MakitaSH02R1 12V max CXT® Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-3/8" Circular Saw Kit (2.0Ah)

because my expectations were reasonable. The sound of the low RPM motor will throw you when you first hear it. But trust me, it more than makes up for it with it's power.However, this is NOT a replacement for a circular saw! The ONLY similarity to a circular saw is...the blade is round! This is a niche cutting tool, made for getting into tight places, awkward positions, or for precise cuts. It WILL cut 5/8-in OSB, 3/8 and 1/2-in plywood, and 3/4" stock,or tile, but not all day long. It is the perfect remodeling tool for those cuts you cannot get to with any other tool.I needed it to cut long strips of 1/2-in drywall from my walls and ceilings for a remodeling project. It was imperative that the hundreds of feet of cuts be perfectly straight, even when being cut overhead, leaving a clean seam for joining new drywall. This tool gave me excellent, clean cuts, that were effortless, even overhead. A bonus was that the slow (but powerful) RPMs did not throw dust everywhere! If it broke after getting that chore done, I would have gladly spent the money on it. I fully expected that the drywall dust would have done it in. But I use it to cut holes in the back of cabinets to accommodate plumbing while crawling inside them, and plunge-cut into sub-flooring to install floor outlets. I use it all the time for odd little cuts.Again, this is a "cutting tool" made to get into small spaces, awkward positions, and for precision cuts, when you can't get there with anything else. It will cut plywood, and cuts pine up to 1" thick--just not all day long. Used as intended, you will LOVE this compact and precise little "cutting tool". Now that it has saved me countless hours and from many headaches, I can't imagine doing a remodeling job without it!

this the the goto tool for drywall demo I'm am sick of and will probably never use a sawsall again just sick of banging long blades into hidden wires and going through the other sides of drywall and bending blades.Just bought a 50 tooth blade for finish cuts have not tried it yet the stock blade does tear drywall if you go to fast but it is great for demo plenty of power for wood as well just do not expect fast cuts on anything bigger than a quarter inch.

I used the 9.6v model from 1987 to 1996 five days a week cutting out grout doing tile repair. It always performed well on grout but strained it self on wood. My 9.6v Nicad batteries finally wore out and were too pricey to repurchase and I stopped doing tile repair so I wasn’t using it as much. Now years later this 12v model I just purchased performs very well on 3/4” wood. It seems to have the same rotation speed but extra strength to keep going through the wood. I only have used it very little so far but it seems like it will be better then it’s predecessor.I like it for plumbing repair. To access a pipe in the wall I’ve been using a key hole saw. A saw with a long pointed blade and large teeth. You have to be careful not to cut into pipes or electrical wires with a push and pull type of hand saw but with the 12v Mikita circular saw I set my depth to the drywall thickness and I’m able to cut anywhere without worrying about cutting through wires or the new type of plastic plumbing pipes. I tried it on a 2x4 for kicks. It cuts fine but you have to cut through both sides since it’s cutting depth is about an inch. The kit comes with two batteries, charger and a carbide tipped wood saw blade.When cutting through drywall you get a cleaner cut than with a hand saw and about the same amount of dust. This saw is going to make my work much easier and faster.

I wanted to give five stars. This is clearly an amazing tool. Small, light, and effective. I’m perplexed at all the reviews stating this saw won’t cut stuff or is too weak. It’s a battery powered saw with a 3-3/8 inch blade! Smaller, lighter, and less powerful than larger saws. Simple logic tells us it’s not going to cut nearly as fast or with as much force as a corded 7-1/4 inch or larger saw. I’ve used it a few times on some 3/4 inch common wood, cutting and ripping. It takes longer than a bigger corded saw, but it gets the job done with less noise and less hassle (cords and sawdust spray.)That said, I have an annoying peeve and why I’m giving it four stars. The manual clearly describes two optional accessories: a rip fence and a vacuum attachment or “dust nozzle”. But the manual doesn’t explain how to obtain these accessories or what the part numbers are. The manufacturer’s website is equally useless. I was left with searches across the Internet. Nothing concrete like with other tools and other manufacturers. When the company’s support department opened Monday morning, I called them. The rip fence was found and sent along with the extra thumb screw that is not included with the saw or the rip fence. I can see why it isn’t included with the rip fence – the rip fence is compatible with different saws which means different screws for each application. Just be sure to get that screw when you call the support folks. The rip fence and thumb screw work nicely with the saw. The rip fence part number is 164095-8 and the thumb screw part number is 265756-4.Now to the vacuum attachment. Get this: after about 10 minutes on hold, the support technician tells me the part IS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE UNITED STATE! Seriously? And, because it isn’t available in the United States, he has no part number to give me! His best idea when I asked “then how do I get one?” was to call the Canada support department! The Canada lead was a dead end. So now I start using Google image search looking for anything that looks like the drawing in the instruction manual. I finally found something on ebay from Finland and I ordered it. Three weeks later it arrives and it’s the right part (part number 452237-9) but there is no screw (and I’m not surprised at this point in this Alice-in-Wonderland adventure.) A trip to the local hardware store and an M4 x 16 .70 pitch Phillips pan head machine screw with M4 lock washer and that part of the task is done.And then I discover why they don’t sell the vacuum attachment in the United States: it has a 2.12 cm outside diameter and a 1.7 cm inside diameter - it isn't compatible with anything that I can find. I’ll rig something up eventually by modifying a 1.25 inch reducer but I’m done with this report.Bottom line: Makita makes an amazing saw, but the documentation people screwed up and created a minor mess. A few minutes editing and all this would be resolved, and I would have saved a few hours of research and phone calls. I included the part of the documentation that shows the saw being attached to a vacuum with this so-called “optional accessory”—it’s on page 9 of the English section of the manual! Note the ease at which the saw with the accessory is attached to the vacuum—one has to wonder who makes such a hose that attaches so seamlessly to both ends.Epilog: One more Amazon order (Multi-Fit Wet Dry Vacuum Accessories VT1215 Vacuum Micro Cleaning Kit) and a trip to the hardware store for some 1/2 inch vinyl tubing and I have a working vacuum solution! I used the 1.25 inch reducer from the accessory kit and six feet of vinyl tubing. The tubing fits over the unmodified end of the reducer and fits snugly into the top of the Makita vacuum attachment. The nice part of this solution is that we can get as much tubing as we need to give us ample working room with the saw. Get the braided vinyl tubing as it resists deformation when the vacuum is on.One final note: If you don’t want to use your shop vac and you have one of those foreign made vacuums like a Miele or Bosch, then you will need a 35 mm to 1.25 inch converter like the EZ SPARES 35 mm to 32mm Vacuum Hose Universal Adapter Kit.

I was already familiar this product, a friend loaned me hers. What was very important to me was the weight of this item, most small saws weighed over 5 lbs and this is only 3 lbs, which was doable. The case is a hard plastic case w/out passing, items would slide so I bought a Husky bag for $14 and works great! Haven’t tried it yet, though soon…TBC