Buying a floor saw, reccomendations, pros and cons
I am about to do about 800 square of 2 1/4 T G. I have a great Hitachi mitre saw which can usually do most of the cuts. I'm waking through Depot and I see an advertisment for a Ryobi floor saw, that says it is only 17 pounds.It looks pretty cool because it can do rips and crosscuts. I then found out that Skill makes one also. Has anyone used one? Are they any good? Any reccomendations? Are you talking apples and pears? Rips and cuts? No miter saw can do a rip. Well, don't tell my helper and my Ridgid saw that. Broke the $75 fence the first day out on hardwood trying to end cut. What is the model of the Ryobi and Skil? I bought one of the Skill versions and it works OK, but it makes a real mess because the sawdust is ALL over the flooor instead of outside where I normally do all my cuts. It does, however, eliminate the need for multiple saws since it cuts cross cuts, angle cuts, and rip cuts. It won't replace the saw for serpentines and the like, but it will do the rest. It does seem a bit homeowner grade. I didn't know about the Ryobi when I bought my skill or I'd have checked it out. Kind of neat. Never seen that one before. There is a tool I don't have??? OK, gotta look into it. Is it only good for laminates, or could it take the punishment of 3/4 flooring? I just wish it used 7 blades. Hate off size blades. Buying replacements can be an expensive PITA. Thanks for the input guys. What I'm trying to figure out is what Chandler mentioned, which is how it does cutting 3/4 thick real wood. Ray 2047 - I agree with you, buying offsize blades is a pain in the butt Even 5 1/2 would have made sense, since many cordless saws use that size. Buying replacements can be an expensive PITA. And just how good are those 5 blades? May be good for a few pieces of laminate, but I'll betcha you will go through a dozen on 500 sf of flooring. Laminate eats blades bad. I think about the Ryobi 18v. saw blades.....good for paneling or thin stuff, but the set on the teeth is less than bad. People on Amazon say the Skil can handle 3/4, and some even said 1 (loads of reviews). I think there are Makita, Freud ($$) and Forest ($$$$) blades that will fit it too, although the Skil blades are supposed to be pretty decent as long as you don't push them. I've read the Skil is better than the Ryobi, but I have no experience with either. I'm also hoping I can get or make and adapter to plug my shop vac hose into where the dust bag goes to cut down on mess. I'm toying with getting the Skil and doing the floor myself. Its only one ~500 square foot room and rectangular; my buddies are teasing me a bit too much A nice comprehensive review here: Skil Flooring Saw Looks like another gimmick type of tool. As a hardwood flooring contractor, I don't know of anyone who uses a saw like this. A good chop saw and a portable table saw is all we use. This item may be good for the DIY'R doing a small job, but I don't see this thing standing up to 3/4 solid hardwoods. Hi knotsane. I would guess you are dead on. I bought one (should receive today). I'm a DIYer doing a small job (~5-600 square ft). It is hard to believe that this little peewee saw could stand up to professional volume levels, nor would a pro who both owns and knows use other saws even need such a thing. BTW, I noticed Skil has now come out with a Premium Flooring Blade blade with C3 coating and TCG for $15 (saw it at Lowes). I bought a Freud Diablo ATB blade for the same price off Amazon. I figured if I'm going to install $5-$8/ squ ft flooring, I should probably spring for a better blade for $15 . And I can plug my shop-vac (ridgid actually) into it to minimize mess. I happen to rip 13-inch laminate material. The saw maxes at 8-inch. I was so looking forward to the experience.
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