20V MAX* Cordless Reciprocating Saw Kit (BDCR20C)

I bought this saw to use on an interior house project. I have been a big fan of Black and Decker battery tools lately as I have 2 drills and a hammer drill, all which perform outstandingly. This Sawzall performs just as great as the drills. There is a lot of power for a battery tool. I used it to cut sheetrock and 50 year old hardened 2X4's. It cut through everything with ease. It is very easy to operate and it takes the same batteries as my other BD tools. I would highly recommend this saw to anyone.

Long long ago in a nearby state, I decided to go cheap and buy all Black and Decker 20V Max tools instead of Dewalt, Ryobi, etc. Since then, all is great! Especially this saw! It's quick, light, and versatile. And it goes great with my drills, hammer drills, chainsaw, hedge trimmer, and a few others. Not only that, but I just bought two new 8 amp/hrs batteries for $16 each! Do that with Dewalt! Of course, for you die-hards and professionals, I will admit Dewalt may be better, but for a DIYer, this is the answer.

I purchased a package, Saw, Battery and Charger for $55. Most reviews are positive, some were very poor. After reading the reviews and reading thru the lines I went ahead and bought one, I needed it for some light cutting out in the backwoods, cleaning out a 400 foot trench from roots etc. It was going to get dirty and the blades would not last long. The battery did take 3 hours to charge as stated in the manual and the saws does use the standard blades such as Dewalt,. I headed out to the back woods. The saw performed way better than expected , so far 3 short 15 or 20 minute sessions on the same battery, the same initial charge. The lite weight makes this a very easy saw to use as long as we keep it inside our expectation. Its Lite duty. How long will it last ? who knows its not an everyday tool. I wanted a second battery so instead I bought another package which has a BD factory battery , not an aftermarket battery. For the same money, I have two saws and two batteries. It meets or exceeds all of my expectations for the intended job. These lite duty saws will replace cutting with Shears and some Chain Saw duty.

This is my first-ever reciprocating saw. I purchased it in an attempt to simplify my pruning jobs around my half-acre property. Prior to using this I've used hand loppers and hedge trimmers, but needed something more substantial to effectively prune larger limbs off fruit trees and shrubs. I also wanted something to use when building simple planters for my garden out of pallet wood. I noticed there was a saw without a charger and battery. Buying the necessary 20V battery and charger plus the saw separately would have cost more than this kit, which includes all three plus a starter blade. Thus I bought this kit, plus some 12" pruning blades by DeWalt for my pruning jobs. The unit came well package and all the parts were there. Good - not great- instructions are included. If you've used these sorts of hand tools before there should be no confusion, but others may look at the diagrams (particularly for inserting the blade and locking it into place) and be a little confused. There aren't that many parts, so as long as you read and take it slow, you'll get it together in minutes. I would suggest NOT putting the battery on the saw when installing the blade for safety reasons, however. I have a BD 20V drill, and that battery works with this tool too. I was a little concerned that the battery would run down quickly when sawing, but I am happy to report that the battery lasted longer than I did using the tool! Very pleased with the tool and battery's performance. The easiest cutting will be straight with the piece of wood you are going to cut up against the plate. The included blade gives you about 4-5" of saw blade which will easily go through up to 2.5" limbs. The blade attaches securely in the saw with a flip lock on the left side near the blade. The overall weight with the battery installed is about 12 pounds. I'm a fairly fit 50-year-old woman who noticed I'd been using it after about 40 minutes of use, but it didn't kill me to use it. I think it would be comfortable for most users as it relates to the tool's size and weight. I also think it's simple to use, and as long as you are careful to keep in mind its limitations and basic safety precautions (eyewear, sawing away from you and not towards your body or feet....) you should get a lot of great use out of it. NOTE: This tool is covered by a 2-year warranty through Black & Decker. The saw can also accommodate up to 12" saw blades.

Confession: I’m almost 70 years old and have never owned an electric saw before! I’ve gotten away with handsaws but lately I’ve had to prune back a lot of branches from trees in my yard. I have other tools (and appliances) from Black & Decker and they do tools very well. I was debating whether to get a corded or cordless reciprocating saw, and because I’ve weed-whacked through a couple of electric cords on my corded weedwhacker, I thought battery would be the way to go. Especially if I have to reach to cut branches. This “kit” is a very good deal (it was on sale but even at full price, it’s a good buy) because you get the tool body, one battery, a charger, and one blade. You probably want to order some extra blades, and most fit this drill—its blades are standard size. Having never owned one of these before, I was intimidated, but this was just so easy. The battery comes partially charged, so you’ll need to charge it for a few hours. It’s easy to attach to the drill, and the blade slips in and locks easily. This is a safety on this so you don’t turn it on accidentally. It’s easy to handle—not too heavy and fits my hands well. I had some long but thin branches and thicker tree limbs that I had to cut into three-foot sections to dispose of in my green can. This saw cut right through the thinner ones like butter. It did vibrate quite a bit with the thicker ones; I’d say the thickest were maybe five inches around. But it cut everything a lot more quickly than a handsaw! What might have taken me half a day took less than an hour. The battery lasted through this session and the blade does look a bit worn after cutting a lot branches, but since I’m new at this, I don’t know how long that initial blade is intended to last. I’ve only used this saw on wood so far, but for light-duty work, this seems like a great deal for the amateur.

I bought this saw for occasional light- to medium-duty use, whenever it comes in handy. I wanted a cordless saw, and this one didn't break the bank but still forgoes the cord. For the price, I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I should note that I haven't used this tool yet. Curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to follow Dave Jones' old adage: "Don't turn it on, take it apart!" This review is only about build quality for now. I broke out my screwdrivers (Phillips #2 and T10 security bit) and got to work. Opening up both the tool and battery is simple. There's no glue, tabs, or anything like that holding them together. To remove the guts of the battery pack, you have to pry them up gently with a plastic tool. They just rest snugly in the shell, no tape or anything. The battery was the first to undergo scrutiny. It's nothing special, but it'll do the job just fine. It contains five 1500 mAh 18650 batteries. The motor draws 3.5-4 amps at max speed under no load, which works out to a battery life of about 25 minutes (again, at full speed and no load). They're not brand name cells, but they appear to be new and not recycled. The capacity is unimpressive, but it's common for cheap power tools to sacrifice capacity for higher current output. The tool itself is just as simple to get into. Inside is the trigger switch and speed controller, motor, and the reciprocate-y part. The motor is small but pretty beefy with nice chunky windings inside. All gears and moving parts are metal. I was most surprised by the plastics used in this saw. The frame that holds the moving parts is made of PA 66 (pretty high grade nylon) with 50% glass fiber reinforcement. This is a nice chunky part, much nicer than I expected. The case is made of polypropylene with 20% glass fiber reinforcement – again, surprisingly nice and pretty strong. The black overmolding is TPU, if I'm not mistaken. Just for laughs, I opened up the battery end of the charger. There's not much to see in there, but it appears to contain a microcontroller for the LED indicator. The charger itself is clever - just a wall adapter with a small connector that slots onto the battery like a tool would. It's a very compact, lightweight, and inexpensive solution. I dig it. The saw includes one blade. It's a cheap coarse-toothed blade, so you'll probably want to get more blades unless you're just cutting a few tree branches or 2x4s. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. This saw is fantastic for the price. If you're a DIYer or hobbyist who could use a reciprocating saw every now and again, this is a great one to start with. It's not priced much above corded saws, and the extra little bit you pay for this cordless one is well worth it. Edit: after some use, I'm still very happy with my purchase. I find it a bit lacking in power sometimes, but otherwise it's perfectly fine. Another edit: I put an enormous blade on this saw and used it to chop up a huge branch. It took three recharges and it sure didn't like it, but the saw powered through. This was a 6-8" branch, so not that easy for a reciprocating saw - the battery only lasted about 1.5 cuts through the thickest part on a single charge. It didn't overheat or break, and for $40, I'm still delighted with it.

Woo hoo! This BLACK+DECKER BDCR20C 20V MAX Reciprocating Saw with Battery and Charger works a charm to keep my trees and bushes pruned and more. I am an aging woman and an avid DIYer. I have a fairly large property with many, mature trees and vegetation. I already own a couple of corded Sawzall reciprocating saws and find them indispensable but they are large and unwieldy in tight places. And managing the extension cord is a huge pain when getting on the roof to trim back branches. Since I already own a number of 20V, cordless, Black+Decker tools so I have extra batteries, I decided to buy this saw. First of all, the saw is much lighter than the corded reciprocating saws I already own. I liked that but I also worried it wouldn't be powerful enough to saw through thicker branches and limbs. I needn't have worried because this thing has plenty of power. It cut through virtually every limb and branch last weekend when we did a marathon tree clean up and still had battery life left! (I bought two of these saws.) I don't have a lot of upper arms strength and I had no issues using this saw. The saw comes with one, short, wood, blade and interestingly, even though the description says Saw Only, there was also a battery and a charger in the box. It accepts reciprocating saw blades of various makers. The blades are a snap to install - just flip the black tab on the side up and put the blade in. Then flip the black tab back down and it locks the blade into place. And you can use it for much more than pruning! You can cut metal and sheet rock too if you buy the appropriate blades. I am sold on cordless tools for the average homeowner. Not having to be near and electrical outlet or wrangle a long extension cord makes most tasks much less of a chore. If you already own 20V Black+Decker tools, this saw is an obvious choice because the batteries and chargers will be interchangeable. The only thing this saw is missing is a case - and I like to use cases to keep blades together with the saw. I did find that this fits nicely (with the blade removed) in a large, empty, plastic, cat litter, tub like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Purina-Tidy-Cats-LightWeight-Solutions/dp/B01MAUD4XH/ There is plenty of room for blades, batteries and chargers, too. UPDATE: Just did a major tree trimming at my mother's home, which was long overdue. While we also had an electric pole saw with us, these cordless reciprocating saws were the winners, hands down. Battery life is great (although I do have extra batteries) and they just work so well. Lightweight enough to easily use on a ladder and so much faster than having to drag an extension cord everywhere. I recommend this tool strongly.

Oh my. I love this tool; I was told it would come in handy for the removal of a large bush and it saved me so much hard work. Its strong and the battery lasts; it made easy work of the bush and its root system. I've since used this on many other projects and it's well worth the cost. This is my go-to when I don't want to use a small chain saw.