Ridgid R3202 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This definately is a decent saw. It's light (10 oz I think), The balance is great, feels great in your hands & has decent power. Wet wood, being PT or rain wet, sometimes slows down. Dry 2x4's, 2x6's no problem. I like the kerf mark, very easy to line up cuts & has a small trench that kinda mimics the blade kerf. It also has decent sight line of cut. The Ridgid has a 12ft power cord, which is a little longer than most and a lighted plug end, which displays power to the tool. It has no secondary trigger/safety switch like the other contractor saws. I personally hate the safety switches, everybody gets that the trigger turns it on, if you don't want it to turn on accidently, keep your hands off the trigger. It has a stop at 45 degree bevel, but I didn't check for accuracy. Also features a velcro cord wrap

The downside: with deeper cuts it can be challenging using a speed square because the motor housing gets in the way, No case, no rip guide (makita gives you case & guide) plastic depth gauge lever, and plastic bevel lever. I noticed that when you pull the depth lever up to loosen & adjust depth, the unit has side to side slop. The other saws are fixed when you loosen lever. Other saws, such as Makita, Milwaukee are fixed and only move in and up & down plane, with no side to side slop. When you tighten the depth lever on the Ridgid, it does seem to square up, but it does not instill a feeling a accuracy. I see by their design that the bevel & depth are on the same pivot point, which is the reason for the side to side slop when lever is up, but I still don't like it, seems cheap. It does have a 56 bevel but it's hard to deploy the button to go past the 45 degree, not a good design there. This is very minor but the magnesium shoe is deeply grooved/trenched with a box/diamond pattern for stability, it's a pain blowing it clean at the end of the day, saw dust/particles seem to cling to the deep grooves (not a huge deal, but I try to keep my tools & truck clean). You can get this same saw at the big box store for $99, and at that price it's a great saw. DIYer's will love it, plenty enough power for their needs, feels great in your hands but I think for a contractor with daily use & abuse the plastic parts will not hold up & you might find you'll need more headroom for power (even though it is a 15amp). Ridgid does have a lifetime warranty on this tool. Perhaps you could justify wearing one out & getting another; but I have heard that can be a 50/50 shot of it working where Ridgid honors that deal and if you're a contractor & it breaks time is money. So thats the long & the short of it and BTW I opted for the time is money thing & took it back & bought a Makita 5007MG. For the price listed here, you could put down a few more bucks & get a Makita or Milwaukee

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