Porter Cable PC15TCSMK Circular Saw

I received this saw for review several months ago and just haven’t had an opportunity to use it much. On the recent Chest of Drawers project, I had a bunch of sheetgoods to cut down so I took that opportunity to give the saw a little workout. The results were pretty much exactly what I anticipated. A powerful 15 amp saw with as good a quality of cut as the blade would allow (I used the stock 24-tooth blade). Frankly, a pretty solid package for the $90 asking price.

Prior to getting into the tracksaw world, I used an older Porter Cable 743 for all of my circular saw work. There are only a few appreciable improvements over this older model: its about a pound lighter, the secondary handle is ergonomically positioned, and the adjustment knobs are now easy to use levers (see below, left). There are actually a few things that were left out of this model, that are present on my older saw. For instance, the blade changing wrench is now stored in the case, instead of on the tool itself (see below, right). Another thing missing is the dust bag connector. Now to be fair, they do still make saws with the dust bag connector but I suppose at this price point they needed to sacrifice a few things.

So what more can I say? It appears to be a powerful and capable saw. No bells, no whistles, just a decent quality circular saw at a good price. For a furniture shop, I think this saw would be more than adequate for making nice clean straight cuts using an upgraded blade and some sort of a guide. Would it stand up to the intensity of all-day use on a construction site? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question, but the body and base of the saw appear to be durable enough. And the fact that its nearly a full pound lighter would certainly make it more pleasurable to use over long periods of time.

Overall, I give it a somewhat unexcited thumbs up. It does exactly what its supposed to do, nothing more nothing less. And it does it for about $90.