How One Saw Accidentally Became a Legend

Before the Sawzall, Everything Took Longer

Let’s get this out of the way.

No, a guy didn’t invent the Sawzall during a garage party and declare it could cut everything under the sun. That story is funny, but it’s made up. Sadly.

Here’s what actually happened.

In 1951, Milwaukee Tool introduced the first portable reciprocating saw. Before that, demolition work was slow, loud, and personal. You fought materials one cut at a time with hand tools and bad attitudes.

Then this thing showed up.

A motorized saw that moved the blade back and forth fast enough to tear through wood, nails, pipe, drywall, and metal. It wasn’t elegant. It wasn’t precise. It was effective.

Milwaukee named it Sawzall because it quite literally sawed all.

The name stuck so hard it became generic. Contractors started calling every reciprocating saw a Sawzall, regardless of brand. Same way we say Kleenex, Google, or Band-Aid.

The Sawzall earned its reputation honestly.

It’s not the tool you reach for when perfection matters. It’s the tool you grab when something needs to be gone. Now. Preferably before lunch.

That’s why it became a legend. Not because of marketing, but because it showed up and delivered every time.

It didn’t promise beauty.
It promised results.

And it kept them.