Customer Reviews for Milwaukee M12 FUEL 12V 3 in. Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Cut Off Saw Kit W/ M12 3/8 in. Ratchet

This review is for Milwaukee 3" Compact Cut Off Took Kit, Cat. No. 2522-21XC. The kit includes the cut off tool with brushless motor, one M12 Red Lithium XC 4.0 AH battery, M12 Charger, three 3-inch cut off blades, a dust shoe with dust removable dust discharge cap, hex head wrench and a tough fabric case. The blades supplied are for metal, for drywall, fiber cement and plastic and for dry-cutting tile. The tool is indeed compact, weighing a light 2 lb., 14-1/2 oz. with the metal cut off blade and dust shield attached. I made use of the tool while indoors in our home with the dust shield attached while connected to Cat. No. 0885-20 Milwaukee M18, 3-in-1 Backpack vacuum. I was impressed with the dust collection performance of this combination when used to cut fiber cement, normally a very dusty process. With the dust shoe attached as a guide, the orientation of the handle to the blade allows one to make quick, accurate cuts with one-handed operation, much like that for a standard circular saw. Most cut off tools do not have this advantageous orientation. I found this tool great for cutting sheet metal. I made quick and accurate cuts of rectangular holes into existing ductwork by plunge cutting. I impressed also by its performance cutting for fiber cement siding. This tool is compatible for use with blades having both 3/8- and 7/16-in. arbors by switching a supplied collar. The normal 5-year limited warranty is provided for the tool. This is a welcome tool addition to my handyman shop.

MILWAUKEE! M12 FUEL at its FINEST! This GEM surely is one heck of a handy tool to have for a DIY'er! I love the fact that its not a bulky piece of equipment that takes up a lot of space or is to heavy. The size of it is small but don't let that fool you. It has pure power behind it and as you can see in my video the wheel never slowed down or dragged as a result of what I was cutting. It went through aluminum and floor tile with ease. There was minimal effort and the saw did most of the work nice and steady. The battery held up strong and didn't even flinch. When cutting, the saw stayed nice and steady! It comes with a nice set of different blades and a guide attachment with a vacuum connecting point. A handy charger and M12 battery is included in the bag in which there is plenty of room for any additional miscellaneous equipment that you may need. Milwaukee never disappoints! In my opinion they are the front runners when it comes to savvy tools such as this cordless saw. Two thumbs up here guys!

This is the Milwaukee M12, 3” cut-off saw kit (model 2522-21XC), which includes the tool, 4.0Ah battery, cut off wheel, carbide abrasive blade (general purpose use, such as for plastic, fiberglass, drywall, cement board, etc.), diamond tile blade, accessory shoe guard, Allen wrench, flange adapter, charger, and contractor bag. Normally, you’d use discs with a 3/8” arbor hole, but Milwaukee includes the flange adapter (which is 7/16”) so you can use Dremel Saw-Max blades. You should also note that the saw spins at 20,000 RPM and the cut direction is reversible. There’s a certain “cute” factor about this saw. It’s really small, and all the parts are really small, making the thing kind of cute. I wasn’t expecting that. Photo 1 shows the saw, without the battery sitting in the palm of my hand. Judge for yourself… One of the things I think is very cool about this tool is that you can use it like a circular saw because it comes with a shoe guard. This gives you a supporting surface to guide along the material you’re cutting and also includes a vacuum port (for inserting a 1 1/4” hose) for dust management. Without the shoe attached, the tool is like a small angle grinder, but note, Milwaukee specifically says the discs are for edge cutting only, not surface grinding, so this tool is not meant to replace a standard angle grinder. Milwaukee considerately includes the three blades, as I mentioned above (see Photo 2). Note that the diamond tile wheel only cuts in one direction, so you need to pay attention to how you mount it and to the Forward/Reverse button when you use that wheel. The other wheels are bi-directional in cutting. Storing the tool with a blade installed can be problematic. I found the tool naturally wants to rest “face down,” that is, on the blade, which isn’t such a good idea. However, if you rest it on its back, with the blade sticking up, I think it would be safe enough (see Photo 3). In use there isn’t a problem because it stands upright, on the battery. I noted also that there is nowhere to store the Allen wrench (used for changing blades) on the tool. This is too bad-makes it easy to lose the wrench if you’re not careful to always keep it in the bag (didn’t take any points off for this). There’s a small error in the manual. On page 6, under Using the Control Switch, in item number 1, it says for Forward, to press the control switch “from” the left. And item 2 says, for Reverse, press the control switch “from” the right. They have it reversed. If they wrote “to the left” and “to the right,” respectively, then it would be correct. This really isn’t a problem because when you actually use the tool, it’s obvious how to set the switch, but in the interest of being thorough, I point this out. A good example of needing the Forward/Reverse function is when I needed to cut two 1/4” sleeve anchors I recently installed. I can get to one of them only from the left, and the other only from the right. I was able to direct the sparks down in both cases by using Forward with the left bolt (see Photo 4) and Reverse with the right bolt (see Photo 5). It’s hard to tell in Photo 5, but I’m holding the saw upside down, and running in Reverse. This was easy to do and worked out great. The saw took only seconds to cut cleanly through the bolts. I also cut some ceramic tile using the included diamond blade (see Photo 6). The cuts were excellent and it was easy to clean up the inside-corner with the saw. Finally, I wanted to see how well the shoe worked. I had a piece of 1/8” whiteboard stock and tried making a straight cut up the edge. I set up a fence like you would for a circular saw and ripped away. This wasn’t even a challenge for the saw. I couldn’t test the dust port because I couldn’t find anything in my shop that would fit. It would nice if Milwaukee provided one or more adapters for larger size hoses. And maximum depth of cut is 5/8” when using the shoe. All-in-all, for a small, compact saw, this is a great tool. It’s easy to handle, yet has enough power to cut whatever you want. I can see myself reaching for this tool long before going for my regular angle grinder when all I need is to do cut-off work. Absolutely a great tool.

A highly versatile cutting tool with bidirectional blade spin. This tool is perfect for cutting into existing drywall and cutting tile. The smaller blade size makes it ideal for radius cuts and tight L cut. I have yet to use on metal but I am sure it will have no problem with that. Comes with a nice dust shield for dust shield which is a must for me.

I had it for 1 month it's great in tie places torque spec. Is real good.

Milwaukee’s new M12 cutoff tool is such a great idea well executed. The 3” cutting discs it comes with go on and off in seconds. The guard isn’t removable for safety reasons, but adjusts 45 deg and hasn’t yet been an obstruction. The motor housing is compact enough that, while it will sometimes be in the way if you’re in a really tight space with obstructions closer than your cutting surface, 99% of the time, you can get in and make the cut easily. The wheel at full 3” size provides enough distance. I’d imagine when the wheel material burns off enough, it could be an issue in some cases. That being said, overall it is a handy, lightweight, dynamic tool focused on cutting, and a bit more powerful and efficient than a rotary tool. It can also be turned into a circular saw in a pinch with its attachment included in the kit. I can’t really knock it just because it doesn’t completely replace your air die grinder or rotary tool. It is more comfortable and when and where it works, I imagine it will become most peoples’ prefered tool. As usual, no compromise on quality to be found anywhere with the tool and its accessories.

Another fine tool from Milwaukee. Uses the 12-volt system which provides plenty of power.. This tool is a good size and weight and can be easily used with 1 hand. It is very powerful yet light weight. The blade turns both forward and reverse depending on your needs and has a handy shoe accessory that also has a convenient dust port as well. The set comes with 3 blades for a variety of tasks. I used it to cut some pipe and it did a great job easily cutting them with 1 hand. This will be a handy tools to have for a variety of cutting projects. I also like the large roomy carry bag to store my tool.

This is the the lightest most powerful 12 volt cutting tool i have ever used. Excellent product by milwaukee. Only complaint is that my local home depot did not stock this item. But shipping was within one week.

I have several cutoff saws corded and battery. I liked this one because I can use this most times with one hand and it has a forward and reverse I mostly use the metal cut off blade and it cuts nicely also comes with 1 carbide abrasive blade, 1 diamond tile blade, accessory shoe and guard, blade wrench, 7/16 in. flange adapter. One draw back is the battery you have to pinch both sides and pull to get the battery out not having the strength in my hands like I use to I found this to be a challenge and the only reason I did not give this a higher rating.

An excellent tool design. The Milwaukee cut off saw is basically like an angle grinder but with the drive and motor directly in-line to the blade arbor. To me this gives the comfort similar to cutting wood with a circular saw. The Milwaukee cut-off saw is ideal for cutting small diameter steel rods and pipe. With the guard and shoe installed it makes it easy to cut sheet metal and tile (both ceramic and porcelain - using the included diamond tile blade). I like the design of the tool, small, portable, cordless and comfortable in my hand. I can easily cut pipe with just one hand on the tool. The saw has a built-in LED light but it's not always in the right location to show light on the cut work depending on what you are cutting. I also like the guard and shoe attachment. It is super easy to attach and has a fully adjustable shoe depth and an angle adjustment to set the saw handle angle to the work. Another great feature is the easy arbor lock that allows for quick tool blade changes. A lacking feature is a way to protect the blade when the saw is not being used. An angle grinder can lay on the back of the tool naturally but the Milwaukee cut-off saw wants to naturally rest on the blade and motor. An additional guard to protect the blade would have made the saw too complicated for quick easy cuts. The cut-off saw comes with a roomy tool bag, 3 types of blades (diamond tile blade, metal cut-off and fine tooth carbide) as well as a 4.0 amp hour battery and charger. Pros: -easy to handle, one handed operation thanks to the tool design and light weight -arbor lock to easily change tool blades -included guard and shoe accessory and dust port (although I had to get a couple adapters to get it to connect to my shop vac) -built-in light but it's not always in a helpful location -brush-less motor with overload protection (the overload did operate on me a couple times while cutting 1 inch steel pipe - the overload resets pretty quick) Cons: -I like the roomy tool bag but I wish the bag had pocket on the inside. It has pockets on the outside but items easily spill out while dust spills in -lacking a way to keep the blade protected when resting the tool on work surface. The blade is sort of a kickstand Overall, this is a great designed saw by Milwaukee!

Milwaukee M12 FUEL 12-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 3 in. Cut Off Saw Kit W/ (1) 4.0Ah Battery, Charger and Bag review: This is my first Milwaukee M12 Fuel product and I am just so impressed by a well made and useful tool! I have some Milwaukee M18 Fuel tools and they are beyond impressive. What is cool about this product is that it is PERFECT for trimming and cutting very accurately small things that a big saw would tear up. My daughter and I were building some tee-pee like stands to hold flowers. They were birch wood thick twigs and as we completed them (we had to build 6 of them for a wedding) we used this tool to cut extremely accurate cuts and flat to stand on the floor. It was just the perfect tool. It cut super clean. It was tiny and very easy to handle - lightweight! It has three small blades that come with it and they are for cutting different objects (metal, tile, etc). The only thing that could be better is that the M12 batteries are a bit difficult to remove from the tool - you have to press hard on both sides and then pull down to remove the battery. Inserting the battery is a breeze. Gosh, this tool is so small and perfect for cutting small things accurately. It also has a dust deflector but I have found the tool to be very nimble without it. Now I understand why someone would own both the M18 Fuel products AND the M12 Fuel products; each has a specific purpose. We just love this little and powerful tool! There ya go!

Very compact, light weight, and powerful tool. The 4 AH battery provides tons of run time. I fully charged it and ran it at full speed and it lasted over an hour. The dust shroud/guide is super easy to put on and remove, It just simple clicks in. I was able to cut through all different types of materials with ease. The ability to change the direction of the blade is revolutionary and comes in handy when you want to cut a certain way but can't turn the tool around. The bag is very heavy duty and the zipper seams very sturdy and has plenty of room for other tools or more batteries. It's so small that it will easily fit is stud cavities and all sorts of places! The battery level indicator on the tool works great and gives you a quick idea of your battery life. The light is very bright and is in a good spot to light what you are cutting. Overall I love the tool and can see using it a lot to make a wide variety of cutting jobs easier.

Great for cutting at depths less than 1/2" (The Depth of cut is between 1/2" and 3/4" [0.64"]) Quick Review: Very handy for small projects due to size and weight(very light) Cons: Shoe blocks the light, No accessory to protect the blade when it is attached to the saw and you are transporting it, you have to remove the blade every time. Overall a very good products. Cuts well, I had no issues with my work peices( I mainly used this for MDF and Polycarbonate for a project I am working on) I do a lot of work with 1/2" MDF and this worked perfectly. Having this for small work pieces is nice and handy, especially since you do not have to bring out bigger saws. Lefty Tighty, Righty Loosey. The first thing that I noticed is that in order to tighten the spindle for the blade, you have to turn it counterclockwise, to the left, and to loosen it turn it clockwise, to the right. I always forget when switching blades. I had some 3rd party blades and they fit this but one of them was a flush cut blade that protrudes further than the rest and the blade rubbed up against the included blade guard so I could not use it. There is a white bar(see the pictures below that indicates whether it is locked, in forward, or reverse mode. This lost a star for me due to a few design flaws, when you have the shoe and guard attached, the LED light becomes useless as the base of the guard obstructs the LED. Also inserting and removing the shoe can be a bit bothersome as it does not always go on right away. The blade gets in the way a lot When dealing with MDF it is wise to use as much preventative measures for dust extraction as possible. Another gripe I had is that when the blades are attached there is no way to protect them while they are attached to the tool and you have ready to transport it. You basically have to remove the blade each time you want to transport the saw to a different job site. Adding a cover to shield the blades during transport would be very helpful. Another issue, for me, is that the Depth Guide indicator for the shoe is the same color as the shoe, black. I felt like this should have been a different color. As a quick fix, I painted the arrow so the arrow is easier to spot. Charge time right out of the bag with the included charger was pretty long 1hr for the 4.0ah. I am getting older and appreciate the smaller things, I am glad that this comes with a small Ziploc bag for the flanges, makes it easier to keep the flanges and other small things nearby and not have to worry about losing them, as oppose to just putting them in a regular small plastic bag

Yes ,would recommend this Battery , love the Power and performance of all Milwaukee Battery s for their tools for doing the jobs I need to get done.

I bought this 2.0 battery for my M12 tools that needed a little more run time over the regular battery, and didn't want the weight & bigger size of the 4.0. It's the same size & looks exactly like the regular battery and the only way of knowing that it's a 2.0 is the front label with the small red 2.0, or the tiny model # on the bottom. Milwaukee should make the 2.0 numbers much larger and backed by white like the M12 logo to make it easier to see in a tool bag or in limited light. The main thing is I did notice a longer run time on my hand held M12 vacuum (which is a power hog) and on my drill (I use it with a wire wheel for paint removal on wright iron railings).

This is my light weight version of the bigger brothers in my Milwaukee tool lineup. For quick and smaller jobs this is the drill I use.

Keeps a charge for about 4 hrs which was expected based on other reviews.

Works just fine! For the wife’s heated hoodie

This tool is dope. If you don't have one buy one. If you don't have one and you don't buy one your a tool yourself

I'm a mechanic and this tool makes getting skid plates and air filers a simple task. I love how light yet powerful it is. I love the LED light for working under cars. I have always trusted the Milwaukee brand, so this was a no-brainer for me. My advice is get a second battery as back-up.

Indispensable for auto mechanic work. More torque than you expect and battery lasts longer than expected as well. Works almost anywhere a manual ratchet does. No torque adjustment so be careful with small fasteners especially in aluminum or plastic. Portable and cuts job time significantly. Everyone should have one. My father in law has had one for years and it has performed like a star. I've invested in Ryobi tools and batteries for years and for years waited for them to come out with anything close to this. No such luck. I finally broke down and bought one.

This ratchet is quickly becoming one of my favorite tools! It's compact, has more torque than you'd think, and I love that you can manually ratchet with it to break a nut/bolt loose. I find myself reaching for this tool more than I ever thought I would when purchased it. It really cuts the time it takes to complete many tasks, and can get into places that some other tools cannot. It is very comfortable in my hand and I really like the variable speed trigger and the bright LED light is very handy, especially under vehicles up in tight spots. I own many Milwaukee products, and I really like all of them, but this ratchet is one of my absolute favorites and I would truly recommend this tool to anyone, I believe you will be as overly satisfied with it as I was/am!

Charged the new battery, when fully charged reading was only 8 volts instead 12 as stated. Though it works well with the tool.

This compact battery performs very well and does last longer than some of the larger batteries from some of my other tools. Although it is a small size, the power that it delivers is awesome! I enjoy the Milwaukee drill and Sawzall, and with this extra battery, I don't worry about having to stop in the middle of a project. I do have the larger, extended life one, but this one is so light (it measures 3.25" tall and weighs less than 8 oz.) that I'm always reaching for this compact one first. It is really nice having this spare battery on hand!

Its amazing how Milwaukee is able to pack so much power into such a small battery. These are light weight but last a long time. The new battery v.2 boasts 2x longer and 20% more power and it's believable. I'm not in the middle of a job right now so I can't test the durability, but it's always great to have another battery on hand. Powerwise these seem to supercharge my impact driver and my reciprocating saw, but without any way to measure the power I just have to believe the hype. Regardless these are amazing power plants for a great set of tools. Very happy to have them. I didn't drop test this one but I've dropped my v1 batter from a 6' ladder a couple of times trying to change it and they handle the impact without damage.

Works very good, performed like I thought

Has worked great. Use it alot more than I thought. Instead of grabbing the angle grinder, I find myself reaching for this tool out of convenience.