Skil Flooring Saw

[Thomas McCurnin]

I have some interior siding (knotty pine) to put up in a remote cabin. The boards will all need some cross-cuts, and some will need rip cuts for starter and ending strips. I have a portable sliding miter saw but lack a portable table saw for the rip cuts. I ran across a Skil Flooring Saw the other day and it performs both functions on stock 3/4" or less. See: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Skil-7-0...1-02/205329478


I'd rather not rent a portable table saw, assuming Home Depot even rents them.

Any reviews of this tool? Thanks in advance.

[Mike Wilkins]

I have that saw and have only used it for flooring. Works great for its intended purpose ie. flooring cuts. Beats having to constantly get up and down from the floor to make a cut. It should cut 3/4" material just fine, but I have never used for that. I got mine used (very lightly) but no problems, other than there was no owners manual or tools for changing the blade.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Interesting little gadget. Looks cumbersome to lug around though, you can do what you are thinking of with a speed square and a cordless circular saw or jigsaw with much less stuff to pack.

[Charles Lent]

That saw looks like it is for cross cutting only, but I've always just used my Delta miter saw and a fine tooth blade for cross cutting flooring and pine paneling.

How will you plan to do the rip cuts? Most any circular saw with a rip guide should be able to do what you need. I have even ripped red oak flooring this way. It takes a little care to guide the saw straight, but the result has always been good. I use my 18 volt DeWalt circular saw and a good combination blade along with the DeWalt accessory rip guide, but Kreg makes a better ripping guide that will attach to most any circular saw. To me, a table saw is a bit over kill for just the few rips that you will need.

When cutting any flooring or breaking down sheet stock, I now use a shop made cutting table. It's just a frame made from 1 X 4 pine with 5 pieces of 2 X 4 laid flat and flush with the top of the frame. These are spaced where needed to attach metal banquet table legs bought at Harbor Freight, plus one across the center of the table for strength. The legs fold up into the recess below the 2 X 4's when not being used. The table gets a piece of plywood attached large enough for the miter saw when I'm using the miter saw. The rest of the table supports the work and gives me space to stage pieces waiting to be cut. It's easy to build and does a much better job than saw horses. I assembled mine with biscuits and glue, so there is no metal at all in the top inch of the table. The short screws that attach the banquet table legs to the bottom of the 2 X 4's are the only metal in the table itself. When using the table I always set my circular saw to cut about 1/4" deeper than the thickness of my work. If the table ever gets so many cuts in it that I worry about it's strength or appearance, I'll make a new top and transfer the legs to it. My table is about 24" X 70" in size. I always roughly center my rip cuts on the table, so when I complete the cut, nothing falls like happens so often when using saw horses. My cuts are always clean to the very end with no breakage. When finished and the legs are folded, I lay this table against my sheet stock in my shop. It requires very little storage space.

Charley

[Steve Lindsey]

I’ve had one for several years. I’ve used it several times to put down laminate flooring. You can cross cut and rip with it. Dust collection is not too bad. I would buy again if it broke.

[Dave Sabo]

I have that saw and it's great for 3/8" or less laminate and cork flooring. I'm not sure it'd be up to the task of ripping 3/4 solid wood. Some old pine can be exceptionally dense. There are a couple of different blades for it and I'd suggest have them on hand.

Charles , the saw definitely will rip. The carriage locks and there is a rip fence. It's very quick to change from one to the other.

Steve, it's less cumbersome than a tablesaw. While less cubic space is used by a circ saw and jigsaw, those won't be very good for ripping a 3-6ft. Long piece if flooring. And I'd still want a clamp, table ect. for holding the pieces whic is cumbersome on the floor.

[Ole Anderson]

I have one and agree with Dave's comments. The fence rotates from perpendicular to crosscut to parallel to rip. I set it up on a smallish piece of plywood on sawhorses. Have used it on multiple flooring projects as well as vinyl house siding. Vinyl, stranded bamboo and cork flooring. For larger flooring projects, a small tablesaw is better for ripping.