Battery Powered Circular Saw

[crashz]

My wife bought me the Ryobi set that includes the drill, reciprocating saw, vacuum, light, and circular saw about 5 years ago. My original NiCad batteries have died, and the replacements are cheap, but are also on their way out. I have added the 1/2" drive impact wrench, radio, and 4.5" angle grinder to the set. The only thing that gets decent battery life is the radio now!

I bought one Lithium Ion battery as a replacement and to primarily drive the impact wrench, and it appears to be vastly superior on its maiden voyage. But at 3x the cost of the NiCad, it better be.

The little saw works great, but will probably only make 2-3 cuts on 2" x 4"s on a single charge of a NiCad battery. Haven't tried it with the LI battery yet, but I'd expect 10-15 cuts instead.

 

[andrec999]

I had a Craftman 19.2 volts for my last two cordless drill , was OK cause I build a couple of decks and maintenance for two houses and alot of mechanical work and I still have them for back-ups.
Since I am doing more carpentry work, second career,I bought a 5 tool kit 18v lithium from Makita, works very well even in cold garage.
I went with Makita after reading the test on Popular Mecanics web site on drills and it was rated the best. see popularmecanics.com

 

[sixdogs]

My first cordless anything was a small Makita drill with a built-in 7.2 volt battery from sometime in the 1980's.
It was surprisingly powerful for the time and I used it constantly on everything from fencing to general farm use. Helped me put lots of long screws in plywood floors.
As time went on I bought other cordless drills but always went back to that drill because it worked so well.
Maybe five years ago I passed it on to my 94 year-old father-in-law and last I heard that drill is still going stong and still has the original battery.

 

[loghouse511]

Thanks, to each, and every one of you, that took the time to give thoughtful consideration to my question.

It, is greatly appreciated, and very helpful.

Raymond

 

[JDgreen227]

Thanks, to each, and every one of you, that took the time to give thoughtful consideration to my question.

It, is greatly appreciated, and very helpful.

Raymond

Glad the input helped you...and isn't that what TBN is about, helping others with their queries...?? :thumbsup:

 

[sixdogs]

After reading some of the posts on lithium batteries, can anyone compare the Makita litium tool directly with any other maker's lithium tool?
I have had excellent warm-weather results from my Makita and wonder if maybe Makita lithium is better or different?
It doesn't seem like it should be and that all Lithium should be the same?
Can anyone compare them?

 

[boggen]

i got a Craftman 19.2 volts set for christmas one year. drill, recip saw, circular saw, light.

the circular saw, is a joke. about only thing it is good for is small size lumber, with a limited amount of cuts.

the recip saw, you get a little more life out of battery, it is ok for small jobs but that is about it.

drill is good

light, it is ok, but have switched over the LED lights. the light is better used for camping, or in a crawl space or like to light up a given area.

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to be honest, i will take old corded stuff over cordless any day. granted you need to mess with cords, but the couple extra pounds of less weight, smaller size design, and more power you get from corded stuff, just pays for itself.

granted battery operated stuff has there use, and i limit battery operated tasks, to odd ball little projects, or tossing in my vehicle, just in case a project needs something were there is no power.

it is one of them. if you do not have the right tool, you get yourself in a bind type of things for me. a battery stuff regardless, have there nitch.