Tacklife tools...

[ellal]

I'm looking at a mini circular saw which will be for light DIY use (cutting into a few floorboards and small sheet material cutting, along with the odd tile cut), which seems to be a good deal with the supplied blades.

Link

Has anyone got any experience of this make?

Or would I be better off with something like this Worx?

Link

Alternatively, any other suggestions welcomed.

 

[EddieM]

Never used them TBF, but I'd hazard a guess it'll be pretty ropey. It "probably" falls into the category of jack of all trades, and jack at all of them.

 

[JayJay1978]

I've got the 12v Bosch one and for a plumber its perfect for cutting into chipboard flooring to get at pipes, I also have a mid size 136mm Makita for everything else and a Makita tracksaw for fine work.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

What are your floorboards made of? Chipboard is relatively soft and thin and doesn't need lots of power to cut it - Victorian pitch pine planking (with or without metal tongues) is a different kettle of fish potentially needing a much bigger saw with bags of power

 

[opps]

It doesn't seem to have a riving knife meaning that it is not ideal for cutting along the grain of the timber. One of the Amazon reviews mentions that when the owner tried to cut thin sheet material, the blade jammed and destroyed the gear box.

When cutting timber floorboards on the joists I use an oscillating saw (AKA multi-tool). The width of cut is much thinner and if I hit a hidden screw or nail it isn't too much of an issue. The multitool will cut more slowly but will be safer. With the Tacklife saw you will need to do a plunge cut, ie, tilt the saw upwards and slowly lower it until the blade starts to hit the timber whilst simultaneously pushing it forward. You will only be able to use the tool with one hand as this point as your other hand will be needed to push the orange lever forward to lift the blade guard. As you plunge you risk the blade pinching, resulting in kick back. Because of the blade diameter your cut will be longer than the width of the floorboard, that is to say, you will end up having to slightly cut the adjoining floorboards (and possibly increase the risk of hitting a screw).

I am not being critical of the tool per se, I can see that it will be useful for certain tasks but you might be better off (and significantly safer) with a grown up circular saw (preferably a track saw) and an oscillating saw.