Prazi 12" Beam Cutter Attachment for Circular Saws – For 7-1/4"-8-1/2" WormDrive Saws – Increase Cut Depth from 2-1/2” to 12”

I bought a Prazi Beamcutter to trim and notch the tops of 8x8 installed posts that were required for a foundation on a room addition that I'm building. I just needed a saw the would cut the posts square. Also, I knew that I couldn't make a square cut on these posts with a chain saw or with a Sawzall and a long blade. Moreover, I needed something that would work but didn't cost a fortune. With that, I bought a Prazi PR-7000 for my Skillsaw Mag-77HD. It's not perfect, but it does the trick. Mounted on the Skillsaw, the Beamcutter feels a bit awkward, especially when used at a 90-degree angle. Don't think that you can just walk up to a verticle 8x8 post, mark a line, and expect to cut it off square just buy holding the saw steady. You will need to use some sort of fence to rest and guide the saw on in order to get the square cut. I use one of those nifty aluminum clamp-on fences which works very well. My only real complaint is, like Evan Neale put it in his review, "the bar bounces around a lot when you begin to cut into a beam so you get sloppy cuts starting out". The bar actually vibrates quickly from side to side thus making the start of the cut a little wide, but he vibration quickly goes away once the bar and chain enters the kerf. Overall, the cuts are fairly clean and very satisfactory for my job. I find the Prazi Beamcutter to be a good value.

After much research decided on the Prazi PR-7000 for my Makita 5377 MG. Was prepared for a multi-page installation thesis that would make a research engineer happy but was pleasantly surprised at the clarity and brevity of the instructions, that made me happy. With a small amount of fiddling, and a couple of texts to Bob & Michelle to confirm some language used, since I'm kinda nerdy on that stuff, everything fit as described. Bob & Michelle were very responsive. Cut and fitted some railroad ties including a 45 degree miter end cut. See pics. Worked great, cut straight and fast for the application. I think it's a great product! Thanks PRAZI.

I ran into a problem while installing this on my skil worm drive. At the bottom of the instructions was a phone number and an email address which said to contact Bob. I figured what if I got to lose? I called the number and to my surprise Bob answered. He talked me through the issue that I had and sure enough it installed like a piece of cake. I recommend the Prazi saw system 100%!

So I didn’t give a full 5 stars for these reasons: REGARDING 12” model: on a 12x12 beam The chain & base are rather thin & in order to get precise cuts with no fraying/splintering the chain needs sharpening quite often. A simple chainsaw sharpener will work great (kits come with 3 files & a base to hold chain in place. Takes some time, but you can get it much sharper than how it comes from seller) Install was a little finicky on one of my Skilsaws, didn’t work on my Makita, but finally worked on my 2nd Skilsaw. Overall it’s a pretty decent tool, it’s much cheaper than buying/renting a beam cutting saw (16” Makita) and saves me the trouble of doing cuts on various faces of a large piece of wood. That being said, I’m using this Prazi blade as a means of cutting 1” thick pieces of end grain off of a 12x12 beam. It’s doing the job but it requires a lot of maintenance to rip through a heavy piece of lumber like this. If you’re a hobbyist or doing 1 or 2 jobs this is a great and relatively inexpensive tool to have (beam saws go up to the $700-800 range for large quality tools and generally cut up to 6 3/4 inches). I still have about 44” of wood to cut with this little Prazi attachment, I hope it can do the job. ONE THING TO NOTE!!! Being that my project is a heavy piece of lumber, I may be pushing this Prazi blade too much. One of the photos I attached shows one of the bolts that holds the chain base to the worm drive fitting (which in turn attaches to your circular saw). It broke on Friday afternoon & I was forced to replace it with a machine screw from the local steel shop. Ive also attached a photo showing that the threads are starting to strip on the attachment itself. All in all, pretty good product, just be aware that not every circular saw is the same so do your research before you order. Also, if you are trying to cut thicker pieces than 12” I would suggest going with the 18” model made by Prazi. If Prazi products don’t work for you, there’s a lot of information out there on rigging a chainsaw to a jig made of 2x4s to get precise and level(ish) cuts. Work safely

I've been looking at these for what seems like at least 20 years. I wish I wouldn't have waited so long. It was a lot better than I expected. Very well built, to last. A lot heavier than I expected.Also a big plus, it's 'Made in USA'. I called with a question and Bob answered on the second ring. I called back with another question. I hung up after 3 rings to take another call. Bob called me back 5 minutes later. Bob is a real live human being. Cuts are square and straight. I put a rip chain on and cut some old cedar beams down into lumber. Milled them into some beautiful molding and furniture . Way easier than my table saw. I use it on a 8-1/4" worm drive Skillsaw. Very happy with my purchase.

Was excited to get it and mount to my shiny new Makita saw to cut some 12"x12"x4' blocks I acquired. Everything was going but had to use some shims that didn't come with the saw to make the bracket line up properly to the fence rail. Oh, the direction suck, I had to use a YouTube video for assembly. After setting up a straight edge I made a beautiful cut. Let everything cool down and sprayed some silicone lubricant on the bar and chain as recommended. Got half way through second cut and the gear box and began to freewheel. Dropped it and the saw off at UPS less then an hour later. Disappointing!

I purchased the Prazi 7000 to go on a Skil 81/4" saw. It took me about 30 min to set the Prazi on the Skilsaw, being you have to take the blade guard off of the Skill worm drive saw. I have a large timber beam project I took on at my home and have to make approximately 200 crosscuts, miter cuts and lap joints on 6 X 10, 6 X 8, 6 x6 and 4x6 cypress beams. I had a few questions when thinking about purchasing this tool rather than using my 16" beam saw. I called Bob on 3 separate occasions, and he was quick to answer the phone and give me the guidance on what I needed and any assembly questions. After assembly and alignment of the saw I crosscut a 6"x10" beam and it was like butter to cut, and the face was flat and straight even with no guide! I have to make over 25 lap joints on my 4" x 6" purlins. I made another lap joint test cut on a 4 x 6, again by free hand and it wasn't perfect but with a guide it would have been, and it only took less than a minute. If the rest of my project goes as good as the test cuts, this tool will save me hours upon hours of time. I'm giving this tool 5 stars because of price point, ease of assembly and use and something else that is hard to find these days is great customer service. Thanks Bob!!1

This saw is great in concept but it does not work for me. I was interested in this product because it theoretically allowed me to have a 12" track saw that could cut thicker pieces of wood in one pass where historically I had to make two passes. I had a few issues with this saw hence why I am returning it. 1.) It does not track straight. With the chain properly tensioned, using a fence and allowing the saw to do the work (slow feed rate), this saw would deviate substantially from the line I was trying to maintain. I ripped a slab that was 4' long and the tracking issue created a bow effect in my cut in the mid section that was a quarter of an inch off. I tried to re tension the blade and did another test pass on some scrap and the same issue ensued. I am no pro with chainsaws but I can tell that my unit at least was not balanced properly, not sure if this was part of the issue. 2.) The left hand treaded bolt that was supposed to come with my saw was not included. All I can say is good luck finding this bolt anywhere. Prazi made good by sending me a bolt to remedy this issue which ended up being a piece of left hand fine threaded rod with a nut and a washer. Seeing the "bolt" they sent me would indicate that even the supplier does not have the proper bolt that is supposed to come with this beam cutter. My circular saw was listed as being compatible with this but the package is missing a key piece of hardware to make it work. They need to disclose this to customers. I like the concept of this beam cutter and was hoping it would work as it would indeed save me time. Ultimately all it did was create headaches for me.

Simply put, the beam cutter is awesome. Fit nicely in my Makita 5377MG, I just needed some circlip pliers to remove the blade guard. The saw was ready to rock right away, and it works as advertised! The cut depth is incredible, and it's so cool that you can use the saw shoe with the cut, and even still tilt it. Very easy to use, and crucially, it feels safe to operate. Bob at Prazi says to spray the bar with WD40 or silicon oil every 2-3 feet. A+ customer service if you need to contact them.

No me gusto la calidad, he cortado 3 vigas y ya no tiene filo

Use it every day!. Wasnt sure how handy ot would be having it around but works great for cutting posts.. stair stringers

Cutting 6x22 Douglas Fir, putting in 4' tapered locking splices. actually reasonable on cross cut, but struggles with ripping: slow, jumpy & rougher than I'd like. Although teeth didn't feel or look dull I buffed them up a bit with a 5/32 file and everything worked much better. Learned that if I precut all the cut lines with a 7 1/4 circular saw things smoothed right out and went a bit faster. Make sure to dribble on oil every cut or so, keep it sharp, and keep the wrench in your pocket because you will need to tighten the chain repeatedly. Seems to be holding up pretty well. Have invested in a Makita 16" circular.

Over all very pleased with this beam cutter. It performed well and easy to use. The only complaint I have is the chain adjustment. It’s very clumsy and time consuming…….really doesn’t work well. Other than that I loved it!