A friend recently found a new tool called the Dual Saw. He asked me if I knew anything about it wondering if it was worth it for him to buy.
Since I had not heard of it before, he was wondering if anyone in rec.woodworking could give us some feedback on it. TIA.
Omni Dual Saw:
`Casper
Actually Craftsman came out with that saw 4 or 5 years ago and dropped it and then started carrying it again.
Apparently they have it again, and cheaper.
Looks pretty interesting but I would not want to use it fore anything precise. They need to incorporate a removable table for it.
Sears used to sell a simular saw. It had the counter rotating blades. Didn't last long.
Casper wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Anything "Billy Mays Here" is selling I would be very careful about buying. Not to mention he's obnoxious... Just my .02...
Larry
The only thing worth using that Billy has done a commercial for is ESPN!
Mark
Yeah, I'm as wary of Billy as I am Kevin Trudeau.
I missed the Ccraftsman version. I did pick up one a craftsman roto-like kit and it has come in handy several tiimes but I guess they weren't popular either as I do not see them anymore.
Thanks for the replies btw. `Casper
They still sell it, again.
Well, let's see
Three easy payments of $59.99 - comes to 3 cents shy of $180 so let's call it $180 even.
Then there's the $39.99 S&H which we'll round up to an even $40 to keep the math easier.
So the "In You Hands Price Tag is "only" $220.
You can get a pretty nice "regular" circular saw - that will produce nice finished cuts - or deal with 2x4s and
4x4s - for that kind of money - and a well known brand name - with an established reputation - for that kind of money.Anyone here planning on using a hand held circular saw - which doesn't have a "table"/"foot" - but comes with an edge guide (?)
- and "lubricating sticks" - to - cut through nails - or steel pipe?
And when you're trying to get someone to believe that the finish of its cut in wood is "craftsman like" - don't provide the close up of the cut - that looks far from "craftsman like".
I couldn't find any info on the blade diameter or the max thickness it can cut - something I WANT TO KNOW before I'd fork over $220.
I'm going to pass on this one - too much hype and not enough actual information.
snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Billy Mays, yah, yawn.....
Vince with the ShamWOW!, now there's my new fave for infomercials! Duud: ummm..... you don't need that headset. There's a boom mike just above you.
D'ohBoy
LMAO!!!
I saw the infomercial very early on a Saturday morning but I was in a hurry and did not have the time to do research on it. You can say the hype in the informercial got me this time, but to be fair, I saw enough of its potential to order this dualsaw from twinstar for evaluation and had high hopes that it's worthy enough to keep.
I got it shipped to me 3 days ago and well the first impression is that it has too many plastic components and won't be too durable if it's used repetitively for big jobs. It's a tool that is probably useful in certain situations that call for its multi-purpose capability to quickly help you the task at hand without having to go rent or get the professional grade power tools. In addition, the dualsaw label is a cheap piece of sticker that will fall off. On the blades, I'm not too worry about its durability since the replacement for quality blades in general is expensive and well in the $50-$70 range, dualsaw priced their replacement blade is slightly below that so it shouldn't be too bad, it's the motor, the plastic housing and how well it can handle a minor drop to ground and etc.. Come to think of it, if this product is discontinued the replacment blades would also be discontinued .. which raises concern.
It's too bad I don't have the time to just go out and find all sort of different materials to try this saw out. I'm more practical and was hopeful that when I get the saw that there is a big contracting project that my guys can actually test out its usefulness but we don't have project to work on so due to the current economic situation.
To conclude, I'm wary enough to start searching for reviews of this product online. So far no blogs or critics sites are raving about it and to be fair there were also no real evidence of bad experiences ... it's a fairly new product so there isn't much reliability testimonies nor complaints. Again my only impression on it is that it's not built to last or continuous heavy duty use.
I would give it some time if I were you before buying it even with the money back guarantee promises to save yourself some time. I'm returning my this coming Monday. If things doesn't go smoothly as they have advertise wrt their return policy, I will try to go back here and tell you all about it.
-- Minh p.s. so that you know this is from a somewhat trustworthy source, I'm a co-owner of 3M CONSTRUCTION LLC, a general contractor business in Portland Oregon. Sorry if this is not informative enough.
other 6 1/8" and runs @ 4600 rpm. The latter looks just like the Craftsman (or should I say the Craftsman looks like the Chicago electric). This technology has been around for some time in Europe. I think it was actually invented by the Swedes or Germans ("and you know the Germans always make good things", from Shamwow). The technology really does work as far as the counter rotating blades cutting cleaner, cooler, and easier. That's why it is used for rescue. As far as the Craftsman burning up, that may be because it is only rated for
1/8" thickness metals. The Omni does say it turns at 6000 rpm and it does have an amp rating on their site. As far as the cost of the blades, Harbor Freight has replacement blades for $29.95 for their saws so the Omni replacements are about right but you still have the shipping. In the infomercials, they only make quick short cuts that do not take longer than a few seconds and they probably change out the saw every few cuts so that they don't burn them out. The original saws that these were down sized from is the size of a large chain saw and probably weighs about 60 lbs, i.e. rescue saw. Just one more thing. Does Billie Mays yell like that at his wife? I take that back, he does not have a wife because he probably does yell like that all the time.
What are the Harbor Freight Model Numbers?
snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
I grew up in Philadelphia, and we'd always go to the Atlantic City boardwalk, where there were tons of pitchmen (similar to Vince), for various kitchen products. Usually knives or slicer/dicers, etc. (Today's AC boardwalk is nothing like the old days.) These pitchmen are actually very talented at what they do, and today you will see them at Home Shows in your cities or towns-- selling the various As Seen On TV products. Personally, I love watching them "do their thing." But, as far as Vince goes: He is my favorite! Vince is giving his pitch with a "wink-wink", giving an extreme version of the boardwalk pitch. They really would talk like that! And of course, they all use that headset-mic. Vince's rendition is very accurate, very extreme, and very funny (on purpose).
As for the Dual Saw: There is a new reality-type TV show on Discovery Channel, called "Pitchmen". It stars Billy Mays and the other guy (British, can't think of his name). (They apparently now have some sort of working relationship to sell products together.) I've seen the TV show twice, and recommend it. It takes you behind the scenes of the marketing of the many "As Seen on TV" type products-- from the outset of picking a product, to the filming of commercials, etc. The Dual Saw product was featured on the first episode I watched. I had never heard of the Dual Saw before, never saw an infomercial about it, etc. So, that's why I googled Dual Saw and found this discussion. The Dual Saw gets a lot more exposure in the TV show: It was invented by a French firefighter, can cut through any type of material, including glass, concrete, steel, etc., has no kickback (safety feature for firefighters), no vibration (cut's eggshell into two halves), low friction heat (can cut gasoline-soaked materials w/o causing an explosion or flame! But best not to try that at home.). It cut a car in half in the show. (They accidentally cut a gas line, and there was no flame/explosion). Of course the TV show is edited, but I do not sense that blades were being changed at any time during the filming of the demonstrations. If you can watch this episode, you judge for yourself. The TV show gives a lot more information than the
1 minute infomercial, so I think the product becomes more impressive. The pricing for the test marketing was about $100 (I think), so they've upped the price. I don't know how this product relates to the Craftsman dual saw referenced in the discussion. But, the French firefighter claims to have invented it. That's all I know.I don't think Vince would be good for selling this product (would you buy a $220 Dual Saw from funnyman Vince?), but I guess Billy Mays and the British guy have more- serious personna.
I really want to thank those that posted links to alternative sources...
I've sure learned a lot about these saws since my first search a few days ago that led me to this group.
There's obviously at least two of these saws; possibly all from the same manufacturer.
The "Dual Saw" is the smaller 5" model with a small motor, and is probably, from the reviews I found on another site, the one that Sears discontinued because they were constantly going up in smoke the first time they were used long enough to get hot. (Sears still carries the
5" blades but not that saw).Sears now sells the 6 1/4" model, with a motor that's nearly 2 1/2 times more powerful... ...and they're either closing them out or giving them away in one of their super-sales!
I'm now a proud owner... ...they were out of stock on-line, but I searched a bunch of stores and found several in stock (had to drive 30 miles round-trip, but it was well worth it. They sell the 6 1/4" regularly for $169.99, but right now (through May) have it on sale for $109.99!! ($60 savings). With my Craftsman Club discount, I brought it home for under $100!!!! ...sure beats the heck out of $220 for an inferior model!
I still haven't tried it out yet, but the reviews were good on the larger model... ...and there's always the Sears 100% satisfaction guarantee.
...sure glad I found this site in a Goggle search :)
Well that doesn't surprise me. I usually run across the damnedest things when I'm looking for my goggles.
On May 17, 8:32=A0pm, Steve Turner wrote: "...Well that doesn't surprise me. =A0I usually run across the damnedest things when I'm looking for my goggles."
ROFLMAO Do I at least get credit for spelling the rest of the words right?
By the way, I made another mistake... The motor in the bigger Craftsman in only twice as powerful (my math isn't much better than my spelling).
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