Ridgid has officially announced their new 18V cordless rear-handle circular saw, model R8658.
This launch was not a complete surprise, as the saw was included in Ridgid’s 2022 cordless power tool expansion plans.
The new Ridgid 18V cordless rear-handle circular saw features a brushless motor and is described as being faster-cutting than 15A corded saws.
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Ridgid also says that their new rear-handle saw features the “industry’s lightest weight.”
Key Features & Specs
- 7-1/4″ blade size
- Brushless motor
- 5,800 RPM max
- All-magnesium construction
- 2-1/2″ cutting capacity (at 90°)
- 53° bevel capacity
- Can make 375 cuts with 8Ah battery
- Electronic blade brake
- Rafter hook
- Weighs 9.5 lbs (tool-only)
Price: $239 for the kit
ETA: November 2022
Ridgid says that “this tool will be available in tool only and various kit configurations at The Home Depot and HomeDepot.com.”
The kit comes with a rapid charger, 8Ah battery, and vacuum attachment.
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Arieleno
I’m excited to see how this thing stacks up to their performance claims. Also, describing it as a “rear handle saw”, means it’s not a work drive, despite its look. I don’t think that they’re the first brand to do it though.
Stuart
“Rear-handle” has become widely used, and sounds a lot better than “worm-drive-style.”
Arieleno
I hear you. But I guess my question is more the intention of the saw. That shape and design was necessitated by the worm gear. If you don’t have one in there, or even a hypodermic gear like Makita, then why that layout? Is it for the extended reach (I like it)? Or is it to give consumers the idea that it is stronger with more torque, like a worm drive?
Stuart
My understanding is that users coming from corded worm drive saws are familiar with the design.
These saws are typically intended to be more powerful than sidewinder-style circular saws.
Arieleno
That may all be true. More importantly in looking back at my posts, spell check is pretty rough. Worm drive. Hypoid gear.
Fyrfytr998
They are gonna need to be more powerful if they want to imitate a worm drive with its torque advantages, because at the end of the day, it’s still just a sidewinder with an extended handle.
I’m surprised more brands haven’t tried to imitate Flex’s rear motor in-line saw.
MM
As you guys already covered worm-drive saws had higher torque back in the corded days, though these days I don’t think one can make that distinction anymore and say that one configuration is automatically more powerful than another. For example Dewalt’s DCS575 or DCD578 sidewinder and the DCS577 worm-style are both cranking out the same 2400 watt figure, for example.
But one other difference that seemed to be generally true is that sidewinder style saws have the blade on the right from the user’s perspective while most “worm style” saws have the blade on the left and have a narrower baseplate. I suspect many buyers are using those criteria to make their purchase decisions not just power.
MM
@Fyrfytr998
I agree, that 6 1/2″ inline saw from Flex is awesome. I hope others are working on something similar.
Louie+Orama
Stuart, I have to say that bc I do a lot of buying and selling, most people call them “the worm” which to me I find cool. I do it myself. This is mostly in reference to the 577. To each his own. Also, I want to thank you for the post about Ridgid Octane and at the same time apologize that it created what seemed to be quite a bit of controversy. Your site is the best, almost everyone I come across (which is a daily thing bc of what I do), I tell them about it and many thank me and rave about it the next time I bump into them. It’s one of the first things I do is check in every day. After feeding my incredible cat, of course. It’s almost like binge watching on these streaming sites; once a season or series is over, I find myself in a void until I discover another. There’s just no other when it comes to what you do.
Stuart
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Some controversy is okay – it keeps things interesting. The relationship between Ridgid, TTI, Home Depot, and Emerson is one of the most complicated, confusing, and widely misunderstood in any industry. Throw in opinions, and things will usually get messy.
Back in 2006-2007, I visited Arm & Hammer’s research lab, and learned that the company was making the Crest Spinbrush. (It’s now under its own branding.) This confused me, as Arm & Hammer and Crest are competitors. Corporate relationships are rarely common knowledge.
Louie+Orama
That’s interesting considering I’ve been using the SpinBrush since it’s inception and noticed the name change. For 4-5 bucks back then (and even now at times), you just can’t beat it. I even asked my dentist about it after using it for a certain period of time (2-3 months?) and he shared the same opinion and advised me to “let it do the work for you”. This is the same for tools of course, especially the OMT. You could burn a blade in 30 seconds or let it last longer than 30 days. P.S. It’s the tool I use most because of the (restoration) work I do, constantly cutting drywall. I began with the 355, then experimented with the 354 Atomic and settled on the 356 (3-speed). A couple of weeks ago, I gave the Xtreme a shot and haven’t looked back. HUGE fan of that series. If only they took their 12V lineup as serious the first time around. But then again, I don’t know the whole story. Thanks, sir,
JoeM
Am I going blind, or do I not see any mention of what the actual weight of it is? I’ve read the article three times, and I swear, I don’t see it. How can we know it actually is the lightest of its kind, if we don’t know its actual weight?
I can forgive the weight of the battery and blade, as they’re claiming the Saw itself is the lightest in the industry. But if they’re not providing that important stat… I have trouble believing or trusting the brand for lacking transparency on the topic.
[redacted for brevity & relevance]
PTBRULES
That, and having a light rear-handle circular saw isn’t a positive either, really.
XRH07
yes it is. Lots of people love the Metabo HPT rear handle because it’s substantially lighter than the rest.
People who hold them in awkward positions like the lessened fatigue over the course of a day.
Stuart
Weighs 9.5 lbs (tool-only).
(The answer/spec came in this morning, following publication of the post.)
MM
So it seems like it actually isn’t the lightest rear-handle saw on the market? The Metabo HPT that Tim and XRH07 mentioned is only 8.2 lbs for the bare tool. And the Flex Inline circular saw is only 7.1 lbs. Now maybe they’re deliberately excluding those from the comparison since the HPT is a “40V”, and the Flex is a “24V”? One might be tempted to reject the Flex from the comparison because it uses a 6-1/2″ blade but looking at the specs it actually has better cut depth than the Rigid.
Tim
But no mention of the actual weight anywhere…
I have the HPT Rear Handle and it’s insanely light and my favorite non Mafell saw.
Julian Tracy
I bought Makita’s cordless 18v x2 rear-handle circular saw and found it basically unusable with one hand. Very unergonomic unless you were using both hands to hold and control it.
Instead – bought their standard style brushless 18v x2 7.5” saw. Exact same amount of power and can be used one-handed.
Don’t believe the rear handle hype. No one has time to clamp down their workpiece every time a cut needs to be made.
fred
Back in my days – the Skil77’s (light-mag or heavy-original) sort of shined for gang cutting multiple sheets of sheathing. With a bigfoot refit and a 10-1/4 or larger (up to 16-5/16) blade they could handle (sort of) 4×4 or larger timber. I’m not sure that those advantages translate to any of the newer crop of cordless rear-handled saws .
BTW – I was told that west coast framers liked rear-handles (e.g. Skil77) saws more than sidewinders – while in most of the rest of the country sidewinders prevailed.
Julian
That’s what I’ve always heard as well.
These days the rear handle saw is just that – the handle position. All the cordless versions are still direct drive, no worm or hypoid HD gearing involved. (Though I suppose Skilsaw might now make an actual cordless worm drive.)
Most taxing cutting I do with a cordless is bevel rip 2x stock. My cordless brushless makita 18v x2 handles that well enough
fred
I see Skil is selling a corded worm-gear beam saw – to compete with Makita – (maybe even Mafell?)
https://www.amazon.com/SKIL-Magnesium-Drive-Skilsaw-Circular/dp/B077SJGDWS/
Dennis
From the pictures, it looks like a Milwaukee clone
Elliott
Makes sense since TTI owns both.
CoBlue
Pretty brazen to claim they have the lightest weight rear handle 7 1/4″ circular saw when the Metabo HPT / Hikoki 36v is a pound and a quarter lighter.
I suppose it would be technically correct to call it the “lightest weight 18v rear handle circular saw.”