Lowe's Firestorm cordless circular saw advice

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,
My Lowe’s is selling their Firestorm 18 volt cordless circular saw on clearance for $50 (regular $90), and the battery/charger kit sells for an additional $25, so for $75, I’d have the saw, a battery and a charger. Has anyone used the Firestorm cordless circular saw and if so, what is your opinion of it?
Louis

[Jason Boushard]

I have a dewalt cordless and I think it goes thru battery's to fast I carry a corded skill saw in my van for work while at the job site. its going to depend on how many batterys you have that will work with it (I am assuming 0 since you gave the price of a batt and charger) I would spend your money on a nicer corded saw.

[Ken Barney]

Anything with the name "Black & Decker" has been banished from my shop for years now. IMHO the once proud brand (15-20 years ago) is now just one small notch above total junk. Junk at any price is still just that, JUNK.

-- TheMediaBoy

[Michael Schwartz]

The reason why it is 50 dollars is because it is stinks. If you wan't a cordless saw you will defiantly wan't something with a Lithium Ion Battery.

Black and decker tools are made for people who use them once.

Do yourself a favor and get some good tools.

Black and decker once made quality professional and industrial tools, but they have since bought Dewalt, Delta, and Porter Cable, which are in effect their professional/industrial lines.

[rocky brown]

you can pick up a reconditioned bosch 14.4 or 18volt saw with 2 batteries and charger for app. $100. i have the 14.4 and have been very happy with it cutting down 4x8 sheets of plywood.

rb

[rocky brown]

or... there's a recon dewalt 14.4 on amazon right now for $68.95 plus shipping.

rb

[Roland Chung]

Go to Ebay and type in Makita LXT, then look for deals on the circular saw and then on a battery and charger. I stick with the sellers that have a high rating (like 98%) and I have never had a problem.

If you don't need it immediately, you can get this very nice saw for a really nice price. Good luck!

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I bought the cordless Firestorm "pack" with the drill, circ saw, reciprocating saw and sander.
The drill is OK and the reciprocating saw is OK for one short cut where it's inconvenient to run an extension cord.

The circ saw, when new and with a new fully charged battery will make 1 maybe 2 cuts on a 4' wide sheet of 3/4" plywood.
Now that it's older, it takes two charged batteries to make one 4' cut.

$75.00 for a saw that needs two batteries to make a 4' cut is way out of line.

IMHO - based on the experience I've had with all the Firestorm tools I've owned, is that they are not worth the money. Most have either a design flaw, or they aren't built well at all.

[David Epperson]

If it's "just" the batteries, isn't there an SMC member that does battery reconditioning to "Better than new" standards, and for less than a replacement? If it's not "just" the batteries, then what is it?

[Don Eddard]

If it's not "just" the batteries, then what is it?

I think Michael summed it up pretty well in post #4 above.

And Jason Abel is the battery guy.

[Tim Morton]

I bought a reconditioned "set" from hitachi this year from amazon. 2 batteries, cordless drill,circular saw,reciprocating saw and flashlight for $129 And I think they are all good tools.
FWIW

[David Epperson]

I think Michael summed it up pretty well in post #4 above.

And Jason Abel is the battery guy.

Well his post #4 is where I gathered that it might be "just" the batteries

If you wan't a cordless saw you will defiantly wan't something with a Lithium Ion Battery.

I'm just another asking the question. Now I'm really confused.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

If it's "just" the batteries, isn't there an SMC member that does battery reconditioning to "Better than new" standards, and for less than a replacement? If it's not "just" the batteries, then what is it?

I'm not sure if that's direct towards my comments or not, but I'll answer it as if it is.
(Edited to add - we must have been crossposting at the time since I see it was directed elsewhere)

The problem isn't just with the batteries, it's with the overall quality of the tool, the blade and the batteries, as well as the basic design.

The blade dulled very quickly. The batteries lost a lot of "oopmh" also. They take a charge ok, but drain pretty quick.
The design of the batteries and the way they are held in place is also very poor. They slip in and lock in place with a small wedge shaped plastic piece, unlike the other better brands that use a post style connection.
The little plastic wedge wears and the batteries start to slip back and loose their connection.
Even if the batteries were rebuilt with a new core, the worn plastic wedge would still make them perform inadequetly unless it too was replaced.

The whole Firestorm 18v cordless suffers from this poor design. The sander vibrated som much it destroyed one of the batteries by tearing up the lip on the plastic wedge.

I have no regrets at all over having bought the Firestorm.
a.) It was a learning experience.
b.) They were cheap enough that it didn't matter; I'm about 90% through the second house rehab using them, so they paid for themselves already. I packed the price of them into the first rehab and wrote them off as "consumables".
c.) Despite the other shortcomings, the recip saw is extremely handy for a couple of quick cuts. The drill/driver is a very good design in some areas. The non-keyed chuck is a little longer than normal. A driver bit can be inserted, and the chuck snapped on with a bit in it. It makes it very handy when there's a lot of holes to drill and screws to drive, or in situations where 3 or 4 drills are needed. Right now I have some 2x4's - treated - that I have to fasten to concrete block. I'm using Tapcon's. I have one cordless drill with a 1/8" bit to drill the pilot holes, a hammer drill for the concrete, and the Firestorm with a 1/2" spade bit in the chuck and a phillips bit under the chuck.

The circ saw has some uses, but nowhere near enough to justify spending any additional money on it, even for a new blade.
As far as circ saws go, it isn't even a decent one to begin with. I forgot to mention that it doesn't cut very straight either.
That one 4' cut it takes two batteries to make is pretty wavy.

[David Epperson]

Hello,

I'm not sure if that's direct towards my comments or not, but I'll answer it as if it is.
(Edited to add - we must have been crossposting at the time since I see it was directed elsewhere)

The problem isn't just with the batteries, it's with the overall quality of the tool, the blade and the batteries, as well as the basic design.

Thanks Rich. That explains a lot.