Customer Reviews

PORTER-CABLE 325MAG 15 Amp 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw with Blade Right and Brake

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Comfort

The magnesium construction makes for great one hand control. Also, the rubberized handles are well postioned and feel solid. The blade visibility is also very good.

Brake

My first saw with a brake. Very quick shutoff, makes setting it down less questionable.

Dust Port

Dust port works extremely well, can aim it away from the work piece, attach a dust collector, or aim it back into the upper blade guard to shoot out the back/bottom.

Blade

Included Riptide blade rocks. Great general purpose blade. The tool-less blade change is very quick and easy. No more excuses not to switch over to the trim blade. :)

Case

The case is very rugged, I can sit on it @ 190 pounds with no problems. It has a cutout for the rip-guide (sold seperately) and blades.

Overall

The only thing I could fault would be the price. I feel that the rip-guide could have been included at this price. Otherwise, this is a great tool that should perform for years to come.

This is the most accurate Circular Saw you can get. The inside cut line is right at 5 inches and you get about as good a straight 90 degree cut as an average table saw. It's light and has plenty power. The base has a perfect flat edge for aligning against guides. EZ blade change is a bonus.

I'm thinking about getting a second one for left blade. I wouldn't consider any thing else.

Have used it several times and the electric brake is a nice safety feature (once put down a contractors saw with the blade still spinning BUT the blade cover did not go down, saw took off "by itself" and cut through the side of my shoe, fortunately the thick sole kept it from getting to my toe-no kidding).

Well made, resonably light, plently of power.

The first saw I purchased was a Sear's Craftsman, at the time money was a real issue. I was speaking with a professional carpeter one day and asked hip why should I pay twice as much for a Milwaukee, Porter-Cable or the like when a Craftsman tool does the same thing? His one comment was; "use it all day and see which one makes the difference". He was right, my wife bought a Dewalt Radial Arm saw for me around 1973 for around $170 (she worked at the store). I used that saw for fifteen years before I sold it in order to buy a table saw. We put it in the paper for $350.00, the first guy that called came out and paid cash! I only buy top brand power tools, if I change my mind, I can sell them for what I paid for them, or at least pretty close. Regarding the Porter-Cable saws, I have a left and a right-hand version of this saw, it was the first 15-amp saw when everybody elses was 13-amp. A word of advice, while you are at the store, buy a Freud decking blade to go with it.

If you are at Lowe's (my favorite), you will probably have to go to a Home Depot, they usually carry the blade in bulk for $10.00. Take the new blade off your saw and install the decking blade, you will never go back.

The Porter-Cable 325 circular saw works great, but it just misses the mark as a precision made tool. The power and feel are fine; it does the job it was intended to do.

It is a little disappointing that the company didn't put in the last bit of design effort and production control to make it a delightful tool. The molded magnesium base is dead flat, but the molded-in ruler on the right side is off by about 1/32" at the 11" mark. The error is progressively larger going from the 1" mark up, so it is evident that the mold was made with precise ruler markings, but the design engineer failed to compensate for the fact that magnesium shrinks considerably as it cools. This also caused a problem with how far the base right and left edges are from the saw blade. If you use a saw guide for cutting plywood, you can not offset 5" from the left side or 1-1/2" from the right side. You have to offset just a little bit more because the base is a little undersize. I know this kind of error is insignificant if you are doing framing, but I like things to fit just right.

After the death of my old skil saw I was looking for a professional saw that was easy to handle, had easy to read marks, could be used to frame, cut plywood, and do general chores, and would be safe enough for my teenagers to use. This saw has excellent power, the electric brake is a great safety feature, the blade changes are a breeze, and the adjustable exhaust port comes in handy. I just cut some concrete, did some demo, cut some cabinets and now I'm about to frame a shed. Wish me luck!

Awesome saw...flies through wood, has a great weight to it--not too heavy, but not too light that it feels cheap, the magnesium body and fence were a great choice. This model has the electronic brake which brings the blade to a stop about a second after you release the trigger. (Doesn't really make a difference since the fence will protect the blade from cutting anything, but it's a nice for piece-of-mind.)

My only gripe is the motor being awfully close to the workpiece. I wanted to use a 3/4" piece of MDF as a fence to ride the saw along, but the motor is too deep, the saw wouldn't lay flat. I ended up using another strip of wood that was about 3/8" thick. That gave the motor plenty of room.

I've had excellent luck with Porter Cable tools over the years, in fact most of my tools are Porter Cable. Unfortunately this one didn't live up to my expectations. The first time I tried to remove the blade using the "Quick Change" bolt it stripped out. Other than that the saw performed fine. Called Porter Cable and they said they've had problems with the quick change device. Offered to send a new quick change or a standard bolt. I opted for the standard.

The saw I received today (from 7 Corners) comes with a soft canvas case. They tell me Porter Cable (Dewalt) is switching over from the hard plastic. Forget about protecting the plate alignment while it's being transported in the back of the truck.

The quick-change blade clamp is certainly awkward - I see a previous reviewer's bolt broke on first use.

The back left corner of the base plate has about a 2" triangle cut out -- that is, the left edge is that much shorter than the right. (The pictures, of course, don't show this.) So be sure any straight-edge guide extends a few inches beyond the work piece.

Also forget about easily using the dust bag that worked so well on the old 447 - with various adapters and duct tape I have the old bag precariously hanging on right now. That may not matter to most people- it apparently doesn't to Porter Cable -- but I found the bag cut down on 90% of the dust (on ply rips, for instance) without the hassle of a hose and vacuum. (7 Corners told me in advance the saw was not designed for the bag - but I figured there must be some way to adapt that chute.)

That said, I have had several Porter Cable 447's and been very happy with them. This still seems a good tool, the rubber handle is nice. I will give it a spin for several days and report back. But I'll also be keeping an eye out for a 447. And hoping Porter Cable's design philosophy hasn't changed for the worse.

Porter-Cable 325MAG 15 Amp 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw with Blade Right and Brake

Very happy with it, solidly built, accurate plate and plenty of power; you just let the saw do the work. So far only used it to rip sheets of ¾ and ½ plywood, clamp a strait edge guide and make accurate 8 foot or 4 foot cuts. Comes with a good all purpose blade.

Would buy it again.

2/28/08 update

Still very pleased with this saw