Looking for a new 240v 190mm CC.......shortlisted these so far:

Bosch GKS65 £116
Skil 5866 Skilsaw classic £81
Hitachi C7U2 £112

All specs are similar, Skil is a bit cheaper but is the build quality as
good as the others? Bosch has no hard card, just a bag but Lawsons have it
at a good price compared to others.

On 2007-09-24 00:43:31 +0100, "mark" said:

Looking for a new 240v 190mm CC.......shortlisted these so far:

Bosch GKS65 £116
Skil 5866 Skilsaw classic £81
Hitachi C7U2 £112

All specs are similar, Skil is a bit cheaper but is the build quality as
good as the others? Bosch has no hard card, just a bag but Lawsons have it
at a good price compared to others.

I have the earlier version of the Hitachi C7. At the time, it was
getting the best reviews on both sides of the Atlantic mainly because
of the sturdiness of the cast plate and positive adjustment controls.
I've been pleased with its results.

If a portable circular saw is going to be your principal method of
panel cutting, you might find the Bosch interesting because it has
adaptors to fit their guide rail system. That works for other
tools in their professional range as well. OTOH, you can use any
circular saw with a generic guide rail anyway, so it's not a huge
advantage.

Mafell has an interesting product, Flexistem, which has a flexible
guide rail as a metal band. It's about twice the price of the others
but includes the rail. It would be interesting for someone doing a
lot of site work. I've seen one demonstrated and doing a very
credible job.

mark wrote:

Bosch GKS65 £116
Skil 5866 Skilsaw classic £81
Hitachi C7U2 £112

All specs are similar, Skil is a bit cheaper but is the build quality as
good as the others? Bosch has no hard card, just a bag but Lawsons have it
at a good price compared to others.

Skil is owned by Bosch these days, and tends to be a mid price offering.
Quality is often better than the Bosch green tools, but perhaps not as
good as the Blue ones. It does represent good value for money though.

I have used the large version of the Hitachi (the C9U) and would rate it
as the best circular saw I have used. It has a high quality cast sole
plate that keeps the whole thing rigid, and square. Controls operate
nicely, and are sensibly positioned.

I have not tried the Bosch, so can't comment much other than to say the
sole plate looks reasonable from the photos.

--
Cheers,

John.

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mark wrote:
Looking for a new 240v 190mm CC.......shortlisted these so far:

Bosch GKS65 £116
Skil 5866 Skilsaw classic £81
Hitachi C7U2 £112

All specs are similar, Skil is a bit cheaper but is the build quality
as good as the others? Bosch has no hard card, just a bag but Lawsons
have it at a good price compared to others.

Makita 5704RK 190mm 1,200W £91:06 at Lawsons I have the smaller 5604 165mm
jobby which is truly excellent.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:43:31 +0100, "mark" wrote:

Bosch GKS65 £116

Unimpressive. Like most Bosch power tools it's a premium price and not
discounted by much. Some of their tools (jigsaws, drills, some sanders)
are worth this, but others (circulars) aren't.

Skil 5866 Skilsaw classic £81

Skil kit used to be good and there seem to be old-stock Classics around
at present. However the new design stuff is disposable crap and unworthy
of their name.

Hitachi C7U2 £112

Not bad. Good sole plate, splitter is a bit flimsy though (easily bent
sideways and hard to straighten)

Best of the lot is the Makita