One common question I hear about cordless tools is, "What happens when the battery dies?" My answer is to make sure that you always have batteries charged and ready to go. Metabo HPT has a different answer, though: It has a line of tools—called MultiVolt—that can be used either with the platform's 36v battery or with an adapter that plugs into a conventional AC power outlet. For the last year and a half, we’ve been using the Metabo HPT MultiVolt reciprocating saw on our framing jobsites, giving us a pretty good idea of the saw's characteristics.
In either cordless or corded mode, this saw does exactly what I need it to do: cut aggressively. The 1 1/4-inch stroke can be used in straight or orbital mode. Since we mostly cut wood, we keep it in orbital mode, but if you are cutting metal, go with straight mode. Orbital speeds up cutting.
The saw comes with a large rafter hook, which we found easily accommodated 2 1/2-inch-wide I-joists. It also has a variable speed trigger, which allows for a "feathered" start when plunge cutting. Another feature on this saw that I like is what Metabo HPT calls User Vibration Protection, which does exactly what it sounds like: I didn't have any numbing or tingling in my hands or arms during use. I recorded a video of my using the saw to cut through a 3 1/2-inch-by-14-inch LVL, and in slow motion, you can see very little vibration through my arm.
There is one feature on the saw that I'm not fond of: the tool-free blade change. It always seems to be stuck and seems to never want to lock in a blade. As a result, we don’t change blades very often when using this saw, but - to be fair - the Diablo blades we use last a long time, so it doesn't end up being too much of an inconvenience overall. But if for some reason one of the crew needs to change a blade, we hear loud complaining.
Rated at 4.0 Ah at 36 volts, the MultiVolt batteries last plenty long and give this recip saw a lot of power. I’ve never run out of battery power using this saw, thanks in part to its handy fuel gauge. If I see the battery is at two bars (out of four) and I’m making a trip to the van or taking lunch, I put it on the charger; it takes less than an hour to charge. Even on a drained battery, the saw is still capable of cutting through an LVL, as you can see in my Instagram video post here.
The tool isn’t cheap at $229 (tool only and battery), but right now you can get a free starter kit of one battery and a charger. A battery costs about $120, but instead of buying a solo battery, buy a Metabo HPT MultiVolt Triple Hammer impact driver kit, and you’ll have my favorite impact driver, two batteries, and a charger. metabo-hpt.com.
