SKIL 16-5/16 In. Magnesium Worm Drive Skilsaw Circular Saw - SPT70V-11

This thing is great. The stand/base it comes with is very handy and keeps the saw in good condition. Its not too heavy being such a large saw. I'm only 5'7 and can handle it easily. It walks through the wood when crosscutting. I straight lined 400bft of 10/4 black ash no problem. It runs a little slower on the rips with the standard blade, I may eventually get a ripping blade just to keep the saw happy. That being said the one it comes with is a nice combo blade. Min depth of cut is a little under 2.5 in so its not possible to do two passes on anything thiner.

Excellent. Plenty of power. Cuts through 6x6 post easy.

I am using the saw with the included blade on Douglass Fir beams (8x12,10x10 & 10x7)The saw goes through the wood well and tracks great. Lighter than the Mikita by a noticable amount. Fit and finish are good. Base plate is great.

This is an amazing piece of machinery, very well engineered, and does exactly what expected it to do.

This is one heavy duty saw. Its heavy but powerful

Best big saw I ever had , this tool is a beast cutting stairs stringers , I can cut 4 stringers of 1 1/4" at the same time . I recomend this tool.

I've had the Makita beam saw for over 10 years and have used it enough that I wanted to give this one a try to compare the two. The Makita is not as ergonomically friendly as the handle sits up higher and the blade guard is a pain to get out of the way. The Makita saw needs two hands on it at all times if you want a good cut and I always feel the saw jumps around a lot while it is running. The Skilsaw beats the Makita hands down with ergonomics as the main handle sits low and behind the weight, plus its lighter. I feel comfortable using the Skilsaw with one hand. I thought the worm drive mechanism would be as good, if not better than the Makita as they are both 15 Amp motors but the Skilsaw seems to lack power. I use the saws for ripping a lot and the only way I felt the power of the Skilsaw came close to the Makita was with a heavy duty extension cord and wedges in the cut to prevent the blade from pinching. I have yet to upgrade the blade. With some moderate ripping of pine the worm drive gear box got so hot I can't keep my hand on it without feeling a burn. I also could smell the motor windings more than I would have liked. The foot for the Skilsaw was a great add for the saw as I cut hand holes in my Makita foot. So my take away is I am keeping the Makita for now as I don't know that the Skilsaw will last with ripping boards. For cross cuts you won't have any issues.

I bought this saw to replace a Makita beam saw that I picked up used. It is a big improvement over the Makita, mostly because of the design of the shoe. I could never get the Makita to cut reliably square because the shoe was flimsy stamped metal and would flex. The shoe on the Skilsaw is constructed rock solid and will keep the blade square in the cut every time. It is also noticeably lighter than the Makita. I haven’t had any of the performance issues that other people mention - I bury it in tough white oak at full depth and it cuts fine. That said I’m keeping within 1/32” of my cut line so I’m not pushing it super fast. Also I really appreciate the design of the molded plastic saw holder, which has a low center of gravity (less likely to tip over in transit) and bails to lock the saw in place.