The Sawzall is great for do it yourself work

Have you ever heard of a Sawzall?  I hadn't until some handymen did some work around my place recently.   I'm one of those old fashioned guys that would use a regular hand saw for cutting things up.  I have one saw for wood and another for metals.

We moved to our home in Palolo Valley last year and it was a fixer upper.  There was a lot of junk to be cleared from the yard too.  I talked with the handymen and found out all the great things a Sawzall can do.

Features of a Sawzall

As you can see from the photo above, a Sawzall is a "Variable Speed Reciprocating Saw."  It's almost like a chainsaw, but it's electrically powered and easier to maneuver.  The blade moves not only back and forth, but up and down too.  The speed is adjustable with a small dial on the handle.  Blades can be inserted and removed easily without any tools.  Just flip a lever, insert the blade and secure the lever.

A Sawzall can cut wood, metal, drywall, plastic and just about anything else a regular hand saw can cut - but much faster!  The average Sawzall is light  (about 6-8 pounds), making it easy to hold and cut items at unusual angles.

Sawzalls come in various sizes, power ranges and prices.  The Sawzall pictured above was purchased from Home Depot for just $39!  The heavy duty Sawzalls, more suitable for construction contractors, can cost in excess of $200.

Origin of the Sawzall name

You may have noted that the saw pictured above does not have the name "Sawzall" on the box.  The Sawzall name comes from Milwaukee Tools.   The original Sawzall was invented sometime in the 1950's.  By the early 1960's Milwaukee Tools had developed a two-speed model and a few years later they came up with the dial-speed model.  Sawzalls became popular with tradesmen.

These days, Sawzall has become a generic name for the reciprocating saw.  There are many manufacturers of this type of tool.  If you want the original, get a Milwaukee Tools Sawzall.  I just needed something to cut up wood and metal in my yard.

Here's the Sawzall at work

A few days ago a Papaya Tree fell over in my backyard.  Papaya is a soft wood and it took me about five minutes to cut a 15-foot tree in pieces and put it in the trash can.  Here's a photo of the Sawzall at work (note the increased muscle due to P90X). 

The handyman quickly got out his (heavy duty) Sawzall, went over and cut the pipes off right at ground level!  The Sawzall blades are flexible, so he was able to get the Sawzall close to the ground, let the blade bend a bit and cut the pipes flush with the cement.  Wow!  That was a lot easier than cracking the cement to remove the pipes.

Sawzall Blades

Here's a tip: Pickup extra saw blades before you start working.  My Sawzall came with two blades - one for fine wood cutting, the other for coarse wood cutting.  I tried cutting a galvanized steel pipe with it and quickly chewed up a blade.  Time to head to the hardware store.

So there you go.  If you have lots of cutting to do and don't have all day to cut things up with a hand saw, save yourself some time and get a Sawzall.

Contact Mike to buy and sell Hawaii Homes.

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