On Sun, 7 Aug 2011 01:13:19 -0400, "Morgans" wrote:

One thing I made sure of is the cast shoe. I had a stamped one on my
previous
saw. Any little bump would whack it out of alignment.
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One thing I would add is the shoe mounting is as or more important as the
shoe, I think.

Agreed, but I consider that part of the shoe.

It is tough to knock it out of line because the mounting is so heavy. If
you drop it off of the roof, all you do is straighten the shoe with a hammer
and keep on rocking.

I don't intend to drop if off a roof, so I'd rather have a stiffer, more
accurate shoe (and mounting). I rarely cut anything other than a 90degree
cut, so that rigidity is what I looked for. There are so many circular saws
to choose from. When buying a new one, think about how you're likely to use
it.

The Milwaukee has the type of mount where you can tell exactly how much you
are raising or lowering the blade. It also still cuts on the same place on
shoe notch whether you have the saw on 0 degrees, 25 or 45 degrees.

The rear-pivot DeWalt DW364 has the depth gauge, too. It's pretty slick.