Skil Sawsquatch Beam Saw

[Patrick Kane]

Has anyone used the Sawsquatch carpentry chainsaw? Im looking at picking one up for a timber frame project to cut 8x8"+ to length. Its a chain saw, so cut finish isnt important, but im more than a little concerned about how squarely it cuts. The youtube reviews leave a lot to be desired--to be fair, they are all rough framing guys and none are TFers. On my last project, i cut each side and finished with a handsaw, but that is a fair amount of time and effort when you multiply it by 50 cuts. I saw people rave about the 16" circ sawsquatch, but i dont have a good feel for this one. Anytime someone asks about it, others chime in saying how the Prazi Beam Saw accessory was just 'so-so' for them. This is the dedicated beam saw from Skil that is relatively new to market. Not to build it up like it competes with the Mafell, but i almost purchased a used 16" Mafell circ saw from a guy off craigslist, and he told me the 16" sawsquatch was about 7/10 as good as the mafell. If the same is true of the carpentry chain saw, then im going to jump all over it. If it sucks, then ill stick to the Mafell KSS80 and a ryoba, i suppose.

[Bill Dufour]

Why no mention of the Makita beam saw?
Bill D

[Patrick Kane]

Bill, this is a slightly different animal and not an apples:apples to the makita. This is a chainsaw that cuts 14-15” thick in one pass.

The model is the SPT55-11

[Bill Dufour]

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vintage-photos-of-lumberjacks-and-the-giant-trees-they-felled
I have heard of the spruce goose. Until today I had never heard of the US Army "spruce division" (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vintage-photos-of-lumberjacks-and-the-giant-trees-they-felled) charged with providing spruce lumber for the air corps.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/spruceproductiondivision.htm

Bill D

[Jonathan Jung]

IMO every option will fall short of the Mafell. My 2nd pick would be the Festool unit. Then the Makita/Skill after that.

[Tom M King]

edited to add: Sorry, I posted the below before I realized you were talking about a chainsaw version.

I have had the first version Makita 16-5/16 saw for around 40 years. I also own a Prazi. I'm sure the Sawsquatch is a quite capable saw.

The Prazi is not a finish saw. It only gets the call when it's necessary for the depth of cut. With the right blade, any 16" saw should cut a fine cut if my old one can do it.

The last blade I bought for the Makita was an Oshlun. I can highly recommend it. The bottoms of the feet of these 4x6 legs all had to be cut on a compound angle, and some different than the others. I had just put that Oshlun blade on, and it not only stayed true, but all the cuts were like a polished cut on a table saw with a new Forrest blade. IT's not even the high tooth count blade they sell.

I also have a 10-1/4" Milwaukee, and the big saw is only used when it's needed. The 10-1/4 will cut most tenon shoulders, and is a lot easier to handle. The big one is not hard to control. The blade speed is low, but it's just BIG.

Unless you're going to be using one every day for a living, I'd not spend more money than you need to.

[Tom M King]

In all honesty, I can make a cut with a regular chainsaw as good as with the Prazi, and do. I used the Prazi back when I was building our house in 1980 because I wasn't as good with a chainsaw as I am now.

I keep an electric chainsaw (Craftsman from the 1970's) that I use on old houses. The chain gets run dry. You would think the chain would wear out almost immediately, but they don't, nor does the bar. They do, of course, wear quicker than with chain oil, but the little bar and chain combos are cheap. I don't want to throw oil inside a house.

I well sharpened, tight chain can make a very clean cut, but still not like a good circular saw blade.

[scott lipscomb]

Agreed that a chainsaw is a very useful tool sometimes in carpentry. I have a Stihl cordless chainsaw which is fantastic, though the 1/4" blades dull quickly. I actually bought the Sasquatch chainsaw beam saw yesterday (before I saw this thread) and its still in the box. I need to cut a whole bunch half laps in 6x6s for an outdoor staircase that I need to build on a project. The dirth of reviews has me a little bit concerned...I'll double back in a week or two and let everyone know how it went.

[Tom M King]

I just scanned through this video. It looks like a good tool. More important than a regular chainsaw though, but still two of the most important issues about keeping one cutting true and clean, keep the chain sharp, and tight.

I would say it's a good tool for someone who knows how to sharpen a chain. Without that, I expect satisfaction will wane quickly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHS3lRm1m24

I remembered this video a friend took of me doing some trail clearing on our trails after a big Winter storm blow. This is what a sharp chain looks like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2cdN53BxGs

[John Pendery]

My experience is limited to prazi attached to my skil worm drive and Makita’s beam saw. Depth of cut will be a couple inches shy on 8” material, but I would still reach for the circular beam saw over the prazi every time. I can cut more accurately freehand with a chainsaw than with the prazi, and the circular saw leaves a far superior finish. I’ve never used the Mafell, but from what other tools of theirs I’ve used would assume it’s far superior to the prazi and likely not comparable. To me it would depend on what you are doing and how often you’ll be doing it. For one project I wouldn’t mind cleaning up the cuts with two passes (or finishing cut with sawzall), but for all day every day I would get the best tool for the job and in my experience that tool is not the prazi.

[Bill Dufour]

8" depth of cut needs a 22" circular blade. so a handheld circular saw is out. They did/do make radial arm saws that big.
How accurate are the "portable" bandsaws used for shipyards?

Bill D

[Bruce Wrenn]

In all honesty, I can make a cut with a regular chainsaw as good as with the Prazi, and do. I used the Prazi back when I was building our house in 1980 because I wasn't as good with a chainsaw as I am now.

I keep an electric chainsaw (Craftsman from the 1970's) that I use on old houses. The chain gets run dry. You would think the chain would wear out almost immediately, but they don't, nor does the bar. They do, of course, wear quicker than with chain oil, but the little bar and chain combos are cheap. I don't want to throw oil inside a house.

I well sharpened, tight chain can make a very clean cut, but still not like a good circular saw blade.

Tom, I own a pair of those Sears electric chain saws. Switched out the "self sharpening" chain years ago. Last week had to replace the cord on one as it had broken right where it enters the handle. These were definitely one of the better tools that Sears sold!

[Tom M King]

Yes, that saw had that built in chain sharpening gizmo. I took that out when I needed to replace the first weird chain. I think that saw was new in 1975, or maybe even a year or two before that.

[Patrick Kane]

Scott,

Have you cut those few dozen of 6x6s yet? It’s convenient that you can be my Guinea pig. Too bad you didn’t buy that sucker a month ago and put a mile of use on it already! Please let me know once you use it. I mostly want to know if it cuts plumb or if it sucks.

Tom, I suspect you are right and that sharp trumps all with this tool. Not sure how long you can expect the chain to stay sharp, but the one YouTube review was a guy using it with the OEM chain after a year of construction use. Of course it’s performance will be somewhat disappointing with a super dull chain.


I don’t own a chainsaw of any variety, and I can’t say how skilled I would be cutting Timbers to length with one freehand. My planned use for this sawsquatch was to line up 3-4 Timbers at once. Clamp them together with a straight edge clamped to them, and then cut them to length simultaneously. And even if it’s out of square/plumb a smidge, it kinda doesn’t matter, because the end of the cut is just the end of a tenon. I think the more versatile pickup would be a 16” circular saw, but I have the opportunity to grab the skil beam saw used for $400.

[Tom M King]

You can probably sell it and get all, or most of your money back when you finish with it, but that doesn't sound like much of a use for it. If you have a worm drive Skil saw, I can send you a Prazi attachment for nothing, if I can find it. I'm sure I will never use it.

[Bill Dufour]

The only advantage I see is you can use a fixed guide for the powerhead. I suppose you could use an Alaska sawmill for similar cuts.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

Maybe a light cut with a router bit the width of then chainsaw blade to line things up. Use one of those router adapters for an old RAS.
Bill D

[scott lipscomb]

Hey Patrick, I don't even have the material yet and I am still trying to figure out what the best approach is. I will post in a week or so.

Drawing of what I want to do below. All 6x6s with lap joints. Bought the beam chainsaw for this purpose, but wondering if free handing with a chainsaw would be better. Sharpening chains is not a an issue. Could also bring the material back to the shop and use a slider and a 30" band saw, but that would mean moving 40 8' 6x6s and would mean I still need a job site solution for adjustments. I have no experience with the large 16 3/4" circular saws (would they be a good solution for the 5 1/2" rip on the end grain?)

Any suggestions for a recommended approach on cutting these half laps in 6x6s?

480678

[Tom M King]

The big circular saws can rip that. The saw kerf continuing past the line on the inside of the structure won't show.

Another tool that would be good for that job is the Makita 6-1/4 power planer to handle any twist in the 6x's, so they can be stacked sticking to a fixed rise.

We have some 6x8 beams in our house that were ripped out of a 12x12 with the 16-5/16" Makita. One could make any of those cuts in a 6x. Mine is probably the lowest quality one ever made, but I can still make perfect, polished cuts with it.

[Tom M King]

Another thing to consider is rise and run for stairs. Normally, the target total for rise and run is 17 to 17-1/2". I have found as the rise goes below 7", if the run extends more than the 17-1/2" total, they walk more comfortably.

I put a 5-1/2" rise on the steps going out to our dog porch, so little puppies can more easily use them. I built the run at 13-1/4", and no person has ever walked them and looked like they had to think about their footing.

[scott lipscomb]

Thanks Tom

I build a lot of outdoor steps. My favorite rise:run is around 6:15, which is a ratio that I find very mellow and comfortable. I commonly use 2x rise+run=24-26" as a starting point (you can see, using the formula before, this equals 27), outdoor step total should be on the high side of that range, IMO. These will be 5 1/2"+:14. To use dimensional lumber I need to go 5 1/2" on the rise, which is a little bit short, and I need to catch up to an existing grade, so overall the total length of step is slightly on the short side, though this will be used by preschool aged children, so thats OK.

So...you think I should take this beam chainsaw back and pick up the 16 3/4" circular (which was sitting right next to it on the shelf), as the better tool for the job, and a better tool to own?

[Tom M King]

Yes, but that's just my opinion. I'm sure that chainsaw will work, but the circular saw will make it prettier. It would all depend on what your future use would be. The chainsaw is plenty good enough to get the job done.

As for the comment by the guy who used one for a year, and never sharpened the chain, he couldn't have used it much. With any chainsaw cutting green wood, I always hone the chain at every tank fillup. It's easier overall to keep it sharp with 2 strokes per tooth than fighting a dull one that ends up taking 7 strokes per tooth. Just like any woodworking tool, sharp ones are easier to use.

Notice me cutting up that Maple tree in the video. That took a fairly easy 4 minutes, whereas with a duller chain it could have been a fight for several times that many minutes.

[Patrick Kane]

Scott, that is interesting. I am unsure how the chainsaw will perform on a rip cut, but im guessing you will need to stay 1/8"+/- off your layout line and then come back and pare to your line with a chisel/slick. Who knows, maybe with a sharp chain this thing cuts laser straight and you can cut just a hair off your line and be good to go. There are a lot of different ways to skin this cat. One of which is what i primarily did on my last timber frame for the tenons. You set your circular saw to the required depth to form your tenon, cut about 20 kerfs per side, whack out the waste with a hammer, and then chisel to your line/tenon template. You can do this with $25 worth of craigslist tools, but it is SLOW. I mean painfully slow. Im tooling up for a much larger and complex frame at my parents' property, and i cannot use the same process for making tenons this time around. The ideal solution would be a shoulder cut with a track saw followed by mafell's bandsaw to cut the cheeks. I cant seem to find a bandsaw for under $5-6,000, which is kind of annoying.

Well, i have to say, you all have me rethinking this purchase in a big way. Im probably an hour away from buying the sawsquatch circular saw, which seems to temporarily be down to $639.99 new retail. Its a bit more than the used carpentry chainsaw, but it has more versatility. The chainsaw is really just a rough cutoff tool. I dont think i would trust it to cut joinery very well. Then again, i dont know that i trust myself to dropcut tenons with the 16" saw very well. Thats the whole reason i havent purchased one of those big saws yet. Its not big enough to cut through most timbers in one go, and it seems far too large to comfortably and accurately cut vertically. I guess I will find out, but if you are competent at dropcutting, then that will reduce the time per tenon/half lap by atleast 10-15 mins. Multiply that by 60 odd joints and you see why spending the money makes sense.

[Tom M King]

I would make all the cuts to the line after taking care of any twists in any of them for Scott's steps. I make all timber cuts to the line, including when I use a regular chainsaw.

For a start of Scott's job, I would make (if I didn't already have them) a couple of really strong sawhorses at the right height. The idea being to lay a bunch of them on the sawhorses, so you could go down the line repeating the same cut for as many as you could get on there.

I've built stuff for a living for 48 years now.

I remembered the picture with one of the sawhorses. I made these out of a 2x12, and some 2x4's a comfortable height to work on beams. I can't remember how high they are, but you want the top of the beams you're working on to be a comfortable height to operate the saw. I have others different heights too, but this will give you an idea. People build much fancier ones, but these were quick and easy to stick together.

[Tom M King]

Here's another picture of those sawhorses. I just made them out of leftover stuff I had. For Scott's job, I would build some longer ones.

[Tom M King]

And the 6+" Makita power planer that's handy even when the finished surface is my hand.

[scott lipscomb]

The skil beam chainsaw seems to be a great tool for the job. I didn't personally operate it-one of my guys is on it, but he really likes it and hasn't had any trouble making very precision cuts. Thumbs up on this tool.
481081

[Tom M King]

Looks great!

[Patrick Kane]

Just when i wrote this tool off, you rope me back in! I think im just going to buy both and see what i like. Heck, i might end up keeping both, but the effectiveness of the 16" circ saw diminishes when you have the beam saw that can cut your 6x6" in one go. From what you describe, the carpentry chainsaw might be ok to cut the cheeks of a tenon.

[Tabetha Lockwood]

Here's another picture of those sawhorses. I just made them out of leftover stuff I had. For Scott's job,, (https://powertools-en.com/skil-table-saw/) I would build some longer ones.

I can't view the pictures. Can you send it privately, please? Thank you.

[Frederick Skelly]

I can't view the pictures. Can you send it privately, please? Thank you.

To see the pictures and send/receive messages, you'll need to join up as a contributor. That's only $6 per year and it helps to pay the bills here. If you'd like to join us, use the gold "donate" button in the blue banner at the top of this page. This is a great site and if you enjoy woodworking, you'll get a lot of knowledge here.

Fred

[Jim Becker]

I can't view the pictures. Can you send it privately, please? Thank you.
As Fred mentioned, photos are a benefit of being a Contributor which has a minimum donation of only $6 per year. Click on the Donate button at the top of the page. Becoming a Contributor also gets you private messaging (nobody can message you now) as well as access to the Classifieds, etc.