Skil 5385-01 12 Amp 7-1/4 in. Circular Saw

I bought this saw because I was into a project and had left my saw at my other property! This saw powerful and light weight. Performed flawlessly. Very impressed with this saw for the low price.

My old Skil circular saw (30+ years) finally gave up, what else would I replace it with but it's great grandson!

Never owned a saw until I bought this one. Plenty of power to handle small and big cuts.

I bought this saw mainly because I was in a pinch and my old battery-powered saw burned out on me. But this thing is impressive! I've worked with the older 15amp and this new smaller model is way more powerful! For a DIYer like me or a handyman type guy its a perfect saw. Plus a 5 year warranty. Highly recommend.

Most of my projects are home maintenance related. When I bought this saw I had to put up some particle board to cover an opening in a wall, create a temporary make shift door, and cut slats for a bed. This circular saw made quick work of those projects, and allowed me to move on. It was the right tool for the jobs I had and I'm looking forward to using it again in the future.

Light and handy. However as a right handed person, I prefer to see the cutting blade. It's difficult to follow the traced line when the blade is barely visible.

I would have given 5 stars, but I just thought a rip fence would have been included along with the saw. Since I do use a rip fence a lot and I gave away my old circular saw to someone who needed one when I order this one. Now I need to find a rip fence for this saw. Other than that I am happy with the purchase.

Real quick I bought this for a quick very small project. First, nicely packed. Easy to put together. Only glitch was no directions as to where the wrench was. Remember I said I was a novice. Fortunately a handy neighbor showed me where it was in the saw itself. Starting it I noticed it was very powerful. When I tried the 1st cut I realized that the saw could not complete what I needed because the black housing in front of the blade prevented my getting the cut close up to the wall. My handy neighbor told me that I would have to saw off the remaining inch using a hand saw. Fortunately he lent me one to complete the job. Also had some difficulty getting they tge thickness of what I was cutting. Again tge neighbor showed me it was because I somehow had loosened the bottom black plate. Once it was tightened it went thru it fine. In conclusion my 'novice brain' still tells me there had to be a way to get the initial cut closer to the wall either completing the job or leaving the smallest piece needing to be hand sawed.

The saw seems to work well so far. nice and light. I was very disappointed to see it did not incude the rip fence (guide). I understand some people never use them but I do often and this the first of many circulars I've purchased over the years that did not include one. I have several from past saws which wore out but of course they do not fit this saw,

It worked okay for the first hour or so. Then the blade started spinning on the nut instead of cutting. So, I stopped and attempted to tighten the nut, but it wasn't loose. I continued to cut the old, half-rotten deck boards off of my deck and found that it would stop cutting if I tried to maintain a steady pace. I instead had to cut smaller sections and at a much, much slower speed. Several weeks, of not using the saw, later when I went to demo my front deck, which was mostly not rotten, it began to spark, over-heat, and smell like burning electrical. I had to stop using the saw and switch to my grandfather's old craftsman saw from the 70s that still cuts like it's new. Very disappointed, I bought this because I thought Skil was a reputable brand.