Ridgid Fuego opinion?

[Brian Penning]

Anyone have one of these 6.5 inch circular saws? So far been reading nothing but positive reviews about it.
Up here in Canuck land they're on sale for $99.

[George Leicht]

Brian -
Sorry, I don't have an answer for you. I'll bet they don't sell many of these in Spanish-speaking areas. Why would you name an electrical tool "fire"?
George

[Dan Lautner]

A good lightweight and powerful saw. I have had it for four months and like it. It is not built like a Hilti or makita but seems fine for light work. Here is my current list of saws and how I rate them on a 1 to 10 scale.

1. Rigid Fuego (8.5) - Good for trim work and over head cutting. base a bit flimsy

2. Milwaukee tilt lok (9) - Excellent power, framing workhorse

3. Festool TS 55 (10) Super slick, super accurate, perfect cuts for sheet stuff, uses for this saw could fill a book

4. Festool TS 75 (10) Super slick, super accurate, perfect cuts for thicker solid stock or wet lumber. Use Panther blade for rips

5. Makita Litheon (8.5) ok power, use a sharp thin kerf blade. Good for small jobs or cutting in home depot parking lot, great ergonomics

Dan

[Dan McGuire]

George,

That is a great point about the name. I bet Chevy whished they would have done the same thing when they tried to sell the Nova in mexico (no go in spanish)

[Kent Fitzgerald]

I haven't used it a lot, but my initial impressions are very positive. Wrangling my old 12 lb saw wasn't fun anymore, so I looked at several lightweight saws: Makita 5740, Porter Cable 345, Skil HD5510, and Ridgid. All the others seemed compromised in some way: capacity, power, or ergonomics (The PC and Skil are designed for one handed use only). Ridgid seemed like the only smaller saw that would completely replace my old boat anchor, as opposed to "handle 95%" of my needs.

After lots of comparing, the Ridgid saw went on sale for US$99, making the choice easy. So far, very I'm happy with the weight, power, and ergonomics. Adjustments are convenient, smooth, and precise. Kerf markings are clear, and the cut-line blower actually works. It cuts true to a straightedge guide, and the baseplate-to-blade offsets are nice, logical numbers (5"" left and 1.5" right, IIRC).