If a professional grade circular saw is on your wish list this holiday season, the folks at SKILSAW Power Tools hope you’ll add two new 7-1/4-in. models to your tally of options. And, if you can hold off until early 2015, they’re launching a “monstrous” 10-1/4-in.-dia. worm-drive saw to satisfy the most demanding jobsite users. All three saws are expansions to the company’s professional line of cutting tools, and they’re the first new saws that celebrate an official re-branding of SKILSAW to mark the company’s 90th anniversary. In fact, it was back in 1924 that SKILSAW invented the world’s first portable circular saw.
One distinctive feature of the new circular saws is an updated logo, but for some longtime SKILSAW fans, it will be a familiar reminder from tools past. The new logo features a diamond knockout shape. “Our archives reflect a diamond shaped background was an iteration of our logo used approximately in the 1950s and 1960s,” says Linda Mueller, digital brand manager for SKILSAW Power Tools. But, builders will immediately identify the diamond as the knockout shape on the blades of their worm-drive circular saws that they use every day.
The new logo also incorporates an updated typeface, appearing on the top guards of its saw line. The diamond knockout will be cast in relief into the leading edge of the guards of both new saws and SKILSAW’s current worm-drive models. “Our intention is to provide an easy way for consumers to identify which tools are right for their needs: SKILSAW for pros, SKIL for DIYers.”
Mueller says the diamond shape resonated well with focus groups of professional tradespeople, who feel it symbolizes a brotherhood within the building trade. The new logo also features the motto “Stay True®,” which the pros interpret as staying true to their trade. “As a brand,” Mueller adds, “the message reminds us to stay true to our heritage of building durable, legendary saws.”
To that end, the two new direct-drive circular saws, which are both called SIDEWINDER™s, are built on the same motor technology that SKILSAW uses in its venerable worm-drive saws. Instead of a typical copper winding around the motor’s armature, SKILSAW is equipping the 7-1/4-in. SIDEWINDERs with Dual-Field™ motors. Their unique copper winding pattern increases the surface area of the wire. That allows the motor to run cooler which, in turn, provides more torque and longer overall life.
SKILSAW’s SPT67WM-22 model SIDEWINDER takes durability several steps further: it’s the only circular saw on the market that features a magnesium motor housing, blade guards and foot — essentially, an all-magnesium tool. Considering the beating most saws take on jobsites, Mueller says the all-magnesium design “just made sense,” in terms of the durability, reliability and lighter weight it promises to provide. The SPT67WM-22 sells for $129.
The other SIDEWINDER, model SPT67WL-22, sells for $10 less than the all-magnesium version, because its motor housing is made of resin, instead. Resin sheds even more weight from the saw, which can make a difference if a circular saw is a tool you’re lifting all day long. At 8.6 lbs., SKILSAW reports that it’s the lightest weight professional circular saw on the market. It has the same 15-amp Dual-Field motor as its counterpart saw, and both come with a Freud® Diablo® carbide-tipped framing blade.
If you need the ability to cut 4x4s in a single pass, plus other oversized building materials, SKILSAW is putting miter saw cutting capability into its new “Sawsquatch™” 10-1/4-in. diameter worm-drive saw. This tool comes with the company’s largest Dual-Field motor, plus magnesium upper and lower blade guards and foot. It has an aluminum motor housing and the rear D-handle grip like other worm-drives, plus a side handle for added stability. The saw is outfitted with a 40-tooth Freud Diablo general-purpose blade and weighs 16.45 lbs. It will cut materials up to 3-11/16-in. thick at 90 degrees or 2-3/4-in. when tilted to 45 degrees.
Mueller says designing the oversized Sawsquatch is a response to the increased cutting needs contractors are experiencing with today’s modern building materials. “It has become common for framers, sheathers, formers and several other trades to make cross- and rip cuts in 4x dimensional lumber such as pine, LVL, Glulam and PSL. The Sawsquatch will be used commonly to cut floor and ceiling joists, rafters, wall studs, headers, floor and roof sheathing, trusses and framing, to name a few.”
SKILSAW intends to have its 10-1/4-in. worm-drive (model SPT70WM-22) in retail and industrial distributor stores in early 2015. It will sell for around $449.
As a testament to their durability, all three of these new saws are covered by SKILSAW’s Stay True™ Guarantee, which gives you 180 days to try out the saw and see if it meets your expectations. If you aren’t satisfied, you can return it for a full refund, no questions asked.
“Regardless of what other saw manufacturers do or say, our SKILSAW mission is to develop saws with legendary performance,” Mueller asserts. “We believe that any SKILSAW will be as hardworking and reliable as our users. The Stay True Guarantee is our pledge to demonstrate that we stand behind our tools.”
Mueller says there are more SKILSAW tool launches slated for 2015, too, which will include other updated worm-drive models. But in the meantime, you can learn more about the two new SIDEWINDERs and Sawsquatch, as well as other current worm-drive saws, by visiting SKILSAW’s microsite (click here).
