Circular saw annoyance

Just thought I'd share my experience with tackling a job I asked about earlier this year (and which I've only just got around to!):

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was suggested in this thread that I make a sawboard to get straight accurate cuts with my circular saw. I thought that was a good idea so it was my first task. Unfortunately it turned out to be completely useless because the bottom of the motor housing on my saw is only slightly above the level of the baseplate and doesn't clear the guide part of the sawboard. I experimented with a version of the sawboard for the bit of the baseplate on the other side of the blade but that is very narrow and doesn't provide the stability needed. Very frustrating...

In the thread I reference above, I said I'd never really been happy with the saw (a B&D thing), and rarely used it as a result. I was dissuaded from considering a new one but I think the idea might be back on the table now ;-) Anyone care to suggest something decent but not prohibitively expensive?

Thanks,

Bob

Reply to
Bob
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I have not made a sawboard. I just get a piece of plywood about 7mm thick, about 300 mm wide, and longer than the cut I want to make. The saw slides well against that, and there is plenty of room to clamp the plywood at both ends without the clamps getting in the way.

Reply to
Matty F

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Most circular saws have an adjustment that allows the depth of cut to be reduced - typically knob at the rear of the machine is slackened off and the sole place pulled down a bit (it hinges at the front). The motor usually moves up with the saw making a bit more clearance at the expense of a slight reduction in depth of cut.

Hitachi C7U or the equivalent Makita.

Reply to
John Rumm

I've been very happy with a Kress one I've had for about 8 years. It got heavy use for first few years whilst I was doing lots of work of that nature (couple of kitchens, cutting up floor boards for rewiring and installing central heating, new facias, new banisters and balustrades, etc), but not used much recently. Wickes started selling it rebadged as their own too, but I bought mine before they did that. Don't know if they still do the rebadged Kress nowadays.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I use a long spirit level for most things.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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>>> It was suggested in this thread that I make a sawboard to get

Absolutely, you lose a little depth of cut, but gain 100% accuracy.

I have to say I'm a little dissapointed with my Makita 5604. Pressed steel base. Often cuts off square unless you adjust it every time its used, also has stupid plastic wheels on the blade guard which fall off every time its used.

Not what I expect from Mak, wouldn't buy another.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

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>>>>> It was suggested in this thread that I make a sawboard to get

They have a couple of different models IIRC. One has a cast sole plate like the Hitachi (then again, that may not be in the current model range

- I have not looked for a while)

Alas like all brands they are not lemon free, you still need to chose with care.

Reply to
John Rumm

I bought a guide clamp (to use as a clamp initially) and that works well for the saw and the router.

It sounds like the OP hasn't found the depth adjuster on his saw, he is probably ripping the surface up if he hasn't, they tend to do that if they are set to deep.

Reply to
dennis

snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk...

Another couple of ways to reduce breakout of the melamine is to

a: lay a strip of self adhesive tape along the cut line.

or better

b: overlay the MFC with a sacrificial piece of hardboard or MDF and keep the saw pressed down well against it.

Way out of the DIYer's league the flat-pack cabinet manufacturers have clever panel saws with an extra contra-rotating blade which nicks the melamine surface first.

Reply to
1501

It sounds like the OP's guide rail on the sawboard is thicker than it needs to be. Even in the lowest blade position, there must still be

*some* clearance between the running edge of the baseplate and the bottom of the motor housing, even if it's only a millimetre or two.

This would be an excellent excu\\\\ reason to buy a power planer :-)

Reply to
Ian White

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk...

Cut in from the front edge with the board upside down. Use a new (sharp) blade, and not a course one. Set depth so blade penetrates no more than half inch deeper than the board thickness. Cut with the cutter sole pressed against a straight edge guide temporarily fixed to the worktop underside (how the thread started). Support both sides so the final part doesn't snap off.

If you do all this, no additional finishing off will be required.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I get a pretty good cut without any of that - just using a quality sharp tipped blade set to just over the thickness of the board.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The DIY alternative is a Stanley knife. Its easy to run the knife down a sawboard before the saw.

Reply to
dennis

Of course they do. Doh! Ever felt like a wally? I did say I hadn't used it much so the only mitigation I can offer is that it hasn't been out of the box for a few years plus I was doing it in something of a hurry as I only had a couple of hours while the house was kid-free. I was already hassled as I discovered the shelves I needed to cut weren't as square as I expected them to be, despite fitting between two existing wall cupboards. It was a bad day generally - I should have just read the paper.

In spite of all this I am sold on the idea of the sawboard. Others have commented that they just clamp a spirit level or a piece of wood. The advantages I see are:

(i) you can make it wide enough (i.e. size in direction at right angles to cut) so that the clamps are out of the way

(ii) you only need to make one measurement - and that's where you want the cut. With other methods you need to make that measurement and then account for the blade offset. That's fiddlier and introduces more scope for errors to creep in and mistakes to be made.

~~ Bob

Reply to
Bob

What I cal a grey moment...

Both true Bob, but another advantage is that the largest area of the saw base is supported by the sawboard. With a clamp on straight edge you have to run the 'non motor' side of the saw along the edge which gives less support IYSWIM.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Easy to clamp a straightedge to the motor side with a pair of small g cramps tightened from below, or have the guide wide enough to miss the clamps altogether. Despite having an assortment of T square jigs, I often find myself using a length of 2" x 1" or whatever, together with my measuring jig (a piece of ply the width of the baseplate/cut distance). That way I still only measure once and it's useful for tapered cuts.

Reply to
Stuart Noble
8<

I think he calls it a grey moment. ;-)

Reply to
dennis

Other benefits include protecting the work from scratching via the sole plate, and reducing breakout at the surface:

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Reply to
John Rumm

You clearly have no idea what a sawboard is or how to use one you halfwit.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Yerbut, a piece of 2 x 1 on the motor side means you lose 25mm of your cutting depth because the motor has to go over it. A 190mm saw now has a cutting depth of 41mm instead of 66mm.

A sawboard made from 3mm ply with a 3mm batten means you lose 3mm of the cutting depth because the saw sits on the ply, but most saws have 3mm clearance under the motor, so no loss there. My Makita 165mm saw will easily cut a 38mm worktop, only losing 3mm of its 54mm depth.

A sawboard is only a straightedge and a measuring jig in one piece, but the offset is cut by the saw itself & not measured. I have no idea what the baseplate/cut distance of either of my circular saws is - I don't need to know.

All you need to do is mark your cut line & clamp the sawboard to it. I make mine double edged, e.g. batten in the centre of an over width piece of ply & cut both sides - plenty of room for clamps.

I frequently use a sawboard for tapered cuts.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

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