sawzaall experts

[Warren Lake]

at last left off my sawzall jammed up first issue in whatever 30 years at least I think. I normally have double of all tools in case of a failure only had one sawzall. Looked fast yesterday at a box show and saw basic sawzall 100 approx Heavy dugy 139 approx heavier duty rotating head so in corded three choices. Original will be taken apart when more time and then be the back up.

Any logic in one over the other right now heavy duty would be fine id think though the rotating feature may come in handy at times. I saw one battery one and that would be some freedom.

[Mark Bolton]

Been a long while since Ive bought or looked but if it were a tool I used regularly I'd be looking at the super sawzall in Milwaukee. I have an older anniversary edition with anti-vibe but no orbit. As I recall the low end models have (or had) a plastic wobble and the higher end are metal.

Same as you, always duplicates, and have a bosch as a backup to the Milwaukee and as much as I love bosch its night and day. Bosh will shake you to death, less fast with no anti-vibe but it gets the job done. The milwaukee is perhaps 20+ years old (maybe more) and runs like new. Only thing Ive ever had to do was tighten the clutch because I loaned it to a brute who cut without the shoe for some reason and pounded the nose into a wall a million times.

Id Imagine there are a mile of options out there but Ive always been partial to Milwaukee. Super sawzall is way above your two numbers (looks like $200 around here)

[Mike Kees]

Warren are you talking all Milwaukee products ? I have four different ones, #1 and my favorite all time is a Supersawzall that is about 30 years old. I had it completely rebuilt. I also have a couple of the newer ones that I look at as not as good despite 15 plus years of service with the Gorillas on my framing crews. (Think these were the heavy duty). My last one is a cordless M18 which is the one of the two remaining tools from my original kit bought in 2012. When it dies I will replace it with a Fuel version (brushless). Never expected it to last this long but it refuses to quit. Check out a couple pawn shops, Sawzalls are pretty easy to find.

[Michael Schuch]

I also use my old 120v Milwaukie sawzall for big jobs. For smaller jobs I use a Dewalt cordless which is really handy for things like cutting sprinkler pipe in the yard for repairs.

[Warren Lake]

seems a number of options.

Mark I was so paranoid many years back i bought a second combo machine. I had one customer who had terrible turn around times and there was no room for anything. Murphy never sleeps. In time talking to an engineer and suggesting we change one aspect he said she had those drawings 2 months ago., I realized one person was not working to help me in fact making challenges. They hired a secretary for her to do stuff and then drawings were say 2 months early instead of a week. Life got better right away. Both machines came from the same two European guys i knew best so there was also sentimental value there. I like it that I think of them when I fire one up or the stroke sander came from the wife of one of them.

Im on the roof with a leaf blower and a fall rope and thing on my waist not conventional. At the moment id welcome one device to trip me instead of two so not sure if battery is an option

I beat my sawzall to death and it never died.+ Whatever happened now should have happened 10 years ago, it seemed invincible. its stumped more trees than I can remember and was still tighter than what I just borrowed. The counterweight system is a joy., this being old has an allen key and see they have a better system now. I used alot of the large Axe blades and sharpen them with a die grinder. Its not perfect sharpen but its more than 80 percent as good as new not as smooth. Nanny state chip limiting now that was never on the older ones, they get the work done faster those old ones. I dont need a nanny yet.

[George Yetka]

Blades being equal the expensive one will get through your material faster. I do not like the quick disconnect. the older keyed ones were nicer if you could hold onto the key. I have purchased 6 a year for the past 30 years or so. Most walk or get lost. The ones that remain get tossed for bad cords. But if they make it through that the chuck gets to the point you need channel locks to move it.

[mike stenson]

Wait, toss a tool for a bad cord? Such an easy fix.

[Richard Coers]

What does this mean? at last left off my sawzall jammed up

[Warren Lake]

have to go by memory now but knew the day it happened memory is i was cutting and it thumped and stopped locked in one place. I was going to take it apart but there are too many things before it needing time. I cant push it in or out.

Thanks for the heads up on the quick release, I put a piece of tape on mine and that was enough extra pressure that the allen key hung around for the most part, had the same one for a while.

[Mike Kees]

I have more trouble with the quick release chucks than I do losing hex keys.

[Jack Frederick]

I have had my Milawaukee worded unit for 30 yr. I went with the M12 tools a few yrs ago and took advantage of a promo for the tool only on the M12 Sawzall. With the larger battery it does really well. With the small one you had better have back-ups. It is just so convenient, compact and capable.

[Warren Lake]

my jack of many trades friend says he has no issues with the quick release blade thing, he said you need to keep them oiled he uses WD.

He has bought rebuilt ones and has several now. He prefers the the rebuilt older ones said they were made better. I didnt get what but he said they dropped down more like Dewalt if what he said is accurate. I should have asked finer details but on tool stuff hes been pretty on track.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

A while back Milwaukee had a batch of bad blade releases. Probably 10 years ago if I remember correctly. You can change the parts out to fix.

The corded Milwaukee was the workhorse for a long time and is still a good tool. It has a few issues, one being the gear box heats up, and the blade change issue. We switched to battery tools, and there are some milwaukee and dewalt flexvolts in the tool room. Dewalt has better batteries, a better chuck and more power, but no rafter hook. Milwaukee has a rafter hook. One of my guys is die hard Milwaukee, and he has sent two in for service in the last year. I'll stick with Dewalt.

[George Yetka]

Wait, toss a tool for a bad cord? Such an easy fix.


OSHA doesnt allow for cord repair. You can swap the whole thing but I dont have a guy in the shop and Im a union shop so my guys cost me too much to spend the time diagnosing and repairing it. I get a new one for $85. The guys can take them home if they want.

[Mark Bolton]

OSHA doesnt allow for cord repair. You can swap the whole thing but I dont have a guy in the shop and Im a union shop so my guys cost me too much to spend the time diagnosing and repairing it. I get a new one for $85. The guys can take them home if they want.

Thats why I switched to the Milwaukee quick-lok cord. I dont have the issue of swapping a cord out, in fact on most tools as soon as any cord shows a little wear swap out the factory cord for a nice 25' SJOW extension cord that we chop the female end off and install it like a factory cord. 25' cords on all corded tools are heaven in my world. All soldered terminal ends, factory strain relief, etc.. Super handy. With the Milwaukee Quick-lok you can get long cord sets.

There is no OSHA issue on replacing a cord or even installing replacement plug ends on cords but its understandable paying a union scale employee to swap a cord may not be cost effective. Sad that a cord issue becomes a disposable tool but it is what it is.

The only downside to me on the quick-lok cords is I raise and lower tools by the cord all the time and while the quik-lok is rugged dont do that too often.

[Jim Becker]

Long ago and in a galaxy, umm...under my feet...I bought an "anniversary" edition of the Super Sawzall. I don't use it often, but it sure is a beast when it's the right tool for the job. Heavy, powerful, eats electricity for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, but it will cut through anything with the correct blade. I suspect if I were going to buy one today, given my history of limited us, I'd go lighter, but I can't say enough praise about the one Milwaukee tool I own...the Super Sawzall.

[Warren Lake]

thats why I said I thought it was invincible. It should have died 10 years ago from all the cutting roots in my mcigiver stumping way. It was so hot many times almost uncomfortable to hold onto. It worked fantastic stuff I could not do with a chainsaw as it will trash it instantly I just trashed an axe blade and put another one of 10 or 20 I had already sharpened. Good info here from everyone. The carpenter near me buys rebuilt ones as he wants the older ones. had a guy he dealt with for 20 years but that guy retired. I know that you have history with a great guy then never know what you get once he retires.

[mike stenson]

OSHA doesnt allow for cord repair. You can swap the whole thing but I dont have a guy in the shop and Im a union shop so my guys cost me too much to spend the time diagnosing and repairing it. I get a new one for $85. The guys can take them home if they want.
I know. The last time I did so it cost me $10 to replace the entire cord. Way cheaper than a new saw, and a whole lot less wasteful.

[Gabriel Marusic]

I've got the M18 Super Sawzall and have been happy with it outside of blade changing. The quick release chuck or whatever it is called is anything but.

[Ronald Blue]

When I was still working (retired officially last Friday) I had a standard duty on my truck. While it wasn't used frequently it was usually used extremely hard when it was. It wasn't the heavy duty version just the standard. The quick change blade release was never an issue. This was purchased in 2007 or 2008. It almost exclusively cut steel. Biggest job was a 4" shaft on a crane. That was a job! There were three of us and we tag teamed it because our forearms could only take about 20 minutes each. We changed blades then as I recall too. I think it took us close to 3 hours to get through it. It was obviously corded and for that type work the only way to go. I do recall it getting pretty hot around the blade end on extended cuts. I still consider Sawzall's to be the best but I haven't used anything else in recent years so that might be incorrect now.

[Dwayne Watt]

When I was still working (retired officially last Friday) I had a standard duty on my truck. While it wasn't used frequently it was usually used extremely hard when it was. It wasn't the heavy duty version just the standard. The quick change blade release was never an issue. This was purchased in 2007 or 2008. It almost exclusively cut steel. Biggest job was a 4" shaft on a crane. That was a job! There were three of us and we tag teamed it because our forearms could only take about 20 minutes each. We changed blades then as I recall too. I think it took us close to 3 hours to get through it. It was obviously corded and for that type work the only way to go. I do recall it getting pretty hot around the blade end on extended cuts. I still consider Sawzall's to be the best but I haven't used anything else in recent years so that might be incorrect now.
Congrats on your retirement. Be forewarned that the next few months will be challenging regardless of how prepared you thought you were. It is a MAJOR life change that brings its own set of issues and joys.

[Zachary Hoyt]

2 weeks ago I had to cut an old 275 gallon oil tank in half so I could lift it out of a basement by myself. I used a probably 30 or 40 year old Sawzall that I bought on eBay for $50 or so last winter, and was able to do the whole cut in under 5 minutes. We have a Super Sawzall here at the farm which I've used a lot on occasion, and when I need it it's great. I also have an 18v DeWalt that's pretty good, but I don't like the shoe as much and of course being cordless it is only good for small jobs.

[Ronald Blue]

Congrats on your retirement. Be forewarned that the next few months will be challenging regardless of how prepared you thought you were. It is a MAJOR life change that brings its own set of issues and joys.

Thank you. I'm taking it one day at a time currently. I had to use up 5 weeks vacation first so it wasn't "real" until the 5th. I've been running a tractor for a farmer friend doing fall tillage the last week. Rained out today but will be back at it in the morning.

[Warren Lake]

my neighbour walked each day long walks with his dogs. Picked up beer cans or bottles on side roads in ditches. Pathetic that he found so many or that people do that both drink and liter. He finally took them all back and had a enough coin to pay for gas to drive from Toronto area to Nova Scotia.

[Jim Becker]

Thank you. I'm taking it one day at a time currently. I had to use up 5 weeks vacation first so it wasn't "real" until the 5th. I've been running a tractor for a farmer friend doing fall tillage the last week. Rained out today but will be back at it in the morning.
There's kinda a "withdrawal" process that comes with retirement for many folks as they wean themselves off the work routine "drug". It was nice you got a head start on that...for me, it was about three months before I truly settled down to be busier than ever. LOL