Skilsaw sent me a rather cryptic email in mid-August, directing me to a teaser video and newsletter sign-up page for a new tool they were coming out with.
10 days later, they announced the new tool, their new Skilsaw Buzzkill reciprocating saw, which they claim provides “up to 35%” more vibration suppression over competing models.
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A corded recip saw that promises lower vibration? Sounds good to me, although I haven’t been won over just yet.
The new Skilsaw Buzzkill, SPT44A-00, is Skilsaw’s debut into the linear cutting market, although it should be noted that there are plenty of Skil-branded entry-level and consumer models available.
If your recall, Skil and Skilsaw were acquired by Chervon, from Bosch. Before that, Skilsaw sought to relaunch their brand identity separate from Skil, presumably to hone their “for pros” image, separate from Skil’s more entry-level and consumer-focused reputation.
Some of Skilsaw’s forays into new markets, such as with their worm drive table saw, bear strong resemblances to Bosch tools. With this being a new release post-Bosch ownership, I wonder if it’s an entirely independently-designed product from under Chervon.
Skilsaw’s marketing video and imagery excludes any competing Bosch saw. Does that mean Bosch’s saws are better, or are they excluding Bosch’s saws as a courtesy, perhaps because they had a hand in the design?
Chervon is not a household name, but you have probably seen their tools before. They manufacture for many tool brands, including Craftsman and Kobalt. They also launched the EGO cordless outdoor power tool line in recent years, as well as Hammerhead, which doesn’t seem to have reached the same level of success.
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This new Skilsaw Buzzkill reciprocating saw sports some fancy-sounding features:
Single-wobble drive train for reduced friction to slow heat buildup, contributing to longer tool life.
Linear system for superior vibration control with fewer wear points.
Clock spring brush system with a constant spring designed for durability and optimal motor performance.
A single wobble drivetrain? How many “wobbles” are in other saw’s drivetrains? The linear system is said to “simplify the counterbalance” for fewer wear points and greater durability. How?
A clock spring, as I understand it, works similarly to the coil return springs in drill presses and tape measures. I can’t visualize how that’s being used to press the carbon brushes to the motor, but Skilsaw claims benefits of durability and optimial motor performance.
The 13A model features:
- 1-1/8″ stroke length
- 0-2800 SPM
- Variable speed trigger
- Adjustable shoe
- Tool-less blade clamp
- 8″ Height
- Weighs 9 lbs
- “Competitive price” of $99
I’m still waiting on the length, but it looks around the same size as other 13A reciprocating saws.
Price: $100
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There will also be a 15A model priced at $179 that will also feature an orbital mode switch.
Here’s a look at Skilsaw’s promo video:
The demonstration seems to strive for a “wow, look at that!” reaction, but I only find myself with even more questions.
First, which models is the Skilsaw being compared to? For example, why is their 13A saw being compared to Dewalt’s 12A reciprocating saw, instead of their 13A saw? Is this because Dewalt’s 13A saw bests Skilsaw’s? I should also point out that, as of the time of this posting, the Dewalt 12A saw in Skilsaw’s marketing video can be found for $89 at Amazon, which is $11 less than the $100 the Skilsaw is selling for at Acme Tool.
Okay, so the “vibration suppression” claims – is that for a tool dangling from strings, or in use? Is that “up to 35%” advantage diminished when a blade is brought into contact with a work material?
I can understand why Skilsaw is comparing their 13A saw against other brands’ entry saws, but what about their premium 15-amp saws? Serious users are more likely to reach for a more powerful saw, correct?
As of the time of this posting, we know that there will also be a 15A Skilsaw Buzzkill saw, SPT44-10, but there are no claims about how it will compare with other brands’ vibration suppression or dampening capabilities.
I can’t help but feel skeptical. While I’ve seen good performance from Skilsaw tools, that was when they were owned by Bosch. And I have also seen some very mediocre tools from Skil.
I have never been much impressed with Chervon’s consumer-focused cordless reciprocating saws. They were adequate, but clearly not anywhere near professional saws in terms of features or quality. But that was also a few years ago. The new Kobalt 24V Max brushless tools, on the other hand – the line as a whole has been impressive.
Skilsaw’s worm-drive table saw looked to have taken advantage of previous Bosch table saw engineering, giving them a springboard from which to enter the professional portable table saw market. What is their springboard here, with this being their first foray into the professional reciprocating saw market?
I guess the advantage is something that has to be felt, at least against the worst or least vibration-suppressing competing model.
I want to see numbers that quantify the vibration levels that are transmitted to the user’s hands and arms, but that’s something that one often has to look at European product listings for. Sometimes it’s buried in a user manual.
Skilsaw is very experienced with circular saws and related tools. They have some experience with reciprocating saws, in the form of Skil and Chervon-made products.
I’m optimistic, or at least I’m trying to be. It’s always dampening when I see more hype than substance with new tool launches. Don’t tell me how good something is, with esoteric feature descriptions and unfair apples-to-oranges demonstrations. Show me live measurements of vibration sensors attached to tools that are actively cutting wood, metal, or other common construction material.
I’ve become somewhat jaded from all the super-hyped tool launches. I want to see more from Skilsaw, especially a foray into professional cordless tools. Chervon’s EGO brand has done a good job on delivering what their hype promises. I’m really hoping that Skilsaw can do the same.
Most other brands seem to have all but given up on coming out with new professional-grade corded power tools. I’m happy to see Skilsaw taking advantage of this and pushing forward with what I hope are real user-benefits.
With new high-performing cordless framing saws entering the market, Skilsaw might see lower demand for their very well-regarded worm drive saws. With that, and Skilsaw’s reputation (at least apart from Skil), I want to trust in this new reciprocating saw more than their launch has given me reason to.
Thoughts? How interested are you in the new Skilsaw Buzzkill 13-amp reciprocating saw?
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fred
No Bosch comparison. Maybe they signed some sort of anti-compete agreement with Bosch when the bought Skilsaw.
BTW – we liked the Makita AVT saws for their vibration control – but I think the ones we had were a 15Amp model.
Joe
Inthe 80’s skilsaw circ saws was all we used framing houses,, ,,other companies caught up to them………I was hoping for a review of the Bosch 12v vacuum I saw you tease yesterday…….I will definitely get that 12v planner and “edge” router from Bosch…
fred
That can well be your fate when you are “king of the hill”. Other competitors see you as the one to emulate then surpass if they can. If your brand name (like skilsaw) has become almost synonymous with the tool that you sell – some consumers may not recognize you for what you do. They may come to think that the whole class of tools is rather generic with one brand as good as another. Worse yet, some industry leaders allow their preeminence to slip away – resting on their laurels while raking in short-term profits. Naturally, that allows competition to get a foothold and dethrone you if they can via better products, more choice or lower price. Of course, the competition that springs up may just be smarter or better than you.
There are other examples of brand names that were once so much in the vanguard and so market-dominating that they became household words. Brands like Kleenex, Chapstick, BandAid, Jacuzzi and Xerox come to mind. In tools we might use brand name like Weed Eater and X-Acto Knife to describe their class of tools.
Austin
I saw a picture of this recip saw last year before chervon acquired skilsaw. So I presume that this was developed by Bosch.
Doresoom
I’m calling huge marketing BS on that video. Look closely, and they’re holding the beakers on the other brands’ saws with just a velcro pad. On the Skil, they’ve got some sort of standoff in between the saw and the beaker. Of course that could be due to the recessed geometry of the saw body, but it’s still suspect to me. If it’s a rigid material like steel, it won’t make too much of a difference, but if it’s rubber or some other material with a low spring and high damping constants, they’re changing the transmission path of vibrations from the tool to the beaker.
So with a softer material they’d be lowering the magnitude AND frequency content of the vibrations transferred to the liquid – and high frequency would be what gets all those droplets going.
Nathan
it looks rather bulky compared to the other items in the picture. I mean my milwaukee orbital 15 amp is looks about the same size if going to by the picture.
in reference to clockspring I wonder if they mean it more along the terms of the radial commutator/radial brush layout you see in some other motors. IE instead of brushes to the sides – they spin on the end of the motor on the sides and they run on a smoother band as a segmented disk but with less spring pressure. I’ve heard this setup called a clock spring before but it’s not a real clock spring.
last time I saw this was on a wiper arm motor.
John
This is what I believe they mean by motor brush clock spring: https://www.ereplacementparts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ARM_5a_LiftSpring.gif
It provides more consistent spring force as the brush wears but is not uncommon (In my experience the majority of non-chinese power tools use this type of mechanism) nor particularly noteworthy.
Satch
Tools in action has a YouTube review I saw a few weeks ago. Positive review and they made the distinction between this as a more entry level saw and a more proper true commercial entry like the Milwaukee Super Sawzall. They didn’t seem to think Skilsaw was trying to oversell it’s intended users.
Me? I am just happy Skilsaw seems to be serious about repositioning itself away from the bottom end market.
Raoul
I’m all for less vibrating reciprocating saws. I wonder what the technology is.
Skilsaw has a good premium name, but I wasn’t too impressed with the build when AVE tore down the circular saw. I thought it would be better
Greg
As a contractor I can not get excited about any corded tool that can’t be bought as a cordless I have 1 corded tool on my truck and that is a circ saw just in case.
Toolfreak
As a Bosch/Skil tool owner, I’m still on the fence about the whole Chervon deal until more new tools are out and the overall quality of their Skil and Skilsaw offerings are known. I have a few Chervon-made Skil power tools that are fantastic for as little as I paid for them, but those were from when Bosch owned the name and (reportedly) made the specs. It could well be that Chervon designed and made most of the Skil stuff all along and Bosch just signed off on things along the way.
Just like they make the Craftsman and Kobalt stuff, it seems Chervon is also the manufacturer of the Hyper Tough brand power tools at Walmart, which are really just rebadged Skil tools, that even use the red/black color scheme. They seem to be “okay”, which is about where Skil was in the market not long ago.
As for the particular Buzzkill saw, well, the name is really good. I haven’t tried any reciprocating saws with anti-vibration tech yet so I can’t tell how good it would be, but it sure would be welcome, since saws and grinders do vibrate enough to leave your arms and hands with a numb/funny feeling if you use them for any length of time. I’d hope they will come out with a high-end Skil version that has the same or a cheaper version of the same tech, so this won’t just be limited to higher-end Skilsaw brand stuff.