Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
what’s the best deal on a 6 1/4 cordless circular with batts…I have a Makita charger but maybe its better to get the best deal no matter the brand..
what do you know??
@346 if all you have is a Makita charger then I don’t see why you couldn’t pick any brand. Makita does have some nice 6-1/2 circular saw options though. Many tool retailers have monthly specials which may include free items or price reductions.
I bought the 6 1/2 makita …..will my older batt charger charge the new 5.0 ah batts ?
its the DC18RC model…?? and what is the story on these 40 dollar 5.0 ah batts on Ebay??
half of Makita but Makita is overpriced to begin with..What 5.0 would you buy ????
DC18RC is still the current standard rapid charger. Yes it will charge any current Makita batteries. In my mind their 5Ah batteries are the sweet spot for their mid-to-high-draw tools. I don’t know which model you bought but in recent months they’ve put their blade-left brushless compact on sale for $150 down from $200. I think that’s the best deal if you want to stick to compact single battery.
Model #XSH03Z
thats what I bought
guess I will have to buy 1 Makbattery everyone says the clones are trouble…
the left blade is weird though..
They make a blade right as well in 6-1/2
I would also mostly steer clear of no-name battery clones. The only ones I could conceivably consider would be the ones who actually put an established name (and warranty) on their batteries such as Waitley.
Thing is, inflated battery ratings are so ubiquitous these days for some reason that even then I feel the alleged benefit is minimal. Trying to remember where I saw it but the 9.0Ah Waitley tested out closer to 7.5Ah in real-world use. Makes it a lot harder for me to justify for the tools I want the extra power for. To be fair even the authentic batteries often struggle to meet their marketed Ah ratings. That said, no-name clones perform quite a bit worse and then on top of that add serious safety risks like igniting during charging…when it comes to lithium batteries I wouldn’t touch any of them. Ever.
Jronman is right that Makita has a blade-right 6.5”:
Not sure how the power compares although the RPM is the same and Makita only uses a few brushless motors…it wouldn’t surprise me if the power was comparable. It is newer though and doesn’t go on sale as much. I’ve heard a little more complaint about it feeling plasticky.