Klein Tools 703 Magic-Slot Compass Saw with 8-Inch Blade

The 703's Magic-Slot design lets you swap blades without backing the thumbscrew all the way out. Loosen it, slide the old blade out of the slot, drop the new one in, snug it back down. That matters if you're cutting drywall and plywood on the same rough-in and switching between blade types, or if you snap a blade in a stud bay and want to be cutting again in seconds rather than hunting a dropped screw in the insulation.

No. Klein's own warning on the 703 is to never use it on or near live electrical circuits, and to always wear approved eye protection. Kill the circuit before you cut a box opening in an occupied unit. The handle is die-cast zinc, a conductive metal, so treat this as a bare hand tool with no insulation rating of any kind.

10 teeth per inch on the 703's 8 inch blade is a general-purpose count, coarse enough to clear gypsum dust and chew through studs and plywood without loading up, fine enough that it isn't tearing the face paper apart on a device box cutout. If a job calls for a different pattern, Klein lists 704, 705, 706, 707 and 709 as blades for the same handle, so you keep the saw and change the blade.

Overall length is 13 inches (33 cm) with the 8 inch blade fitted, and the whole saw weighs 1.2 lb (0.5 kg). That's a blade-plus-handle package that rides in a bucket or a bag rather than a belt pouch, and light enough to work overhead cutting ceiling penetrations without your arm giving out.

Handle and blades are both sold separately on the 703, so a snapped blade doesn't scrap the tool and a chewed-up handle doesn't scrap your blade stock. For a fleet or facility crew, that means buying 702 blades by the sleeve and keeping the handles in service.

Klein Tools 703 is the manufacturer part number for the Magic-Slot compass saw supplied with the 8 inch, 10 TPI carbon steel blade. The bare replacement blade for it is Klein 702. Adjacent numbers 704 through 709 are blades for the same handle, not complete saws, which is the usual mix-up when ordering off a number alone.

The 703's handle is die-cast zinc with a blue finish, contoured for grip. Zinc die-cast is rigid rather than flexible, so it holds the blade square under a hard push cut instead of flexing like a plastic-bodied jab saw. It is also the reason the saw is 1.2 lb rather than a few ounces. Blade is carbon steel, which will rust if it lives wet, so wipe it down after a damp crawlspace.