My new favorite tool!

[Hedgehog]

Well maybe not my very favorite. It would have to go a very long way to beat the MIG or the Angle Grinder. Both have paid for themselves many times over. But, for jobs that neither can accomplish my new tool that isn't actually new to me at all is right up there with the both of them. I've actually had this thing for 5 years, my wife made me buy it to trim the trees. A task up until then I had no problem doing with my limb saw and ax. In truth she was about to force me OUT and wanted a tool that she thought would make life easier on her. I did warn her that the thing was a big heavy brutal beast to use, something she discovered the first time she used it. When the divorce was final she welcomed it GONE. Of course I'm talking about a Saws All. I have always known that people love them, but I hated the Viking like brutality of them. With the added quality of not being particularly accurate in their pillaging of what ever had been given a death sentence.

So, this morning I was faced with a problem. The PO had welded on a 2"x4"x1/8" tube bumper to the back of the CJ. Then hung a tire carrier from it. A bouncy flexible coupling that was destine for failure. He also welded a big plate to the frame and welded the rear spring bracket to the plate. Behind the nice smooth façade of the 2"x4" there lived a mess. All nut and bolt access holes were poorly cut with a torch. Almost the very first day I owned the CJ I resolved to start cutting on the thing until I found unmolested CJ, then build out from there with a new bumper. Problem, the gas tank. In itself an unhappy junk yard part that occasionally smelled of gas fumes. Using a torch was out of the question, the shear volume of sparks from a cutoff wheel scared the devil out of me.

Yesterday during the BIG project start the gas tank was removed. But not until a small but horribly placed chunk of metal was removed. It dawned on me that the Saws All might help. Cringing at the thought of the brutal beast shaking me to death the thing actually helped, actually for the short 1" cut in 1/4" steel plate it did real well, it cut the steel like butter actually.

With the tank removed I was contemplating cutting away and actually ruining the 2"x4" tubing by whittling away on the tubing with a cutoff blade in the Angle Grinder. But I was out of blades. On the way to the car to buy more blades I spied the Saws All with a couple of metal cutting blades resting near it. What the heck, there is plenty of room for the blade to reciprocate so why not. Well, it cut through the 2"x4"x1/8" tubing like butter. Oh my goodness it was GREAT. In about 15 minutes the offending tube bumper was GONE. To make everything even better the PO hadn't destroyed the rear of the frame at all, as a mater of fact the frame ends still had pieces of the original bumper , factory nuts/blots/rivets all intact and the inside of the frame rails that I was sure would be butchered are still in perfect condition. OMG this sort of thing almost never happens for me.

I'm thrilled, I have a entirely new appreciation for my new/old tool, the frame won't need to be rebuilt and the bumper job will move forward easier than ever expected. Thank you OP, thank you jeep gods!

 

[Woolyworm]

. Every tool has its advantages. I've actually had really good luck with mine and have gotten quite skilled at pretty fine cutting with it. Lots of different blades to choose from for different jobs and for the occasion when you have to saw thought 4" thick of anything or multiple things it pretty much can't be beat. Steel, fiberglass, concrete, walls, whatever. Guess that's where the "all" parts comes from. Happy cutting!


Wooly

 

[Hedgehog]

Boy isn't that he truth.

After writing the above post I went back out to continue the job. Once again I hit an area where I was just destroying my cut off wheels. The Saws All did it again quicker and smoother that any of my other tools could have done it. My hands are still buzzing, but the job is done.

 

[hole]

Pretty lucky, my Ex would've sooner given my tools to the garbage man than back to me. As a contractor, the SawzAll is a must have tool

 

[mriplaybass]

The wife bought me a Sawzall probably 20 years ago. I used it to take down a few sheds by cutting nails instead of pulling them. But other than that, maybe a dozen or so other jobs. I still have the original blades that came with it, and have purchased no others! We are in the middle of an undo the POs mess before starting in on the actual build, and are at the point of also removing a lot of mess near the gas tank. Maybe time to dust off the Sawzall and give it a try. Never really thought of this until reading this post!

 

[Kane]

I have metal blades for my sawzall and my saber saw. They work wonders and make very nice cuts that cutting blades just cannot do.

 

[Hedgehog]

All in all, other than not seeing my daughter as much as I'd like, my divorce went rather well and we don't hate each other. I guess after 29 years most hard edged emotion has warn smooth. We didn't cheat or anything like that, we just couldn't live together. She let me have all my tools and my guns. Most of the reloading stuff is still in boxes. Someday I'll build another bench for those.

One thing I've always hated about reciprocating saws is finding enough back room for them to saw without hitting something in the back. On the other hand I like the Saws All because the long blade doesn't need to be completely supported. IE you can reach past some items and still saw effectively, sometimes at extreme angles.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

A Sawzall and a BIG hammer. 2 of my favorite tools
LG

 

[jdcaples]

The Sawzall allowed me and two friends to replumb my 1926 home in two days by cutting through 70 year old galvanized pipes in seconds, rather than minutes (in some spaces, perhaps hours with a hack saw and sore arms).

The job would have been two weekends instead of one w/o it.

I'd be fine if my family cremated me with a Sawzall.

-Jon

 

[Hedgehog]

I'd forgotten about this. 5 or so years ago the dishwasher in my X-wifes house, then my house burned itself out, smoke and all right in front of me. When we replaced it I was trying to figure out how to throw the darned expensive thing away. Out came the Saws All and in minutes it was chopped into trash can sized pieces. The trash man took it away the next day. it was kind of fun.

 

[duffer]

I'd be fine if my family cremated me with a Sawzall.

-Jon

Wouldn't that be a criminal waste of a Sawzall?

I bought mine sometime in the mid 90's and it's been through a couple of remodel jobs, one complete house build, and all kinds of machinery use. An extremely useful tool that works well in places nothing else will. One of the local lumber yards has a sale on Milwaukee blades every couple of years for really good prices and I suspect I have a lifetime supply now.

 

[jdcaples]

Wouldn't that be a criminal waste of a Sawzall?

I bought mine sometime in the mid 90's and it's been through a couple of remodel jobs, one complete house build, and all kinds of machinery use. An extremely useful tool that works well in places nothing else will. One of the local lumber yards has a sale on Milwaukee blades every couple of years for really good prices and I suspect I have a lifetime supply now.

Doesn't burying someone with prized processions go back to the stone age?

My family doesn't pass stuff down like normal clans. We force kids to earn things. Then do our best to take things with us.

-Jon

 

[Hedgehog]

After perusing the metal saw blades I have also found my favorite blade. The Diablo Steel Demon Carbide-tipped blades are everything advertised and more. Man they can eat metal. The one I have is very short, 4", long enough to get the job done, not so long that it keeps hitting stuff on the back stroke. Also the carbide tips are wide enough to keep the sides of the blade from ribbing excessively keeping unwanted heat and friction to a minimum.