Milwaukee’s 2025 saws raise the bar: Is this carpentry’s new king?
Even without a flashy Milwaukee launch packed with cocktails and hype, the trusty M18 FUEL 184 mm cordless circular saw has quietly levelled up. Milwaukee isn’t chasing noise; it’s chasing longer runtime, fewer stoppages and real site endurance where it actually matters.
Even without a flashy Milwaukee launch packed with cocktails and hype, the trusty M18 FUEL 184 mm cordless circular saw has quietly levelled up. Paired with the new REDLITHIUM FORGE battery and a tougher framing blade, Milwaukee isn’t chasing noise; it’s chasing longer runtime, fewer stoppages and real site endurance where it actually matters.
Cuts longer. Simple as that / Image: Milwaukee Tool
Less battery swapping, more actual cutting. You might be running out of excuses for a smoko just to change packs. Paired with the new M18 REDLITHIUM FORGE 12.0 Ah batteries, Milwaukee is now mixing serious power with real site endurance. The claim is bold: up to 750 cuts through double OSB panels on a single charge. This saw was already built for hard work. Now it just goes longer.
At 6,000 rpm, it keeps cuts fast and clean, which means fewer flying splinters and a lower chance of copping something nasty in the eye. It turns up with its boots laced tight and ready for heavy duty work, without pretending to be anything it isn’t.
Built to cut longer, not just faster
This isn’t about cutting faster or clocking off early for a back massage. It’s about cutting longer without interruptions and doing it comfortably. The familiar ergonomics of the M18 lineup are still doing their job here, which matters more than spec sheets once you’ve been on site all day.
Add the extra battery capacity and sustained power delivery, and you end up with a setup that makes sense for framing tradies who know how brutal repetitive cutting can be. It’s not flashy, but it’s the kind of refinement you feel after hours on the saw.
“Specs are cute. Making it through the day is better”
The blade that’s actually changing the game
Milwaukee didn’t stop at the saw. If they’re chasing the crown, they’re going all in. The new 184 mm NITRUS CARBIDE blade with 24 teeth has been built specifically for framing and demolition, and that alone says a lot about where their focus is.
Milwaukee reckons this blade can last up to five times longer than standard blades, even when chewing through nails and surprise bits of metal buried in timber. Anyone who’s smoked a blade halfway through a job knows how wild that durability claim sounds. It hits like a clean punch to the jaw.
The new 184 mm NITRUS CARBIDE blade / Image: Milwaukee Tool
Fixing the system, not chasing hype
What Milwaukee is doing here is actually pretty smart. Instead of pumping out endless new tools for the sake of it, they’re tightening up the entire ecosystem. Stretching runtime. Improving durability. Fixing the small, annoying weak points that slow tradies down day after day.
It’s a quieter strategy than big launch events and shiny buzzwords, but it’s far more aligned with how work actually happens on site. Tools that stay cutting matter more than tools that look good on a brochure.
So… is Milwaukee carpentry’s new king?
That call still belongs to the tradies swinging these saws every day. Everyone has their own standards, and no single brand owns every job site. But one thing is hard to ignore: this upgrade lifts expectations for what a cordless circular saw should be capable of.
It’s not flashy. It’s not loud. It’s a proper evolution built for brutal work, where decent tools aren’t a luxury. They’re survival gear.
This is not a story about wealthy people whinging over expensive finishes. This is about ironclad contracts, untouchable builders and a client who says he was left with a rubbish penthouse and then threatened on top of it. The video has already gone viral, and what it shows is hard to ignore while the whole industry watches. This is exactly the kind of yarn that gets passed around on smoko, coffee in hand.