Makita XSR01Z 36V (18V X2) LXT® Brushless Rear Handle 7-1/4" Circular Saw, Tool Only

I have had many cordless 20ish volt circular saw, makita 18v, dewat 18v, and hilti 18v. and usually i reserve them all for plywood cutting, or 3/4 lumber. not 2x4 and up. recenty i tried the 60v dewalt monster for a more applicable saw,it has nice power but heavy, and agressive with its power as most direct link circular saw are to me, also i hated the blade being on the right side view, not sure why alot of cir. saw are this view when most people are right handed. but this makita fits the bill. cuts anything my worm drive Skilsaw 7 1/4 does, not as much power ofcourse but still it does it, and does it smoothly. i love how the power comes on this thing, it feels soft but its cuts is almost as solid as plug in. its lightwieght at least compare to the dewalt, or perhaps its just better balanced, but to me it feels lighter. also gotta love the fact that you dont need new batteries, 18v lxt battery works perfect! ofcourse best part is the blade is veiwable when cutting with your right hand. since i got it, i really dont even use my worm skilsaw at all, it feels so much heavier now next to this thing and and i got the ligther mag version of skilsaw. one down side, for me atleast is battery doesnt last anywhere near advertised.i am currently running on lxt 3.0 battery fairly new set, but i still give it 5 stars. its good of makita to take a risky design first, and honestly i am not sure why none came earlier, makes sense to me, but perhaps maybe cost? technical challenge? not sure, but hopefully other companies will come out with similar cordless worm drive circular saw in the near future. oh also the default blade is decent for framing, rough cuts, if switch to a thin kerf blade with higher tooth count, it can cut very smooth too, i used it to cut 1/2 plexiglass to seamed.

If you're a fan of the old worm drive skilsaws, then you'll like this; they're nearly identical, but this one doesn't have the cords or any need for oil. It's powerful, relatively lightweight (compared to my skilsaw with 50' cord), holds a great charge, and is very well built. I am not a tradesman, but this tool would excel in a jobsite environment because of how versatile and powerful it is - this can do anything a worm drive saw can do. I've been using it in a remodel doing framing and absolutely love it. Makita sells another cordless circular saw (6 1/2" blade) but it's underpowered and designed for ripping thin sheets. This saw will cut anything!If you've already accumulated a few 18v Makita tools (and batteries), then the $200 price tag is nothing. If you don't have Makita batteries then the $450 price tag is daunting.Just FYI- this tool will work with any amp/hour batteries... from the 2Ah to the 5Ah; they all work.

good power, clean cuts, easy to use, awkward blade lock button...heavylove no cord

I've been a carpenter for 35 years and have used just about every saw made in that time. This might be the best non-track saw I have ever used. I have 17 Makita cordless tools, 20 batteries and 3 charges, so adding this saw was a no-brainer. At 36v it has all the power you will ever need. With the supplied thin kerf blade, the saw cuts perfectly. Haven't tried a full kerf blade in it yet, but I'm not sure why I would. Once it arrived, I put it to use cutting everything I could with it. I wanted to find it's limitations. I did manage to get it to bog down a little while ripping some LVLs, but even my corded Hypoid saw bogs down some with that task. My corded Makita Hypoid saw is now retired...

This is a somewhat challenging saw to use. As far as quality goes, it's everything you'd expect from Makita. Solid, construction grade. Relatively long battery life, but make sure you buy extra battery sets for it.The downside is that it is difficult to cut on a straight line. The spec blades' kerf is extremely thin and provides little to no assistance in cutting on a straight line. It binds very easily. The cutting material must be solidly supported, no movement during the cut and you must be perfectly aligned with the saw and material while cutting. Not great and sometimes not possible on construction. The blades must be razor sharp and they are so thin,they dull surprisingly quickly. So buy a bunch and change them regularly.Finally, the spring tension on the blade guard is too tight. The gaurd was also causing problems for me during the cut. But with a little mechanical know how, this can be remedied by stretching the spring out a little.