A good quality, value-for-money circular saw, but one that could benefit from a sturdier guard
Pros
+
Brushless Motor
+
Light weight
+
LED light
+
Compatible with range of RYOBI ONE+ products
+
Cost
Cons
-
Plastic blade guard
-
Small cutting guide
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Ryobi's ONE+ HP RCS18X circular saw is a great product for a home DIYer — good value and also available at many merchants as an off-the-shelf product making it an accessible buy.
Part of Ryobi's ONE+ range, it shares battery compatibility with all the usual suspects such as drills, saws and finishing tools, but also has many additional products such as hedge trimmers, chain saws, lawn mowers, strimmers, vacuum cleaners and many more. If you are thinking of investing in a range of cordless tools then the Ryobi One+ range is certainly worth considering.
Here, we put the saw through its pace to see how it holds up when used for fitting a kitchen.
Compatible with the Ryobi ONE+ batteries up to 9Ah
How Does it Handle?
The Ryobi ONE+ HP RCS18X handheld 18V cordless circular saw is a very capable circular saw that is as happy being used as an occasional tool at home or for more serious projects. The circular saw has a rotation speed of 4500 RPM and the 184mm blade has a cutting depth of 62mm which allows for the cutting of most sheet materials and ripping battens and CLS materials.
This saw is quite light but with the battery mounted discretely to the side of the handle it felt balanced and sturdy. I found the adjustable fence guide to be a bit small but it was not a serious flaw.
How Long Did the Battery Last?
The saw itself will often be sold ‘bare’ which means that the battery and charger are not included. RYOBI have over 100 tools in their ONE+ range of cordless power tools that are all compatible with the same batteries as well as being compatible with any of the 18V One+ tools that have been manufactured since 1996.
The 18V batteries are available in a number of capacities. The longer lasting batteries will inevitably be larger and heavier than the lower capacity ones which means that they can be very useful for those smaller jobs, or for high intensity jobs.
This saw has a handy LED indicator to quickly see how much charge is left in the battery.
The battery that was supplied with this saw was a 5 Amp hour (Ah) model. According to the product information the battery has enough charge capacity to cut 276 50mm x 100mm timbers or 107 meters of 13mm plywood. The Ryobi ONE+ RC18150 Super fast charger is indicated as being able to recharge the battery in 1 hour and when tested this was a fairly accurate figure.
(Image credit: David Hilton)
How Accurately Does it Cut?
The circular saw is supplied with a removable adjustable fence for accurate cutting of long strips or trimming sheet materials and the base is also marked with guides when free cutting a pre-drawn line. Just behind the cutting guide is an LED light; this proves useful for highlighting the guide markings if there are any shadows. The base of the saw is adjustable to facilitate angled cuts up to 56 degrees.
You may need to do a few practice cuts to know exactly which guidelines to follow as they change with different blades and also when an angle cut is set.
To operate the saw there is a trigger in the index finger position but a safety button must also be pressed or the motor will not start. The blade is covered by a retractable guard, which is plastic. I am curious as to just how robust this guard is in the fullness of time, as I am more used to seeing metal guards on these types of tools; they can be used in fairly harsh environments and can be prone to knocks and potential drops.
What did we Test it on?
We tested the Ryobi ONE+ HP RCS18X handheld 18V cordless circular saw whilst installing a kitchen. Although the Ryobi One+ range of tools is primarily a consumer product I have often seen them used by trades on site as well. The saw was more than happy ripping through battens, studwork CLS timbers, 16mm melamine coated chipboard, 20mm gloss coated MDF (Medium density fibreboard) and post formed worktop materials.
David is a renewables and ventilation installer, with over 35 years experience, and is a long-standing contributor to Homebuilding and Renovating magazine. He is a member of the Gas Safe Register, has a Masters degree in Sustainable Architecture, and is an authority in sustainable building and energy efficiency, with extensive knowledge in building fabrics, heat recovery ventilation, renewables, and also conventional heating systems. He is also a speaker at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show.
Passionate about healthy, efficient homes, he is director of Heat and Energy Ltd. He works with architects, builders, self builders and renovators, and designs and project manages the installation of ventilation and heating systems to achieve the most energy efficient and cost effective outcome for every home.
