Milwaukee Tool 2529-20 M12 FUEL, Compact Band Saw

Cut capacity on the 2529-20 is 2-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches, so it handles the material an electrician or plumber runs into most of the day: EMT and rigid conduit, strut, all-thread, small angle and unistrut, and copper or black pipe up to that 2-1/2 inch window. Anything over 2-1/2 inches in either direction will not pass the throat, and that is a hard stop, not a slow cut. For larger structural stock or big-diameter pipe you want a full-size deep-cut band saw instead.

The 2529-20 is the bare tool. The -20 suffix in Milwaukee's numbering is the tool-only version, so you supply the M12 REDLITHIUM battery and charger. If you are already running M12 on the truck, that is the point of buying it this way. If this is your first M12 tool, order a battery and charger with it or you will have a saw you cannot run on day one.

Yes, and that is the reason to pick it. The 2529-20 runs on the M12 platform, which Milwaukee lists at over 100 tools, so the same REDLITHIUM packs off your M12 drill, impact, or press tool drop straight in. REDLINK PLUS intelligence handles the communication between tool, battery and charger, which is what protects the pack from overload on a heavy cut.

Blade speed is on a variable speed trigger, so you feather it with your finger rather than setting a dial. That matters on thin-wall EMT and stainless all-thread, where starting slow keeps the blade from walking off the mark and wandering the cut. Once the kerf is established you roll into full trigger.

FUEL means the POWERSTATE brushless motor and REDLINK PLUS electronics rather than a brushed motor. In practice that is more cuts per charge, more power under load so the blade does not bog in thicker stock, and longer motor life since there are no brushes to wear. On a saw that stalls easily in heavy pipe, the brushless motor is the part that earns its keep.

There is an integrated rafter hook on the saw, so it hangs off joists, strut, or a ladder rung between cuts instead of sitting on the deck. On a ceiling grid or overhead conduit run that is the difference between one trip up the ladder and three. Jobsite Armor construction covers the housing for the drops that happen anyway.

A built-in LED work light throws on the cut line, which is what you need in a plenum, a mechanical room, or under a sink where your headlamp is pointed the wrong way. It is not a substitute for area lighting on a full install, but it puts light where the blade meets the mark.

Order Milwaukee 2529-20. That is the manufacturer part number for the M12 FUEL compact band saw as a bare tool, and it is the number to give a distributor so you do not end up with a kit or a deep-cut model by mistake.