Milwaukee 2731-20 M18 Fuel 7-1/4" Circular Saw Bare

I have been working construction/maintenance jobs in Alaska for many many years. I purchased this this spring (April 2016) and have been very impressed with the power and utility of this saw. Doing carpentry and construction in Alaska often requires off-grid worksites and that especially where this saw shines. It has completely replaces my corded Makita as my go to circular saw. I have used it to rip 1 1/8'' plywood, notching a 2x12'' for stair stringers, cut countless rafter tails and even trimmed down a 2'' solid oak door. The rafter hook is amazing for when your in those hard to reach places, and the LED light is extremely nice for winter work, since its usually dark by 4 PM. Sure we set up work lights, but its still hard to see your cut line. Not so with this saw. Being left-handed makes the blade orientation very nice. Sure you can use this right-handed with no problems, but as a lefty I can look right at my cut line. Which brings me to another thing I like. The cut guide on the saw is dead on. if you center the 0 degree notch in the base with your line your are spot on. If you run the line to one side of the notch you can just barely leave the line. This is a contrast to a Porter Cable 20v circular saw I used, when I tried to use the cut guide on the saw it was about 3/16'' off my line. The blade wrench is stored ON the saw, a nice touch. All the marks for cut depth and angle cuts, are large and easy to see.Now for my two complaints. the first is not really a problem if you're aware that this could be an issue. This saw will suck a 2.0 amp hour battery in short time. Ripping plywood with a compact battery will only frustrate you since it will seem like the battery dies after only a couple sheets. Throw a 4.0 AH or better yet a 5.0 or 6.0 and you will never miss the cord on a typical saw.Which makes my only real complaint about the saw is the fact that occasionally will just stop. I'll be pushing the saw through a board and the battery will be half full or better, as I push the blade meets some resistance or maybe gets pinched and the saw will simply stop. In order to get the cut going again I have to pull the saw out of the cut, squeeze the button to get the blade going and finish my cut. It takes less time to do than it does to read that, but it always seems to happen at the worst time. I think its some kind of fail-safe so when the motor bogs down it simply cuts power to the saw in order to prevent burning up the motor. A good feature no doubt, but irritating at times.Overall, I love this saw.. If you're a homeowner/weekend DIY type, it will do all you will ever ask of it. If you are a Professional carpenter I think you will still be very happy with the saw, the brushless motor is ultra compact and light, and if you already have Milwaukee tools and batteries, well...What are you waiting for?

Fantastic saw.But first let's talk about sellers. If you're eyeballing Sap Ent's lowest price and getting ready to pull the trigger I urge you to whoa up buddy and look at their customer satisfaction ratings. It's not worth saving $15 to go through that headache.Now back to the saw.Not the most powerful of course, a corded worm saw still trumps any cordless, but it's more than powerful enough to handle any framing or ripping work I'll ever encounter.And I don't always do typical framing or ripping. This afternoon I was ripping down 8 foot lengths of 2 1/2" thick green cypress planks without a problem. Chewed through it like a champ and didn't even bind when I got sloppy. Stud hook is great. Having a cordless rotary has already been very convenient, being able to hang that saw within arms reach pretty much everywhere I was working was even better. What the pictures don't show is that all of the measurement guides on the saw are clearly marked, precise, and easily adjusted. It's also much narrower than a typical corded saw which makes it easy to use in some cramped places.Oh, and the safety switch isn't one of those PITA jobs that you have to fumble in with your thumb while trying to keep the saw straight. You press DOWN, and it doesn't take a lot of pressure, and has both physical and audible feedback to let you know it's been pressed. It's so much easier it's hard to describe, but suffice it to say I never felt irritated about having to release the safety or felt that it was causing me to start a crooked cut.If you've already started buying M18 tools, don't hesitate to pick this up.

Sad to see how a brand like Milwaukee has been sacrificed to satisfy short term profit and bonuses for CEO/CFO and Stock holders.There is NO way that the crappy quality used here was not known by the engineers over at Milwaukee, as they have been producing quality tools for decades.I guess that has all changed now in the interest of short time profit takes precedence over delivering a quality product. I purchased this to bring with me over seas for a volunteer project to help kids and orphans, and this piece of junk stopped working after 2 days. One might as well purchase a no-name brand from Harbor Freight for 1/5 of the price. This way one won't be as disappointed when it does brake.

After a few uses I have to admit it doesn’t seem as powerful as I was expecting from the advertising, the price, and the reviews. The saw got jammed up a couple times while shortening a light door. I haven’t used it on anything else as solid/thick as that yet so I will update/improve the score later if I find it performs better with additional use. It doesn’t feel all that powerful when pulling the trigger though so I’m not overly confident it’s going to redeem itself. I did have a fully charged upgraded battery (5.0). Honestly it didn’t seem much more powerful than my 18v Ryobi which was half the price and came with battery and charger.UPDATE: this saw just easily cut through a large pine slab. It was 3” thick and about 24” wide, so I had to cut it from both sides but it was like butter. Revised rating!