Milwaukee M18 FUEL Rear Handle Circular Saw Review

The Milwaukee M18 Fuel Rear Handle Circular Saw is probably one of the most anticipated tools of all time. Well, at least after the Milwaukee M18 FUEL compact router.

When we were looking at the best new Milwaukee tools of 2019, we got our hands on this new tool and gave it a quick test. We crosscut some wood and did a fair amount of work to get a good feel for the new tools. The new Milwaukee Rear Hand Saw has a very similar (if not identical) motor to the powerful Milwaukee Fuel Circular Saw 2732, but now in a rear handle configuration.

The Milwaukee sidewinder is one of the fastest cutting saws we've tested. Check out our best cordless circular saws article for some comparisons.

advantage

• Best-in-class cutting power and performance
• Excellent line of sight to the blade
• perfect tracking
• Perfect notch accuracy at 45º and 90º
• very low shoe friction
• excellent defender action
• Includes Vac adapter
• Incredibly deep range of compatible 18V tools

shortcoming

• We prefer a thicker front handle

backup power

Saying that a saw "produces the power of a 15 amp wire saw" is a way of saying it. In fact, most of the next generation heavy duty cordless circular saws now have better raw power than a corded Skilsaw. What makes this tool interesting is that it is the first 18V tool to reach this power level. The Makita X2 Rear Hand Saw runs on 36V, while the DeWalt FlexVolt Rear Hand Saw runs on 60V (maximum).

Where chainsaws used to compete for corded power, now they compete for sustained speed and power when tearing through sheet goods. They also compete for runtime. Milwaukee claims the new rear handle saw has the longest run time of any cordless rear handle circular saw on the market. They quantified this by using a Milwaukee RedLithium HD 12.0 battery that can cross-cut up to 570 2x4s per charge.

Like most M18 Fuel cordless tools, the Milwaukee 7-1/4" Rear Handle Circular Saw uses a brushless motor with RedLink Plus. The motor drives the blade at a whopping 5,800 RPM. Compared to the High Demand 9.0Ah battery, the new RedLithium High Output HD12.0 battery provides 50% more power, runs 50% cooler and runs 33% longer.

The Milwaukee Rear Handle Circular Saw features cast magnesium boots and blade guards to reduce weight. The electric brake stops the blade quickly after cutting, and the bevel gear does not require additional oil. The saw features an LED work light built into the tool and a multi-size rafter hook that lets you hang the tool almost anywhere.

face to face test

When testing the best cordless circular saws, all include upgraded batteries, brushless motors, and electronics. The Milwaukee M18 Fuel Rear Handle Circular Saw proves it's in the top performance class.

cutting performance

Our advanced circular saws divide themselves into three different power groups. Milwaukee did the slitting cuts on two 3/4" OSB subfloors, adding a DeWalt FlexVolt Worm Drive Saw and a Skilsaw 48V Cordless Circular Saw to the top cutting power of the rear handle set.

Milwaukee's local dust and swarf removal works well, but Makita and Skilsaw do better. The Milwaukee includes a vacuum adapter, install it and run the vacuum, this range is excellent.

If you're working in occupied spaces or have jobs where you need to minimize mess, using a vacuum will save you a lot of time on cleanup.

Want to watch a video showing the difference? Check it out on our YouTube channel!

accuracy

The Milwaukee M18 Fuel Rear Handle Circular Saw scored perfect marks in all three elements of our accuracy test.

The left side of the blade is designed for easy viewing when you want to pay attention to where the blade meets the cut line for right-handed use.

Even for lefties, looking slightly inward from the side will give you a good view of the tip of the knife. There are additional notches on the inside of the shoe to help guide you.

Use the Spyder 24T framing blade to position the notches on the front of the shoe at 0º and 45º.

Saw tracking is also dialed in. With its classic worm drive bevel assist handle, we didn't feel it trying to push right or left while cutting.

move

To test the protection of the saw, we made numerous rip and cross cuts in 3/4" and 2x material. We also did shaved cuts, 45º miters, 45º bevels and 45º/45º compound cuts to see if there were any issues.

We had a few during our testing, only the Milwaukee 2830 rear handle saw didn't. On every cut, the defender rises smoothly over the top of the ball.

Helping propel the saw, the shoe coating provides very low friction as it slides across the wood. We found Makita's model to have the lowest friction, but Milwaukee was a close second, and definitely better than most.

ergonomics

If you're used to a worm drive circular saw, you're used to its weight. Even among cordless rear handle saws, the Milwaukee 2830 is on the heavy side.

According to our scale, it weighed 10.3 lbs without the 12.0Ah high output battery and 13.7 lbs with it.

The high end range of corded worm drive saws our crew uses is about 14.2 lbs. Although the M18 Fuel floats on the heavier side of wireless scales, it doesn't quite appear in the left field of view when you compare it to wired scales.

The only area of real ergonomic improvement is the assist handle. It was too thin for most of our test team. We'd like to see it increase in width to give us a better grip.

Additional features

Milwaukee checks all the major boxes we look for in a circular saw feature set:

• Brushless Motor
• blade brake
• cutting blower
• led lights
• rafter hook
• Vacuum port adapter

The only thing missing that you might find on other cordless circular saws is rail compatibility. This isn't a very common feature yet, and it tends to reduce the overall depth of cut somewhat. In fact, you won't find it on any cordless handle saw.

For now, it seems like it's best left as a Sidewinder-style option.

price and value

You can buy the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Rear Handle Circular Saw as a bare tool for $269, or as a kit with a 12.0Ah battery and charger for $449. If you go the bare tool route, remember that you will only get the best performance out of Milwaukee high output batteries.

Even though Milwaukee is near the top of the price range, it still earns a solid value score from our group.

In addition to its great performance and design, it's the only rear handle saw that comes with a 5-year warranty and a surprising number of tools that are compatible with the same battery. When you put all of this together, we believe the Milwaukee 2830 proves itself to be a valuable member of your construction team.

the bottom line

When we calculated our final score, the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Rear Handle Circular Saw was the best cordless rear handle model we tested. All the models we tested scored 90 points or higher, but the Milwaukee surpassed them all as the best of the best.