In the December issue, Tim Uhler recorded a historic moment in his building career – the advent of a cordless framing site (see “The Cordless Framing Site,” Dec/17). Cordless power tools have evolved to the point that it no longer makes sense to roll-out long extension cords that get dragged through the mud, trip breakers on the temporary power pole and create a tripping hazard. The tool that really made this possible was the rear-handle, inline framing saw. Once a domain that was dominated on the West Coast by the Skil 77, it has been eclipsed by the Makita XSR01PT – the first cordless rear-handle, inline saw that holds its own – and surpasses – corded worm-drives.

DeWalt recently released its own cordless version. At the time Tim wrote “The Cordless Framing Site,” he had only been using the DeWalt for about a month. Now three months into his hands-on test, Tim gives his analysis of how DeWalt stacks up against the Makita.