Ryobi’s steady presence in the hand tool and power tool industry should reassure any home improvement enthusiast. The company has been designing and delivering power tools since 1968, but it traces its historical roots back much further into the world of precision die casting. Since it entered the world of power tools, however, the brand has been much more consumer focused, routinely bringing reliable tools to the market at affordable prices — specialty tools like its foam cutter and craft-focused power cutter often finding homes in hobbyist’s cabinets.
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Ryobi’s scroll saw, on the other hand, is more akin to the heavy duty tools found in industrial shops. The saw has the ability to match the turning capabilities of a jigsaw with the platform stability of a table saw. Beyond these niche cutting options, Ryobi delivers a full catalog of standard cutting implements, as well as some more obscure examples. Here are all of Ryobi’s power tools that deliver a cut to your workpiece, alongside the specific purpose they serve.
Reciprocating saws
The reciprocating saw is a great place to start when exploring powerful cutting tools. Ryobi offers a variety of reciprocating saw models within its 18V ONE+ power tool lineup, including a one-handed pruning option and a standard saw. Pioneered by Milwaukee as the Sawzall, reciprocating saws are built specifically to slice through anything your job might throw at it. With a linear body design and a blade that sticks forward out of the stalk, the reciprocating saw is used to shear through timber as well as any other impediment that might find itself embedded in the workpiece. Reciprocating saws are particularly valuable in demolition work because they eliminate the need to worry about your tool becoming damaged by hidden nails or other surprises.
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Reciprocating saws make their way into construction tasks as well, often used to support rough cut needs rather than precision slicing operations. If you’re feeding new pipe or wiring through rafter boards and need to cut out a channel across multiple support beams, for instance, the reciprocating saw will handle the task much faster and with less effort than a jigsaw.
Jigsaws
This brings us next to the jigsaw. Jigsaws are some of the most versatile cutting tools that DIYers and professionals alike can bring into their toolbox. They feature a blade that is similar in nature to the reciprocating saw’s cutting implement, but this blade is mounted at a 90-degree angle rather than in line with the tool’s body. This setup allows the operator to stand directly over the material they’re cutting to dial in added precision. That capability comes in handy when operating the jigsaw because these tools allow you to make wavy and curved cuts or enact precise turns as you slice through a board.
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As is the case with many other saws in Ryobi’s stable, a range of jigsaws are available, including a variable speed tool featuring SpeedMatch technology and a corded power source. Ryobi also offers barrel grip and D-handle jigsaws that alternatively provide a small form factor for easier use and a traditional build for ample power and cutting heft.
Angle grinders
While the jigsaw allows users to create variable dimensions in their cutting, the angle grinder provides huge variance among cutting mediums. An angle grinder typically features a tube like shaft with a mounting attachment angled at 90 degrees off one end. However, unlike a regular saw, the tool uses discs instead of blades, providing cutting power that’s roughly in line with the basic geometry of the tool. You can cut just about anything with an angle grinder. With the correct disc attached to the tool, you can slice through concrete, steel, brickwork, and mortar. Typical grinder wheels are made of steel or aluminum discs with composite aggregates bonded to their surface. They are incredibly cheap in most instances and deliver tremendous cutting power via the grinder’s massive spin rate.
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Ryobi offers two angle grinders as part of their lineup, with one brushed and one brushless model, which brings extra durability and longevity. The company also produces a cut-off tool that is essentially a small angle grinder with the disc mounted sideways. This provides more compact cutting power that can be delivered to specific workpiece requirements with greater precision.
Circular saws, track saws, and plunge saws
As with any respectable brand in the power tool market, Ryobi offers a number of round-bladed saws. Circular saws and jigsaws are some of the most essential tools that any person who works with wooden material will need. While the jigsaw delivers the ability to make curved cuts, a circular saw provides straight line shearing power that’s unmatched by any other handheld power tool.
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Almost every major brand makes circular saws, though many people in the trades and older DIYers sometimes call them Skilsaws, because the Skil brand delivered some of the finest early examples. Naturally, Ryobi also makes a few different versions of the circular saw, including a brushless 6½-inch 18V ONE+ example.
Beyond the regular circular saw, Ryobi makes track saws and plunge saws. These are essentially the same basic tool but modified to deliver better precision for specific kinds of cutting. A track saw is functionally a circular saw mounted to a straight track in order to dial in exacting cut geometry. The plunge saw on the other hand is used to begin a cut midway across a workpiece rather than at its end.
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Tile, flooring, and masonry saws
Moving into a set of more specialized cutting tools, Ryobi naturally makes tile, flooring, and masonry saws that professionals in the home improvement and building spaces will rely on to complete their work. These saws are built specifically to cut through finish surface materials, as well as dense masonry that all other cutting tools but an angle grinder likely can’t handle at all.
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These saws deliver both high-powered cutting functionality and a delicate touch that’s necessary to keep material like tile and hardwood flooring from fraying and cracking at the edges. No one wants to look at chewed up end pieces in their finished bathroom or living room, so these specialist saws are critically important to finishing the job correctly.
Routers
A router is a handheld cutting tool that delivers edge geometry or critical plunge cuts into the surface of wooden work pieces. Routers can be mounted in a table format as well, with the blade facing upward. They can cut directly through a board and make a recessed edge on its face or around its corners, and often function as finish trim tools, featuring heavily in the workflows of professional renovators.
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However, these tools are also useful for homeowners working on garage storage or attic flooring. Taking a router to the edges of these surfaces will knock off any burrs that may be present, minimizing the risk of taking a splinter when sliding your hand across the surface. The visual improvement is also noticeable, delivering just a touch more sophistication to your project. Naturally, Ryobi offers a compact router and a more comprehensive kit within its lineup.
Cut-out tools and speed saws
Not to be confused with a cut-off saw, a cut-out tool is like a handheld drywall saw. The cut-out tool and its cousin the speed saw rotary cutter deliver powered cutting with a plunge-enabled saw blade. They can cut out space for knockout boxes when adding plugs or switches into your drywall or as a means to introduce precision plunge cuts into plywood sheets and other similar materials.
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These tools are great for doing renovations, but definitely fall within a specialist niche. Most people won’t have a specific enough need for one of these kinds of saws and can make do with a combination of other hand tools and power cutting solutions.
Table saws
The table saw on the other hand isn’t a tool that most people working with timber materials will want to pass up. Table saws allow users to set up repeatable, straight cuts either vertically or horizontally across a workpiece’s dimension. Table saws can also work with a truly endless array of customized jigs to allow for angled cuts, bevels, dado cuts, and more. A table saw can functionally in the same role is just about any other cutting tool in your arsenal for dealing with loose lumber stock. Naturally, it’s not a tool that you can bring to a workpiece, however.
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Ryobi offers a single model in this category. The brand features a brushless 8¼-inch table saw run on the 18V ONE+ system. This makes it portable as well as powerful, offering a great addition to a mobile workstation or DIY collection for handling jobs all around the house.
Miter saws
A miter saw is perhaps the most recognizable stationary cutting tool around. Miter saws deliver angled (mitered) cuts to rough lumber stock in order to chop workpieces down to size. Anyone who works on DIY renovations or professional home improvement projects will likely have a miter saw in their collection already. This also serves as a great starting point for those looking to get into the world of home improvement for themselves.
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Ryobi carries two sliding, compound miter saws. This means their blades can slide from front to back when cutting through a board, improving the cut capacity of the tool and the smoothness of the cut. They also feature a vertical angle adjustment for even greater range. The saws available include a 7¼-inch and 10-inch, brushless option.
Band saws
Band saws come in two basic varieties in the Ryobi catalog. The 2½-inch compact band saw is a metal cutting tool that can cut steel and other metal rough stock in the early phases of a metalworking project. The tool is relatively small and pretty portable, allowing it to be used in a variety of situations and workplaces.
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Ryobi’s 2.5-amp, 9-inch band saw is a different matter altogether. This is primarily a wood cutting tool that features a sizable cut deck and a vertical bandsaw blade and tower unit. These band saws are used to shear through boards when cutting them down their long end. They are frequently deployed in woodworking shops that deal with hardwoods and specialty build parameters. A band saw can also cut wave shapes and curves when necessary.
Hedge trimmers, brush cutters, edgers, and string trimmers
As is the case with many power tool companies, Ryobi carries a huge range of hedge trimmers, brush cutters, edgers, and string trimmers. Combo kits and other setups also make an appearance here. All of these tools are meant for cutting landscaping features in your yard. Hedge trimmers and brush cutters can slice through unruly bushes and tree branches, string trimmers cut grass and other growth around tight corners and near features that may be damaged by your lawnmower, like sprinkler heads. Edgers are finishing tools for cutting the edge sections of your lawn along the line where the grass meets sidewalk and driveway installations. This gives your landscaping a professional look that simply can’t be accomplished without dealing with the overgrowth that creeps out toward concrete.
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Rotary tools
A rotary tool is used to cut delicate and precise grooves into workpieces. This can include metal, plastic, and wood mediums. Ryobi’s precision craft rotary tool is used primarily as an engraving device, and it can also be used for sanding and etching surfaces. It’s a great option for light duty hobbyists who want to add personalized touches to their work and rounds out Ryobi’s budget-friendly, crafting tool category.
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Ryobi also offers a USB lithium power carver kit that is perfect for tasks like carving pumpkins ahead of Halloween. Anyone who has carved a pumpkin by hand will know that it’s not a particularly difficult job on the whole but maintaining precision around curves and in sharp turns can be extremely challenging. Anyone who has butchered a pumpkin carving with family or friends may want to invest in a power carver before October rolls around again.
Oscillating multitools
Oscillating multitools can’t do everything, but they certainly come close! Most frequently they’re used to cut trim work and deliver precision carveouts for knockout boxes and other similar installations. They are perhaps the only handheld power tool on the market with a straight plunge cut blade. As the name suggests, a the blade oscillates rather than spins, vibrating back and forth at rapid speed, and making it so all you have to do is follow its momentum to finish off a cut. Ryobi’s multitool features a trigger to make cuts even more accurate.
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Multitools are also compatible with sanding attachments and other accessories. This expands their functional range tremendously, making them a must-have tool for DIYers, in particular. Professional renovators frequently won’t leave for a job without their multitool on hand, either.
Planers
The power planer isn’t a cutting tool you’re likely going to use very often, unless you are an avid woodworker. Even then, many woodworking hobbyists and professionals frequently prefer the tactile feel of a hand plane rather than a powered option for all but the most demanding smoothing and flattening tasks.
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As the name might suggest, this cutting tool for making the surfaces of wooden boards and planks perfectly flat, knocking off of high spots as it glides over the surface. Hand planes come in a variety of sizes and specialized body shapes, and using them can be extremely laborious. This is where the electric planer comes into play. With an electric motor powering a spinning blade, planing surfaces to get them flat is much easier. Ryobi joins many other power tool brands in offering an electric planer, but it’s not something you’re likely to need unless you already work with hand planes and want to introduce a powered alternative for when your arms begin to tire.
PVC/PEX cutters and shears
Ryobi carries an 18-gauge offset shear tool. This cutting implement excels at cutting a range of tough materials like sheet steel and roofing shingles, or chicken wire for fencing and other outdoor applications. Ryobi also offers a 2-inch PVC and PEX pipe cutter. This power tool makes cutting through pipe a much simpler task. There are a range of hand tools you can use to cut PVC and PEX pipe, but they are frequently much slower and require more effort to deliver a cut than powered options. Most home improvers working on their own projects won’t need a PVC/PEX cutter, but for those living off grid or in rural areas and tending to their own land, Ryobi shears may come in handy when tackling all kinds of emergency repair upgrade projects around the property.
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Chainsaws and pruning saws
Like Ryobi’s other landscaping tools, the brand carries a full set of chainsaws, pruning saws, and pruning shears. These saws feature all manner of lengths, from compact pruning saws with stubby, 6-inch cutting heads to lengthy chainsaws running 20-inch bars. These saws are crucial for cutting through tree branches and larger segments of logs. Anyone who manages a moderate to large property will likely require at least a pruning saw to deal with heavy growth around their landscape.
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This category of the Ryobi catalog also features pole saws, with their chainsaw blade attached at the end of a retractable pole to introduce additional reach. This is great for cutting branches off trees that are higher overhead. Rather than having to climb up to the target branch, you can deploy a pole saw from the ground to create a safer work environment and get the job done easier and faster.
Lawnmowers
From push mowers to riding mowers, Ryobi stocks a huge range of options to handle just about any lawn-mowing workload you might have around your property. Ryobi’s lawnmower range is powered by battery. Many run on the brand’s 18V ONE+ battery system, while the higher powered options take 40V batteries and 80V, plug-in systems (like the riding mower that delivers a 54-inch cut deck). Most feature operating times around the 60-90 minute range. For most homeowners, this is more than enough juice to get the job done numerous times over without needing to stop for a recharge or battery swap.
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Kinetic log splitter
Finally, Ryobi offers a unique cutting tool you’ll have trouble finding elsewhere. The 40V HP Brushless Kinetic Log Splitter is a power cutting tool purpose-built to chop log segments into usable firewood. The log splitter can produce 12-tons of splitting force and Ryobi calls it “the world’s first cordless kinetic log splitter.” It features a two second cycle time that produces results ten times faster than the alternative. Using Ryobi’s 40V battery system, the log splitter can deliver 150 splits per charge.
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It’s a totally unique tool that rounds out Ryobi’s comprehensive list of powered cutting implements. It’s not something that most homeowners will need. However, the device is immensely cool and might be worth it for the novelty of a powered log splitting capability in your back pocket, alone.
