I have a Ryobi saws-all my older brother gave me probably 20 years ago--the "foot" that you press against what your cutting got smashed and pieces or tha die cast housing that attaches too,busted off when a blade snagged on a hunk of channel iron he was cutting..
It still cut fine,it was just now it had to be held still by hand so it wouldn't just make the saw body go in and out if the blade snagged..
You could see the ring gear inside where the case chunk broke off--I took it apart,wiped out all the grease,which was loaded with metal filings from the blade,it chucked them right in there..
I noticed the ring gear has at least two chipped teeth,but I never heard any noises,nor does it "skip" like they are stripped...
I used J-B Weld putty to seal off the area where the nose cone was busted,let it dry good,then re-packed the gears with disc brake wheel bearing grease...I put a different longer cord on it while it was apart to,with better insulation ,came off a commercial vacuum cleaner..
I have cut countless pallets up for firewood,a K10 frame I scrapped (that I never should have,now I could use it!)--plus a flat bed's channel iron I made for one of my previous trucks--my brother cut all the channels and diamond plate to make a beaver tail ramp truck out of an E-350 box van with it,and I used it on every project on the garage when it needed siding repaired,the house's bathroom floor ,etc.....it has amazed me its still going,and seems no worse than when I got it...if it craps out the next time I use it,it owes me nothing..
If and when it fails my next one will either be a Harbor Freight cheapie or another Ryobi from the flea market,where I see many just like mine going for about $10..I am not going to be up to doing much handyman stuff in the future,so I'm not going to buy anything great I'll rarely use....cordless ones are nice,except for batteries--I'd be killing batteries letting them sit unused too long between charges..they are expensive too..
