Laser guides on saws

I don't own any kind of saw with laser guide, so have little experience of them. I did have a PP/B&Q jigsaw with a laser, but found both the saw & the laser useless, so I gave it away - lasers just confuse you on curved cuts anyway.

On a circ saw or SCMS how do they cope with the kerf of the saw blade?

Assuming said kerf is 3mm, is the laser to the left or the right of the kerf, in which case you could cut over or under by 3mm, or is it central which would give you 1.5mm short either way?

Reply to
The Medway Handyman
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On my CMS it's narrower than the blade width, and aligns with one side of the blade - e.g. with a piece of material:

-----x--y--z----

x-z is the blade cut and x-y is the laser line. If cutting from the 'other side' I quickly got into the habit of offsetting by the blade width to get the cut where I want.

Far as I recall from the manual, the laser position's adjustable anyway, so I could set it however I wanted.

One gotcha with mine is that if the motor runs, the laser runs. There's no way to control the latter independently, which is a bit stupid (I have to run the blade to see where I'm about to cut). I'll see about putting a manual switch in there sometime...

cheers

Jules

Reply to
Jules

It's noticeable that very few pro tools have laser guides, seems more common amongst diy-market CS's and mitre saws.

However an exception is a high-end SCMS from festool:

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it might be that a really good solution to laser guides is as yet too expensive for wider adoption.

Reply to
RubberBiker

I've got a Makita LS714 SCMS with laser. The laser is positioned so that it hangs directly above the blade and projects the line down parallel to the blade. There is a little thumb-wheel adjuster which allows the laser to move left and right across the width of the blade so that you can adjust the laser to work on left or right-hand cuts, and to cope with different blade widths. To set it up, shove a bit of paper underneath the blade, and bring the blade down onto the paper to let a tooth make a mark, then lift up and adjust the laser to fit the mark. When set up properly (30 second's work), the laser is accurate enough for all but the most furniture precise work I do, and I wouldn't be without it.

The shop I bought the saw from told me that lasers on the cheaper tools are basically gimmicks, and aren't accurate enough to do decent work with, but the tools from Makita, DeWalt, etc. have lasers that work properly. For example, some lasers are positioned out of parallel with the saw blade, and so the line will vary position depending upon the height of the material to cut. Also, make sure that the laser can be switched independently of the saw blade - some saws have lasers which only work when the blade is turning!

dan.

Reply to
dent

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> So it might be that a really good solution to laser guides is as yet

They work if they are adjustable. You need it to line up with the edge you are using or have two one on each edge. I don't use one, the length is either not that critical or you push the end up against the stop you have set accurately.

Reply to
dennis

I have a laser on my Buy and Spew CSMS but my problem is, I can't see it outside, because of the brightness on the sun. To get a laser to be seen in those conditions you would need to earn a licence and have a key to switch it off when you were not using it. I have used those in the aerospace area. I once tried to calibrate my laser level and I had to wait till the sun was almost set before I could do it.

I have never used a builders pro laser level, so I don't know what training the users have to go through.

JMTP

Dave

Reply to
Dave

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