Reciprocating Saw ideas?

[Mark in Indiana]

I have a Harbor Freight corded saw that I got for 19$, about 6 years ago, figuring that it would get used once in a blue moon. I've used it a lot over the years. Best bang for the buck, for my needs.

 

[TheBlindBarbarian]

Hello, I have some questions about this saw. I am engaged in cosplay, so I need craft different stuff sometimes for festivals. Like swords, details of armor, various staffs – accessories, etc.

The materials I work with are polyvinyl chloride, expanded polystyrene, plastic and sometimes wood or metal. Usually, all kraft is very voluminous, so I have to use such lightweight materials. For metal, I mostly use MIG welder and father`s stationary metal cutter.

And now the question is – how the reciprocating saw will behave when cutting such materials. They, though soft, but very “dirty” a lot of dust and small pieces of plastic and foam.

 

[Kev442]

Its all about the blades. You are going to want a bi metal blade with about 18 tpi. Buy an assortment of metal blades to test with, wood blades are going to make way too much dust and debris IMO except when working with wood.

 

[cowboy73]

I like my corded Porter Cable Tiger saw.

 

[yamaha0343]

Hard to beat a Milwaukee Sawzall

^This

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

And now the question is – how the reciprocating saw will behave when cutting such materials. They, though soft, but very “dirty” a lot of dust and small pieces of plastic and foam.

It wont care.

Another nearly 4 year old thread brought up by a blade selling spammer...

and something has changed, the cordless ones are as good as the corded now.

I have 4 or 5 flavors of Milwaukee, can't go wrong. I also have a Metabo I got for $10 with a bad plug. Easy fix, and it rotates relative to the handle, and has orbital which helps if you are cutting softer things.

 

[metlmunchr]

Hello, I have some questions about this saw. I am engaged in cosplay, so I need craft different stuff sometimes for festivals. Like swords, details of armor, various staffs – accessories, etc.

The materials I work with are polyvinyl chloride, expanded polystyrene, plastic and sometimes wood. Usually, all kraft is very voluminous, so I have to use such lightweight materials.

And now the question is – how the reciprocating saw will behave when cutting such materials. They, though soft, but very “dirty” a lot of dust and small pieces of plastic and foam.

A reciprocating saw is just slightly more precise than an axe. Cutting any sort of defined curve or straight line is essentially impossible. They are designed as a demolition tool, and that's the only thing they work well for even though scores of ham fisted hacks regularly attempt to use them for more precise work.

For the work you describe, a good jigsaw such as a Bosch would be a hundred times more useful. Good control with one hand, and multiple steps of oscillation allow you to vary the agressiveness of the cut to suit the conditions.

For the listed materials, I'd rate a vertical bandsaw as best, a jigsaw next, and a reciprocating saw as a solid worst choice.

Regardless of the type of saw, very fine pitch blades as used for cutting thin metal do not play well with any type of plastic. Most any plastic fills the tooth gullets just about instantly, and then the motion does nothing but generate heat which starts to melt the material rather than cut it. For example, when cutting 1/4" thick plastic sheets, you wouldn't want a blade any finer than 8 teeth per inch. Unless you have a laser, somewhat "dirty" cuts are just a fact of life.

 

[ddawg16]

The Milwaukee is a good one....

But for the money.....???..........Ryobi cordless.....I've had mine about 10 years, use the dog **** out of it....and it uses my 18v batteries.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

My corded unit is a PorterCable, my cordless is a Bosch and have operated flawlessly.
The blades are another matter, Dewalt was **** and the Bosch were better. A fireman I know says they use Lenox and have good results.

 

[Dingleburry]

Had a milwaukee m18 sawzall. Motor output shaft twisted itself into 2 pieces. Took less then a year to do that. Industrial shop use.

 

[ctb]

I like my corded Porter Cable Tiger saw.

This.
Just finished cutting up a '94 Accord with my 22 year old Tiger saw so I could take it to the scrappers. Nothing stops that saw.