Back in our June 2013 Toolbox, Oregon production framing contractor Terry Goodrich waxed poetic about the new 7 1/4-inch Skil MAG77LT wormdrive saw, which weighs just 13.2 pounds including the cord and blade. After working the saw hard for several weeks, he wrote: “I love the saw’s light weight, it performs like my other Skils, it has every feature I can imagine wanting, and I expect it to last for years—just like its proven predecessors.” Although it sold for $219, he still considered it a bargain.
Those weren’t idle words. Goodrich reports that he bought 10 of the saws five months ago—one for each of his framers—and the guys won’t even touch their old wormdrives anymore. To date, the saws have been trouble-free. The Home Depot is now selling the saw for $175.
In related news, Bosch just introduced the CSW41, which is the same saw with a few minor cosmetic tweaks and the same original price tag. After all, both saws are made by the Robert Bosch Tool Corp. in the same Chinese factory. —Bruce Greenlaw is a contributing editor to JLC.
