Circular Saws - which one to get

[greenacc]

I'm looking for a circular saw for general jobs around the house, the occasional dab at cabinet making and who knows probably cutting up a bit of firewood. It might even see a few clay pavers or be used on a Triton at some stage. Will probably go Electric rather than battery. I just can't imagine how a battery saw would have enough guts ?
Initially i'm leaning towards a Makita or Dewalt 7 1/4 inch saw which sell for about $150. Hitachi would be nice but most are double the price and i won't get enough use out of it to warrant the spend.
What's good and what do you use ?

[FstStig]

We have a Hitachi here as my dad is a Handyman/Carpenter by trade and it works really well, but as you mentioned they are very expensive. My second choice would be the Makita, also have some of their brands and we have had no complaints

[SP00KSTER]

we have a GMC circ saw, works great for almost every job we use it on.

[mattbombers]

we have a ryobi , gets the ocasional workout (think its been used 5 times since new, so not too much feed back) but for the cheap price it does the job

[Darren_L]

I've got some cheap shit Ozito thing from Bunnings. It has a laser light guide & all the other good bits.
I've only used it a few of times so far, with no complaints. Seems to have plenty of balls

it does however specify on the saw that it's not designed for trade use, so just depends on how much you want to spend vs useage.
It suits my occasional use

[Drawnnite]

i have never had a problem with Makita, and no one that i know of have either.
my old man has his old makita circ saw (plug in kind) and it would have to be like 15 years old. still going strong.

with the Dewalt if you go with them their Lith Ion batteries are terrible. if you use them alot and they heat up they used to just die while using them.
we use lots of Dewalt at work, and they do seem to be ok. but my personal preferance is i would not go out and buy them myself

the only reason to go battery is if you will not be near a power source. eg your out at your back fence on a 300 acre farm and you didnt want to bring a generator.

[vkberlina]

My Milwaukee battery saw keeps up with my Makita 240v....

You want 2 saws truthfully, cabinet making needs precision, so a 6 1/2" (dont quote sizes too closely going from memory but its slightly smaller than the 7 1/4") Makita would be ideal, cutting firewood, pavers etc requires outright grunt so you need to look at the electric motor and buy the one with the highest wattage motor you can afford 7 1/4" makita saws have several motors so you need to be careful my makita is about 2000watts from memory.

cheers
Scott

[STEEV888]

the biggest one...

[MasterOfReality]

If its for regular/occasional use, get the best one you can afford.

[Crisis63]

Its easy to be tempted for the cheapo Ozito gear and I have a cheapo jigsaw and sander that work fine. These days though the better brands are so cheap I rekon its worth spending $50 or $60 more. I have a Makita saw and drills and they are fine for what I do. Occasional handy man stuff. There is Makita and Makita of course. The cheap stuff is made in China and the more expensive stuff is made in Japan or the US. I don’t really know how much better made the US and Japanese stuff is but I would never use it enough to find out.
My mate who is a cabinet maker still rates them but he himself has Dewalt and Hitachi as well as Makita.

[Drewie]

I bought a Skil brand power saw about 30 years ago and it is still going strong I have done extensive renovations to our house over the years and it has never missed a beat, cut every thing from sleepers to flooring, not sure if they are still around or what price range they are in, I was also given a large Makita several years ago, good saw but a bit big for some of the general round the house stuff, so I still drag out the Skil saw when I have a project.

[walkahz]

Makita or Hitachi hands down, Dont worry with the cheap crap when it comes to power tools you get what you pay for.

[azkwazere]

Makita or Hitachi hands down, Dont worry with the cheap crap when it comes to power tools you get what you pay for.

Sadly not as true as in the old days... now companys want to make more consistant sales in shorter turn arounds so they dont make them as tuff. In most instances, your better off buying a very cheap tool and replaceing it when ever it breaks then forking our heaps for the more expensive brand (tradies excluded). I bought my first drill from super cheap for $13 on clearance.... still drills just fine whenever i use the thing.

aZk.

[rx2_freak]

i am a tradesman and have got a festool 240v circ saw, by far the best one i have owned. Not cheap but worth it for a trader. Makita 18v circ saw is also good for small jobs, although the only downside is battery life is relatively short, but only takes 20mins to charge.

i would recommend makita, dewalt or hitachi 240v for the home handyman.

[Darren_L]

Sadly not as true as in the old days... now companys want to make more consistant sales in shorter turn arounds so they dont make them as tuff. In most instances, your better off buying a very cheap tool and replaceing it when ever it breaks then forking our heaps for the more expensive brand (tradies excluded). I bought my first drill from super cheap for $13 on clearance.... still drills just fine whenever i use the thing.

aZk.

true, and this applies to hand tools as well.
can't just rely on brand names anymore. Afterall, do a bit of digging and you'll find a lot of the big brand names that were once made in the US, Europe or Australia are also now made in China....

[itsagixa]

i did a whole house renovation with the GMC tool range....sure they broke at the end but $70 for a drop saw beats $500+ for a makita one....
if your going to use the tools everyday get the best...if its just for odd jobs save the money and go GMC...they even come with a warranty...i got all my GMC stuff replaced after i had finished the reno...and that was 2 years ago and its still going strong

[gags_17]

dude bunning sell green makita7 1/4 circs, there about $115 there a great saw for the price, Im a chipy by trade and i just buy 2-4 a year and chuck em out, spending $350 on a saw just to drop and bend the base plate on sight gets pretty expensive after a while, Never have any trouble with the little makita, lacks balls but with the right blade and technique youll be shweet
happy punting boys!

[greenacc]

there is some wisdom in going cheap and green to save a few bucks as gags said, but the green bosch and green Makita stuff just don't give the same driving pleasure as a blue one for 50 bucks more.
The wifes dear old grandad once gave me an angle grinder for christmas from some 2 dollar shop he found. It just lasted long enough to sand 1 huge wooden beam in the deck with a flap disc, but towards the end the brushes were that worn i had to kick start it by spinning the blade by hand, so i swore i'd never go cheapo again, and for an extra 20 or 30 bucks youcan get a blue makita ...
Thanks for the advice and experiences all. When i get half an hour alone in bunnings i'll try pick a winner.
My old man has had the same Hitachi 7 1/4 for about 30 years !! I remember him using it back at our old house, the bearings are getting a bit screechy no though haha.

[azkwazere]

just FYI to all, GMC went bust hence you cant get their products anymore (or claim warranty)

aZk.

[greenacc]

GMC lol, a mate of mine bought one, it broke, he got a new one under warranty, it broke, got a new one under warranty, it broke ... see where this is going

[Drawnnite]

if you want to get some tools cheaper then at bunnings (their range is pretty average and seems more expensive then other places) try out
Sydney Tools
atleast you can get a half decent range to choose from with them.

[The pig]

Ive been a carpenter for 20 years and always use makita their power tools never let me down yet.