Id normally recommend a milwaukee because iv never seen one go bad or break except for brushes and trigger switch. But i prefer my dewalt because its smaller lighter and easier to see what your cutting. And mines lasted me 8 or 9 years and going strong and im a carpenter use it daily

Why not, Jim?

You can't kill those 77s. Yes, the rest of the Skill tools are junk. They were once a very good tool(industrial grade) back in the 50s and the 60s. Like everything else, they try too hard to make money and sell to the homeowners using their name. down the drain they go.

I have a Milwaukee circular saw.... It is old but solid. I also have one of the their corded drills that I bought used over 20 years ago.... I can't kill it.

No kidding! I'm in the construction business and although WD's are definitely more robust, the size and weight penalty for many routine tasks are too much to deal with. If you're cutting only on saw horses or on the ground, "choose your weapon", but if you are ever up on a roof hanging over the eaves trying to make a decent cut on a rafter....there's only one choice...side winder. We use mostly Dewalt and Makita saws, I think Dewalt has fallen in quality over the years and around here,other makes including Makita are becoming a more common brand within the trades. Cheers

Kind of like hand tools, many power tools fall under just a hand full of manufacturers.
For example, Techtronics Industries is the parent manufacturer of Ryobi, Rigid, Milwaukee, and AEG. They also manufacture Craftsman. Twice a year the local Ryobi plant has a "factory sale day" and I browse around. Usually I can pick up their tools at about half price in these sales.

Dewalt, B&D, and Porter Cable all belong to Stanley now. None of SBD's power tools are manufactured in the United States of America any longer. They closed the NC plant in 2005.

As mentioned above, Skil is now owned and made by Bosch. So are Dremel and RotoZip.

Makita seems to be an exception. Makita is made by Makita, who only makes Makita.
Though they are a Japanese company, they do have a US plant.

Im always very disappointed in Bosch. Theyre suposidly made in germany right? Most of the ones iv used have broken in one way or another not even abusing them. And theyre overly complicated so you cant even do a temporary field fix alot of the time

Lots of good information here ... good luck choosing your weapon of choice.
You may want to budget for a bunch of new / material specific blades. Pushing a dull blade through thick material is a sure way to prematurely kill any type of saw.

No, that is "right handed" - a right hander will have his body to the left of the saw and be able to see the blade.

i love my mag77.

off topic, but what blade type, teeth number do the pro's recommend. brands?

depends on what you are cutting? The less tooth, the rougher the cut. More tooth, the finer the cut, but cutting speed reduces.

One thing that I did after cutting the power cord on a saw ( Just nicked the rubber) On my circuler saw I took some coat hanger wire and taped it to the first 10" of power cord out of the saw so that the cord stuck out o-- instead of droping down. It's a really nice way to keep the cord in a better way. I was ripping 20 sheets of 4x8's and the saw that I was using wasn't mine. The cord kept getting hooked on the plywood. made the wire fix and stopped the cord from hanging up.

Good tip. Better than my method of wrapping the cord around my neck. :)

Sherwood

also if your saw or drill or whatever dies more often than not its the brushes or the switch. Easy fixes. If it truely is broken it will likely smoke and run like its siezing up and thats the armature frying. Iv bought many good milwaukees and dewalts from yard sales for cheap becaus the brushes were worn out and they wouldnt run. Simple fix. If your too cheap to buy new brushes like me. Many times youll find that the wire that powers the brush is too short and holds it off the contacts! I just cut and reposition it and solder it back on. I have more milwaukee grinders than i know what to do with because of that little trick :)

Where do you get new brushes?

just look up the model of your saw on google or ebay should lead you in the right direction. theres all kinds of power tool parts stores on the net. but you ought to take it apart and see if thats the problem first

I don't think cordless saw are there yet for heavy use like ripping through wet 2x4s. They have their advantages like a little cut where you have climb a ladder.

Have u tried the " 36 volt li- ion battery saw I posted"? It's a bad ass, IMHO ....18 volt= wimpy but double that with a 36 volt li-ion( vs nicd).... makes a big difference DeWalt 36v – Power, Power, AND MORE Power

Can't say I've tried. Get it pinch while ripping and keep pushing until you finish the cut. Also, doing it with dull blade. A worm drive saw will do it all day long and more. I am sure that saw have a place in the work place. Beside the cordless drills, most cordless tools are really novelty items. Some are better the others. I own a bunch of them. If they make it, I may have them. Cordless Sawalls are pretty handy to have. My men always drag their cord and tool under the house to cut pipe. I am the only idiot that will take the cordless to hack up a nail.