A Great Saw At A Great Price

There’s been a lot of buzz about Rockwell’s blade runner saw, with lots of good reviews and almost as many bad reviews. I’ve had to really dig into tons of reviews to understand all this. My conclusion? It’s a great little power tool, especially for woodworking, but you need to be aware of it’s limitations.

Downside

This power saw has been called “the ultimate cutting machine.” That’s a bit of hype. The blade runner is versatile, combining many of the capabilities of a band saw, scroll saw, and table saw. Although it can make similar cuts, it’s not better than any one of them. In general, the individual saws provide better accuracy and much greater power. Remember, it’s essentially still a jig saw.

Like many people, I was a bit turned off by the TV infomercial, but if featured the HomeTime people so it deserves some respect. The video did a great job of showing the capabilities of this saw. But for me it went more than a little too far, grossly exaggerating the difficulties of using other saws. Plus you can get metal, ceramic, and other blades for traditional saws, although it does take a lot more time to change their blades. I’m convinced the video was sped up – there’s no way a jigsaw can cut heavy materials that fast. Finally, I don’t think this Rockwell saw actually gets a lot of use at construction sites even that’s shown in the infomercial. It’s intended to be a consumer product.

Upside

Despite all that, the blade runner is a wonderfully versatile little power saw. The table mount gives you hands free for curved cuts, and the miter gauge will give you must straighter cuts and more exact angles for straight cuts. It’s very compact, especially compared to having several specialized power saws. Better still, it’s very light and portable. This means you can bring it to the work, rather than taking the work to it. And blade changing is indeed incredibly fast once you get the hang of it.

Those Other Reviews

Now let’s resolve those contradictory reviews.

No, you’re not going to get the cutting power of special-purpose saws costing several times as much. And being a jigsaw you’ll get some blade wander on thicker materials. But within those limitations it’s very versatile and actually a lot of fun.

You can cut wood as much as 2” thick, but that has to be soft woods (like pine) and you’ll need to go really slowly. With hardwoods you’ll need to stay well below 1”.

And be sure and use the right blade for the material you’re cutting (wood, plastic, metal, or ceramic). One review cursed this saw for being unable to cut tile, saying the blade just got red hot and not much else happened. From my own experience, I’ll bet he was using a wood blade. You also need to adjust the motor speed according to the material you’re cutting.

The wall mount looks fine to me, though a few people have complained about it. My advise is to mount the saw at a height that’s comfortable for you rather than the height listed in the manual. And you’ll need to take a little care with how you run the power cord.

One last tip. Use the safety hold down. Otherwise you’re likely to get vibration and a lot of noise. With the hold down properly set, this saw is smooth and relatively quiet.

My Conclusion

I think the bad reviews were largely a result of people expecting too much, or not taking the time learn the ins and outs of a power saw. It’s not super-powerful, it’s not high precision. It’s a consumer product intended for home use. You’ll be pleased with all the things it can do, and how easy it is to use. I wish I had one when I was remodeling my house – it would have saved uncountable trips between the various rooms and the garage. After that, having it around would have encouraged me to tackle lots of craft projects. It’s fun, flexible, and portable.

Click here for latest low cost and free shipping.

In Brief

As long as you stay within its limitations this is a great little fun-to-use saw. But don’t even consider it for construction work – it can’t really handle 2 by 4s or fast cuts even in thin stock. And it won’t give you the precision you’ll need for fine furniture making and cabinetry work.

Most of the complaints come from pushing it too hard or not using the right blade and speed setting. Be sure to use the proper blade for the material you’re cutting – wood, metal, whatever. The blades it comes with aren’t worth the bother. Get something better, even relatively inexpensive blades from a local hardware or home improvement store. Take it nice and slow and keep your wood stock down to an inch or so and soft metals below 1/8 inch and you’ll be happy with this saw.

Despite the limitations, you’ll likely find the Rockwell Blade Runner to be a wonderful tool for craft and hobby projects, room trim, picture frames, and a lot more.

You can also get two accessories for the blade runner saw, a circle cutter and a picture frame cutter.  I’d been looking for some woodworking tools or jigs for these functions, and that’s actually what first caught my eye. 

Circle Cutter Accessory

Cutting exact circles can be difficult with any saw.  I’ve had a few projects where I needed to do this, and I was just able to get by with a circle cutter for my drill press.  These are literally round saw blades that fit into a drill chuck.  A big disadvantage is that they get started and are stablilzed with a drill bit, so you always end up with a large-ish hole (roughly 1/4″) in the middle of your circle.  I needed round holes in a larger piece, so that was fine for my task but would be unacceptable for many projects.  Further, these cutters are limited to 4 or 5″ diameter circles.

Circle cutting accessory

So the  circle cutter accessory can come to the rescue.  It’s capable of cutting circles of 3″ to 18″ diameter.  Maximum thickness is about 1″ for wood.  With the right blade you can also cut plastic or thin metal.  Your circles won’t have a hole in the middle, and will be more accurate than most power saw techniques, and way smoother than you could do with any hand-held power tool.

Picture Frame Cutter Accessory

Picture Frame Cutter

Using the picture frame cutter with a bladerunner is a whole lot faster than with a miter box and hand saw.  I’m planning on making lots of small frames for travel photos to make a physical photo gallery in the stairway of my home.  So a little “automation” will be a big help.  This woodworking power tool accessory can produce frames up to 26″  Given this saw’s limitations you should limit wood thickness to 3/4″ at the most and take it slowly and carefully.  On the plus side, it has settings that make it a lot easier to match a frame to the glass  or mat.  Considering how much even a small custom frame costs, this could be a huge money saver.

 You can grab ‘em here at a low price and with free shipping

Click here for my review of the Blade runner itself.

Bladerunner in Action -- But Where's the Dust?

The Rockwell Bladerunner is a great little power tool for many home shops. It’s become very popular, despite a few shortcommings (see below). If you can’t afford (or don’t have the room for) multiple saws, this one just might do the trick. 

Currently using just hand saws or a hand-held jig saw?  When you have a Bladerunner you’ll be able to work faster yet get better results.  You’ll be able to take on more projects, and more advanced projects, and have even more pride in your work.  Plus it’s portable so you can move it from room to room for home remodeling details.

See the end of this review for the lowest prices we’ve found.  They’re all over 1/3 off list.

It’s not a Jet product, but so unique I had to write about it. The Bladerunner is a bit hard to describe. It’s not really a scroll saw, jig saw, or table saw. Rather, it’s more like a combination of these. Perhaps the most accurate is to say it’s a table saber saw – something that’s just about impossible to find these days. 

Introducing the Bladerunner

It’s not a big multi-horsepower saw, but it is an amazingly versatile small saw. It can make inside, miter, scroll, circle and rip cuts. It cuts wood, plastic, thin metal, and even tiles. This Rockwell tool has been called a poor man’s band saw and scroll saw combined into one, costing under $200. Now at this price it’s not a perfect replacement for these various saws, or even a jig saw.

This little saw is a very popular compromise between these various tools. It’s a great home shop tool when you can’t afford (or can’t justify the cost) of multiple power saws. It’s amazingly versatile, letting you do lots of small job details. You’ll get better straight cuts than you can on a scroll saw with almost as much flexibility in curves.

Cutting Tile

There’s no killer problems, but as part of the multi-function compromises there’s a few things you should know about. The biggest limitation is power. Although it can cut metal as well as tiles, all materials need to be fairly thin. Also, cuts may be a little off an exact 90 degrees from the table. This is, after all, essentially a saber saw so you’ll get some blade deflection. A 1” thickness of soft wood is approaching the limit; hardwoods need to be thinner. At under $200 you won’t find high-precision either. But it’s great for free-form cutting with lots of curves.

Among the plusses you’ll find:

• 5.5 amp motor
• stable work table
• very easy to change and widely available standard blades
• a hold-down to reduce vibration
• a vacuum attachment to cut down on sawdust
• picture fram making and circle cutting accessories available
• table-top, wall-mound, and portable quick-change options

This tool offers some unusual advantages. It’s very lightweight, about 18 pounds, and portable. It even has a built-in carrying handle. To achieve this, many parts are plastic, but they’re of a modern rugged and durable type. It’s quite solid, and when used properly there’s very little vibration.

Tips

I’d also like to pass along a few tips. First, don’t bother with the blades that come with this saw. They’re just not up to par and Rockwell should have known better. But you don’t need to go for anything expensive. For example, you can get Bosch T118A metal blades for as little as $2 each. Also, be sure to use the hold-down arm and as always use the right blade at the right speed for the material you’re cutting.

Maximum Thicknesses

These numbers are only rough guides, and you’ll have to go really slowly to achieve them.

• soft woods — 2 inches
• hard woods — 1 inch
• aluminum — 3/8 inch
• steel — 1/8 inch

Again, don’t forget to use the proper blade and motor speed.

My Review

Cutting Pipe

Although it’s billed as a universal do-it-all saw,  that’s really not the case.  You need to understand it’s limitations then decide if it will be right for you.  It won’t replace the standard saws for power and precision, but it’s a really fun little tool. The Bladerunner saw can be wall mounted, but most people find a bench-top setup much better. With the right blade it can even cut ceramic tiles. Just remember, it’s for small projects not heavy cuts. If you can’t afford a table saw and band saw and scroll saw and jig saw and table saw, this little power saw may be just what you need.

You can think of it two ways.  As a poor man’s bandsaw, or as a rich man’s jigsaw.   It costs significantly more than a hand-held saber saw, but you’ll get a work table for two-handed curve cutting, plus a miter for solid straight cutting and ripping.  The hold-down really helps with vibration, and the vaccuum hook-up takes care of the dust (well, almost).  You also get the metal (plus other material) cutting-abilies.  But you simply won’t get anything like the horse power and high accuracy of a good bandsaw.

Who Should Have Rockwell’s Bladerunner?

If you’ve been using a hand-held saber saw this Rockwell saw will be a step up.

• No more holding the wood with one hand while trying to make precise cuts with the other.  Instead you’ll have a stable work surface and can use both hands to the lumber.  This is especially important for free-hand curves.
• No more eye-balling or time spent making guide jigs.  The bladerunner has a miter that doubles as a fence, much like a table saw.
• By atttaching a vacuum, you’ll cut way down on sawdust all over the place.

If you can’t afford to spend several hundred dollars each for several power saws, this saw is a versatile substitute.  But don’e forget it’s limitations in material thicknesses and accuracy.

If you already have a well-equiped woodshop, it can still be a handy addition.

• It’s a quick and fun little saw, particularly useful if you don’t have a scroll saw or band saw.
• For outdoor or home remodeling projects you can move it too the job, rather than carrying pieces back and forth to the shop for in-place fitting adjustments.  Sometimes you don’t measure and just cut a few times
• The circle-cutting and picture-frame accessories can really come in handy.

Here’s the lowest prices we’ve found — over 40% off! Both offer free shipping.

• Amazon $165.90
• Tool King $160.92

Here’s the best Rockwell Bladerunner video I’ve been able to find.