Skil 5680-01 14 Amp 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw with Laser Beam best deals

Skil 5680-01 14 Amp 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw with Laser Beam best deals

Skil 5680-01 14 Amp 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw with Laser Beam

I bought this as a gift for my son. I always check the base plate on a circular saw for flex. Too many saws, even more expensive than this one, have weak base plates that bend a little from the weight of your hand on the saw. The result is that cuts are not accurate and may wander. This saw has a surprisingly rigid base plate. The fact the saw's motor draws 14 amps indicates it has plenty of power, especially with a carbide tipped blade. The motor also has ball bearings. I like the release lever on the depth of cut adjustment that is in place of a simple wing nut. This is a good solid saw. I did use the saw a couple of times and found the laser fell a bit more to one side of the line than it should. The laser can not be adjusted. The electrical cord is very stiff and does not hang loosely. A couple of times its stiffness almost caused it to come into the path of the blade.

I'm not going to pretend to know a lot about this type of saw, or compare it to similar models. I've used very few circ saws in my life, but hopefully my experience with this product as someone inexperienced overall with circ saws will be helpful.

This saw was very easy to get acquainted with. It's easy to change the blades. It's easy to set the cutting depth. The laser guide is not only super cool but also quite useful. I made a hardboard fence as described in the video on the cheap and it works awesome for cutting wider boards too. I've used this saw to cut up to 2x12's for benches I made to go on our deck after getting this saw. It was so quick & easy I built us new deck tables too, and getting straight clean cuts was very easy. I think with just those 2 projects the saw more than paid for itself vs buying pre-made furniture (I used Google SketchUp to design them which tremendously helped them come out well!). Now my lady is crazy about our new deck furniture, thinks I'm just handy as you please, and the investment in this saw quickly paid itself off plus makes me look good. Seriously, what more could you want? Plus I get to say I have a LASER Saw. Heck yeah 5 stars!

Update 3/25/11 (9 months later)

Still loving this saw. This update is actually because I want to point out some things about the laser setting / adjustability, which seems to be a point of (what I feel is) undeserved criticism by many reviews. If you already understand the laser guide don't worry about the rest of this. If you're looking at reviews and have some concerns this should be helpful.

On page 10 of the manual (see [...] ) the manufacturer explains that the laser line guide is set at the factory to the kerf of the blade supplied with the saw, and shows a diagram with the laser line on the right of the line by the appropriate amount. That's the way it's *supposed* to be. This might mean you run the laser on the measurement while the notch on the foot is to the left but again: read the manual. It says right there "If using the laser line guide for cutting you do not need the line guide incorporated in the foot as it may be in a different setting than the laser line guide." Call me crazy but if you get a product that is set up exactly how the manual describes it should be then the product doesn't have a problem.

That said, yes different blades will have different kerfs / cut widths. However, all this means is you use the laser guide positioning the exact same way as the measurements / notches on the foot. Yes you need to use your head and track the laser on the left side, right side, or dead center on your marked line. If you ran the saw using one of the measurements or notches on the shoe you'd have to do the same so I really don't see the problem.

The laser guide is supposed to be easier to see than the notches / measurements on the foot, which it is by A LOT (although you may want to turn so the sun is not directly on it on a particularly bright day). It is also supposed to help you align the saw between measurements which it also does a great job of. The laser line extends pretty far in front of the saw and has allowed me to make perfectly straight cuts between measurements along edges of relatively wide boards without using a straight-edge to mark a line between them, for instance.

The laser guide IS NOT supposed to let you stop using your head. You have a 14 Amp power saw running in your hands. This is not the time to turn off your brain, period.

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