Hi.

I do a variety of residential and commercial work and find I am using a skil saw near constantly for ripping, cutting down countertops and solid surface, and regular 2X lumber. I’ve owned nothing but sidewinders over the course of 10 years including Bosch, Skil, and DeWalt brands, they each had their pros and cons. My current saw’s plate is bent and I would like to get a new saw.

To try something new I picked up an all metal 1940s/1950s era Skil brand 8 1/4″ wormdrive saw for $20, I can’t use the thing worth a damn. I read all the online hints I saw but they weren’t much help, I’m righthanded and the thing seems to tip on me..or is so heavy it messes up the offcut..and doesn’t even stay on a true line all that well. I put a brand new carbide blade on it as well in case that was the problem. I tried running it against a board as a fence and it didn’t even deliver that nice of a cut doing it that way. As an aside the thing is heavy..all metal, I’d say 17 to 20 pounds at least.

So my question is, is there any practice I can do to become more wormdrive proficient? I was considering a hypoid Craftsman skil saw or a Skil 77 Mag saw as my next all purpose circular saw to use for everything from framing to cutting bookmatched Anigre veneer panels with a shooting board, should I retreat back to sidewinders and spend hundreds on a used Black and Decker Sawcat(which I hear was the 2nd coming as far as skil saws go) or just get a new Makita and be done with it?

I do have a Festool saw but it requires another trip to the truck, is dedicated purpose only, etc, etc..if I’m building a reception desk and need to cut shims, framing lumber, etc..and then make a couple of cuts on a finished panel it’s nice to have one saw to use for it all.