Not a precision tool

[fredintoon]

Not in my hands, anyway.
There's list members who sign themselves various analogs of "Sawzall Guru".
Well, last fall I finally bought one. (My house needed a bigger hole in it due to having to replace the garage heater and they'd changed the building codes on me)
Big Bosch brute of a thing.
First, the heating contractor used it to install the new vent collar.
Then my son borrowed it to modify his garage.
Having failed the "Think 3 times, measure twice, cut once" test I needed to modify my new
sidecar attachment pieces and so it finally got to be my turn to actually use my $100 bargain.
Gotta say; powerful, fast, easy? Yes, yes and yes.
But accurate is another story.
Cut it big and then deploy the angle grinder, eh?

 

[Dieselchanic]

No doubt. They're a WMD in my opinion. They have their place, but finesse is not a strong point.

 

[gggGary]

It's a learned skill, I used to install kitchens and I could fit a counter top around a fancy window molding with one. But now an angle grinder........

 

[Downeaster]

"Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk and cut it with an axe"

 

[gggGary]

IMHO it's all about speed control if you want to cut to a line. You have to slow the blade down. don't shove into your work, let it cut at a speed where you can make corrections before it goes off at at whatever angle it chooses. If you do start to head off your planned line back up in the slot a bit and get the cut headed back where you want it to go. Trying too hard to twist the blade in the cut never works.

Sure Fred a sidecar, uh huh. I think you're doing a hardtail you sly devil. That Norton got you hooked.

 

[Iowa Mark]

It's all in the way you look at things. Lots more precise than a chain saw. And a sawzall is hands down a scalpel up next to a stump chipper!

 

[fredintoon]

- - - Sure Fred a sidecar, uh huh. I think you're doing a hardtail you sly devil. That Norton got you hooked.

Hi Gary,
thanks for the speed control tip, I thought the trigger was an on/off thing like an angle grinder.
Today's sawzall adventure went far better with the cutting speed slowed way down.
But believe me, a sidecar. Revising the lower connections. Mr. Stupid fucked up again.
And what the Norton ride did was remind me why I'm a believer in rear suspension.
However, a hardtail build could well be in my future.
I was told of a '76 XS650 in a junkyard scrap pile and my son bought it for it's scrap metal price. 15 cents a pound.
After weeks of soaking in penetrating fluid and a complete tear-down my son reported:-
Good news, it all came apart nicely and all the parts are there.
Bad news, the frame's back end is FUBAR.
We'll look for a better frame, sez I.
Nah, I'll buy a weld-on hardtail, sez he. It can be our next project.

 

[Bigfeet]

But now an angle grinder........

I'm pretty accurate with a sawzall myself and a 4" angle grinder with a sanding disk is an excellent tool to scribe a postform backsplash with.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

I have a SnapOn hi-performance hi-power pneumatic reciprocating saw.

It has a prominent spot in my toolbox.

It can bend and break blades at 10 blades per second.



And hasn't been used for 38 years...