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.
JetWoodworkingTools.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
Can this saw cut porcellin tile. What replacement blades do you recommend?
Would it be best to rent a wet saw to cut 18 inch porcelin tiles or could this Rockwell product handle the job
with better blades?
I wouldn’t recomment this saw for porcelin tiles — I think of them as midway between ceramic and glass. Just to britle and chippy to get good results on a recriprocating saw. A diamond blade MIGHT do it, but I wouldn’t buy a bladerunner on the hope that it would work.
Generally, I’d suggest anything except the ones it came with and the ones recommended by amazon (grrrr). You can jigsaw blades that are compatible at just about any home-improvement store.
I ran into a similar problem with 1″ glass tiles remodeling my kitchen. Scoreing and a nibbler worked fine, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea for really large tiles. Taking them into a local installer and paying them to make the cuts maybe cheaper than renting, unless you have a lot of fit-in-place cuts. In brief, the bladerunner is a no-go on this one.
hope this helps,
Jim