are the odds that I would get two saws in a row that had a completely different defect on exactly the same part. I honestly don't know if I really want a Milwaukee or not at this point. I don't want to turn anyone off on Milwaukee here but I can't help wondering if quality control is really up to snuff in Taiwan and how many other things might be gettting missed.

First, this saw is NOT made in Germany, as stated in Amazon's Technical Details. It is made in Taiwan. Two days after notifying Amazon of the error, it is still there. I received the saw, removed it from the box for inspection, then promptly returned it. The lower blade guard was annoying at best. It both engaged and disengaged with a slamming action. The assembly allowed several inches of motor travel before the guard engaged. Not certain why it slammed upon returning to the upright position. A small amount of lateral pressure produces noticeable deflection, though it does decrease as the arm reaches a horizontal position. The bevel set-up is ridiculous. A vertical threaded knob applies downward pressure to the scale in order to lock in your angle. The scale assembly then moves so much you can watch the pointer shift as much as two degrees. How can you expect to obtain repeatable and accurate results? If you intend to use your saw for cabinetry, etcetera, look elsewhere. I generaly respect Milwaukee tools, however, this one is not satisfactory.

I don't know what's going on with the saws people are writing all the negative stuff about, but I've owned one of these for years, and it's been a rock solid performer. A "job site injury" finally cracked the case, causing it to fail to hold alignment, and I'm paying to have it repaired rather than buy another. But, if I did buy instead, I'd buy another of these. It's a solid saw.

Being a home remodler I own both Millwaukee and Dewalt cordless drills and saws. I have experianced the problem of removing the battery packs from my Millwaukee tools that other people have refered to, but I was able to overcome the problem with some silicone spray. My biggest problem is that I spent the money for the Milwaukee 18 volt combo pack thinking I was buying a "HEAVY DUTY" product, only to find out that the battery life of my 14.4 volt Dewalt set runs circles around BIG RED.

Bought this kit for building my own house. I'm not dissatisfied with product performance, but a bit disappointed by the lack of ovewrall quality based on other Milwaukee tools I've owned and worked with.

My guess is that Milwauke will implement some improvements in each of component over the next year or so based on customer feedback.

I strongly agree with another buyers frustration with removing the battery packs from the tools. After the first few uses, the batteries can become virtually impossible to remove without beating them against something. Really poor design.

As others have mentioned, the quality of saw cuts from the circular saw are just "ok", but can't hold a candle to my corded Skil saw.

Sawzall has been great, very powerful. Hachet design is smart idea. (I love it, with the exception of the battery removal problem).

Drill/screwgun is built well. However, while screwing down my floor deck I found too much variability in the screw torque setting. I buried some screws while others had a raised head. It got a little frustrating, but not to the point of giving up, it just required that I back off a little on the trigger while finishing each screw.

Surprisingly, the flashlight has gotten ton of use. I thought it would set in the bag, but with some long work days late in the autumn, it has been used virtually every day. It is bright and has a nice wide beam. The adjustable head and ability to stand up the unit and point it at the job is really nice. This light helps me find my way from the work site to the truck each night.

Like I said, overall, I'm satisfited, but I'd expect Milwaukee to fix the flaws in this first generation product. I'd wait for improvements if you can.

Update to my review (3/03) - Well, a few months more use and a couple more problems. My battery charger died. The LED light still came on indicating that the unit was powered, but the batteries wouldn't charge. Unfortunately I had go out a buy a replacement charger since I couldn't wait for a repair. The new charger is still working and now I have a spare.

Then the flashlight that I said I was so pleased with died! Again I really didn't want to wait for a warrenty repair so I took it apart (not much can go wrong with a flashlight, right?). I found a burned off copper trace on a printed circuit board inside the unit. I jumpered the trace with a wire and the unit is again working fine.

I've worked these tools pretty hard so I'll be generous and maintain my three star rating, but if any more goes wrong, I'll have to reconsider.

Being a remodeling contractor I usually give my tools quite a workout. As usual Milwaukee comes through again with a collection of fine tools at an affordable price. I've tried the "Big Yellow Ones" but they don't hold up like a "Milwaukee". I guess the only bad comment I can think of about the whole package is the sawzall seems to use up batteries pretty fast. I would recommend having at least 3 total if you plan to use the sawzall for extended periods. By the time one charges up the other is completely dead. The hand saw, drill and work light seem to operate forever on a battery. I would highly recommend this product if you do a lot of quick in and out jobs where you don't want to drag extension cords and tools around. The contractor bag works great keeping track of your tools and ease of transportation. I plan to buy a couple more of these packages for my crew.

I found that the chuck loosens itself during hammer drill operation, requiring frequent retightening. Personally, I would say the keyless chuck is not worth the extra money. The drill itself seems fine, and I wish I had the normal chuck.

I am a DIYer out of the home that needed a hammerdrill for projects in my basement and brick exterior. I bought this as I thought Milwaukee was "THE" tool company. My friend was helping with some tapcon anchors in the basement and was using my very expensive hammerdrill. He criticized it's lack of power and laughed a bit. Came back a few minutes later with a Dewalt hammerdrill. Big difference - much lighter, faster and it doesn;t look so archaic. I returned the milwaukee and just borrow my friends drill now. I did some checking - the Dewalt is cheaper anyways.

I have used this drill on numerous occations and have yet to be discoraged with it's preformance. It is a small yet sturdy drill for: wood, brick, block, and metal. My employer supplies this drill to my coworkers also. I would buy this drill for at home use due to it's many applications.

I got this Milwaukee Router in early 2005, and I love it. I had used a Craftsman router for over 20 years, and when it wore out, I bought a Ryobi router. The height adjustment on Ryobi locked up after a very short period and wouldn't move, so i took it back for a refund and got the Milwaukee. Best router I've ever used. Height adjustment is superb...accurate and easy to use. It's far more solid and well built than any router I've ever used. The only thing I don't like about it is the on/off switch is awkward to reach. (It's located in the middle of the housing, instead of being on the side.) I would greatly prefer this switch to be close to one of the handles so I can turn the router on or off without having to take my hand away from the handle. To me, this is a design flaw. Other than that, I'm extremely pleased with the router.

routers do not have machined subases.miter saw tables and table saws do.this tool seems fine but its base is not flat.put a straight edge across.the bushing subase is also far from flat.router users should always check the base plate.i have several routers and have gotten pat warner base plates from him.he machines a clear baseplate.you need a flat baseplate to get the best quality dados dovetails etc.i have not used the machine yet till i get my baseplate but the strap definitely feels nice and the fine adjustment is smooth.i am giving 5 stars on comfort of router.i will have it cranking in a week.

As a professional carpenter/business owner I am always buying new tools so I can find the latest and greatest for quality of work, ease of maintenance and for the safety of my guys. The Milwaukee router is an awesome router hands down. I have always been and porter cable guy for routers until I tried my buddies Milwaukee, and needless to say I had to get one. I was a little disappointed however to see that this router did not have a full 5 star rating. I read the review that was rated 1 star and I have to say that his router was put under allot more stress than it was designed for by using panel raising bits. This kind of router is not designed for that kind of use. It puts allot more stress on the router than a "weekend/hobbyist" would. I own three porter cable routers and have since replaced them with the Milwaukee routers due to there ability to take a beating in a trailer, cabinet shop, job site, and even in my own garage. Routers are used for some things and Shapers are used for other things, i.e. raised panel construction.

Purchased (2) of these impact drivers for metal roofing and siding, metal studs and some drywall on projects in Alaska. Both impact guns needed replacement (gearing stripped in one, nosepiece cracked on other exposing gears) within first three weeks, one replacement lasted only one month (gears whined like original and then quit). I also had a 12V Makita that still runs great (didnt even have the new NiMH batteries) after(3) of the (4) Milwaukees broke down in IDENTICAL applications. Makita now makes a 14.4V (NiMH) impact driver which is the one I would suggest hands down.

I purchased this impact driver about a month ago. So far, I am very pleased with its performance. I've used it to drive lag bolts, tighten anchor bolts, and screw down Trex decking. I am suprised at how much torque this small tool is able to produce. I originally bought it because I had read reviews on how great impact drivers are for decking. While waiting for mine to arrive, a boss I know from outside my company had a dispute with one of his employees about how effective impact drivers really were. The employee was using a 14.4 Makita impact driver to screw down Trex decking. The screws took longer to screw in and the batteries would die about every 4 boards. He eventually asked him to just use a regular drill/driver for the rest of the deck. This got me worried. So when mine arrived, I did a little test. I screwed down a 20 foot piece of Trex with both a Milwaukee 18v drill and then one with the new impact driver, twice. I found that if you used both hands to apply pressure on the drill (to keep it from stripping the head), the drill will drive the screw much faster than the impact driver. BUT, the advantage to the impact driver is that you only need 1 hand to finish off the screw (you don't need to apply as much pressure). Since you have 1 free hand, you can be reaching for your next screw, thereby becoming much more efficient. In fact, I was able to fasten the boards 23% faster with the impact driver than the drill. And, the screws are much less likely to be stripped. The 2 batteries, however, were not able to keep up with the work, and I found myself resorting to the drill some of the time while recharging. Overall, a great little tool, worth the investment if you have a use for it. I'd recommend it.

I purchased the Milwaukee 9081-22 14.4 volt impact after reading the Tools of the Trade test comparing all the then available tools in the 12 and 14 volt class. Up to that time I had used nothing but a 9.6 volt Makita impact that is at least 12 years old. The Milwaukee has the endurance and power to R&R a 16' X 7' garage door with ease on a single battery and is tough enough to take the occasional drop from 10' or so. It recently broke down and the 5 year warranty sure doesn't hurt.

I have to say I agree with the Top 500 reviewer on DeWalts. I can't yet comment on Milwaukees - or any other brand of cordless because Dewalt is the only brand we use at work.

Originally started out with a 14.4 3/8 drill. This drill has held up well but the batteries don't last long at all - charge and life.

Went on to some 18 volt units, one a 1/2 inch standard and the other a 1/2 inch hammerdrill. The batteries seem to be lasting as far as life is concerned, charge isn't exceptional. Under continuous use we can probably get 30 to 45 minutes out of one. The drill drivers, themselves, are a different story though. They started out fine and have been heavily used but after about 1 year the internal gears grind as though they were set for clutch operation. They aren't but that's how the grinding seems.

Don't even get me started on DeWalt battery chargers. We can't keep them going. We've gone through about five of them. The only one left is the original one that came with one of our 18 volt units. They somehow blow circuits. The latest two 18 volt universal chargers that we bought about seven months ago gave up the ghost after about 4 months - been using just the one charger since then. Management justly thinks it's too expensive to buy any more of them. It's rough juggling the use of the drills with one charger but thanks to our corded units we manage

I recently went through the process of researching the purchase of an 18 volt corless hammerdrill for my personal use. One thing that stuck in my mind that caused me to not consider DeWalt (actually is Black and Decker) was the experience with them at work. They look neat and all but they don't hold up well. The only other brand I considered was Makita but the memories of my fathers personal cordless Makita drill caused me to overlook it - batteries didn't hold up. That left me with Milwaukee. Milwaukee has been around a very long time and I've alway had good luck with the corded products - I can even remember the corded drill my father had when I was a child. Very good and durable products.

I know nothing about the quality of Milwaukee's cordless tools but I'm about to find out.

As far as the 5 star rating in this response: The site wouldn't let post this response without selecting a star rating so I didn't want to give a low rating - some people might not bother to read the reviews, they might just look at the stars and make decisions about Milwaukee's quality based on that alone. A 5 star response was the only choice till I actually have experience with the equipment so as not to take anything away from the company.

I bought this set ... during the summer promotion. Great set! The hammer drill performed wonderfully in both modes and drove 12in drive screws to 4x4s with no problem. The sawzall worked great on nail embeded wood and the circular saw was great (with the blade on the left) for ripping plywood like butter. I built 2 12x12 decks and built a 10x10 tool shed just using this tool set. The quality and craftsmanship is excellent. Millwaukee makes the best 18volt cordless tools. This is the best tool kit for the professional or the serious doit yourselfer. Amazon.com service is great. Very happy!

A home run for Milwaukee. No not the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team.
This is the best set of 18 volt tools I have owned and I have owned about everything available. We just built a wood frame swing set for my grandchildren. It had hundreds of #10 large root 1 1/4" long screws and over 50 that were 4"'s long. We drilled all the pilots and drove all the screws with one charge of the battery and still had plenty of power left. We also drove eight 5/16 x 4" lag bolts and ran many nuts on the same charge. We used the circular saw two cut the lumber lots of 2x4's and 1x 3's 4's and 6's. The 18 volt sawzall performed flawlessly for cutoff's and the way the blade changes is a real nice feature. I am glad to see that Milwaukee now has obital action with Sawzall, something they were slow about doing, but it is the best I have used once they suppy it. Yes a home run, Touch down, Three pointer or goal. Any of those terms relate to this extra good system. I think that this 18 volt system rivals it's competitors 24 volt system.

After ranting to Milwaukee about batteries being dead too soon (like others commenting on the 18V battery), they informed me that this charger would recover batteries that were apparently exhausted when attempting to recharge on the single port model charger. They were right: But, I'm keeping the replacement batteries anyway. Trouble is first time I plugged it in it popped a breaker. After resetting the breaker, one of the battery ports was dead. This HAD to be a manufacturing defect. Fortunately, Amazon was good enough to ship a replacement. Hope the replacement unit doesn't disappoint.

This charger has performed very well. Previously I would end up with all four of my batteries dead (all charged the prior evening) before finishing a job. Now I can keep continuously charging two or three batteries thus never having to waste time waiting for power. It is easy to carry and a great storage place for extra batteries. This charger performs as it claims and I am very satisfied.

Besides having all the conveiences that are obvious from the product description, this product had a pleasant surprise benefit. Upon receiving the charger, I tried charging previously dead, unchargable batteries with success. I have two standard Milwaukee chargers that refused to charge 3 older batteries. I had given up on them but was holding onto them until I could get to a proper NiCad disposal center. I attributed their failure to poor battery design primarily due to the poor reviews these batteries have received in the past. To my surprise, this charger resurrected them, making the price of the unit seem all the more reasonable. I used to like the tools and hate the batteries. Now I'm happy with the whole system.

I do not recommend this drill. The battery failed within a year and the new 18 volt NiCad is failing again after about another year. I use it only occasionally so the comment regarding battery failure in this tool for DIY resonates.

Also, I don't think the tool lives up to its torque claims. Finally, the battery from day one has been difficult to remove. The side squeeze mechanism never worked properly.

I don't own this drill, but I do know why so many folks have had battery problems. The 18V batteries that Milwaukee includes with this drill are nickel cadmium. Nicads are known for having "memory" problems caused by recharging batteries before they are fully discharged. And here is a gem of a quote from the wikipedia - "NiCd batteries, when not used regularly, tend to develop dendrites (thin, conductive crystals), causing internal short circuits and premature battery failure, long before the 800-1000 charge/discharge cycles claimed by most vendors." Bam!

This means that if you are an occasional user (weekend warrior), you'd be better off with a different brand that uses Nickel metal-hydride batteries. They are less prone to the problems described above. The 18V drills made by Makita, Panasonic, and Bosch all use NiMh batteries. Dewalt 18V drills come with NiCd.

This Tool is incredible, I upgraded from the Makita 18 volt. It was like moving from a Model T to a Mercedes. The balance is correct and I am sure to find a situation that will utilize the reversing battery mount.
The chuck really locks the bit in place. The clutch seems to be calibrated the same as the Makita and I have yet to break a screw.
It seems slightly heavier than the Makita but the comfortable grip makes up for it
I can recommend this product to any serious wood worker or to anyone that uses a Battery powered drill frequently