Circular saws

[GMM]

I can see from searching that this has come up a few times over the years but not for a while and products change all the time.

I anticipate that I'll soon want to make quite a lot of cuts in sheet material (mostly ply up to say 18mm), where it will be important to get a good square straight cut in the right place.

I already have an old cheapo circular saw. Bought 10 years or more ago to trim an oak worktop, which it did very well, then abused on all sorts of materials and now mostly used for rough work. It's pretty heavy and clunky and even with a sawboard, it's not really reliable for perfect cuts.

In buying a new one 'for best', there are some features that make sense to me like light weight and a cast base (rather than a bit of bent tin that won't follow a guide easily), and some that are as good as worthless, like a laser.

With applications like ply in mind, it doesn't have to have a huge blade but it seems to me that a bigger blade runs at a higher speed for a given rpm and that might make a difference to the finish.

Advice previously has been to get a cheap saw and a good blade. I wonder how far this extends though. I'd rather not spend many hundreds of squids but anything up to say 150 would be OK. Looking online, it seems there's no clear relationship between any of these features and price, although my instinct is to steer clear of anything too cheap.

Any views or advice chaps?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd agree about a decent blade. I also tend to clamp a guide to the work if I need a decent straight cut - far easier than relying on the saw one. I'd keep an eye on Lidl and Aldi - one of theirs is likely to be just fine for DIY and at a keen price.

[newshound]

I would *never* be without two sawboards (4 and 8 feet) so you need 18 mm plus sawboard thickness plus a bit depth of cut. That means you don't need a particularly big blade which keeps the weight down.

As others say, good blade is the key. I'd expect to pay no more than £100 total and spend the rest on a couple of saw horses / workmates the same height, an adjustable roller stand, and some good trigger clamps to make the rest of the work easier.

[The Medway Handyman]

I have one of these & it's without doubt the best circular saw I have ever used. One of those tools that makes you smile when you use it;

[The Medway Handyman]

My 4' sawboard never leaves the van - unless I'm using it!

[dom]

If you have other cordless tools with a decent battery system, or are willing to make the investment to get into a decent battery system - then consider a cordless circular saw.

I was fortunate to already have the DeWalt 18V lithium, and bought the circular saw (bare - no batteries or charger with it) - and it's been a revelation.

Previously I'd been using a corded Skil - but the DeWalt is lighter, better handling, stops near-instantly on releasing the trigger, and is *much* quieter than the Skil.

[F Murtz]

the more teeth the smoother cut but slower.

[stuart noble]

Yesterday I had to cut a sheet of ply in the back yard with the tinny old Power Devil (best £30 I ever spent) and my 6ft sawboard. Some of the pieces needed to be triangular, so what was most useful was my set of 4 lengths of 4" x 2" studding, which could be shifted about to support the workpiece/offcut in different positions. More versatile than 4 sawhorses. What also occurred to me was that a not very powerful saw makes kickback less likely. When you're on one knee, stretching to do a long cut, that's a definite advantage.

[dom]

Other way round to my understanding. An underpowered saw makes kickbacks mo re likely (but also more controllable). Kickbacks really shouldn't happen i n man-made sheet materials, only in natural timbers where the kerf closes u p behind the blade - usually when ripping down the grain.

[GMM]

Now you can never beat a recommendation from expert experience. Some tools just have that factor don't they? I'll take a close look at that one.

Cheers Dave

[GMM]

I was a little tempted by the 18V Makita sold by Screwfix, since I already have their 18V battery. There is some attraction to being able to rip a sheet of something down without the need for mains.

[GMM]

I couldn't agree more: The first job with a new saw should be to make sawboards (or check the existing ones fit). And certainly you can never have too many stands and clamps, though I'd fairly well supplied for them at the moment.

[The Medway Handyman]

An awful lot of modern circular saws don't have a riving knife fitted.

[John Rumm]

Typically the edge speed for each blade size is similar on mains tools - they just run the bigger blades a bit slower.

Yup a good blade will improve many saws.

Well I have used a few different ones. My current one is a Site badged Makita (SF were selling them off for silly money a couple of years back). On the down side its a pressed steel sole plate, although it is decent thickness and fairly solid. It runs very smoothly, cuts very well, and is quite good at directing the dust out its dust port. The supplied blade was actually ok for my needs and I have not yet replaced it. The blade guard has a wheeled front end, and moves out the way nicely - it also has a metal

The best saw I used was a mates 9" Hitachi - a very solid an accurate machine, which was also ergonomically very nice - handles just where you needed them and well thought out. It was perhaps larger than you need for most applications - although the bulk did add to its overall performance. They also do a 7" version of it that looks well made, so I would be tempted to try one of those if looking for another saw.

The other saw I have is a 14.4V DeWalt cordless - has about a 5 or 6" blade. Interesting that its blade is on the right of the saw rather than the left[1]. Its light and easy to use. Adequate for 3/4 ply. It has a thin kerf blade. Cuts nicely but slower. Main limitation is the endurance of the relatively small batteries. Its not as accurate as the Mak, but has the advantage that it can be used one handed. Very useful to have, but I would not swap it for my main corded saw if I could only have one.

[1] If you are right handed, makes it easier to use as a crosscut cut off saw freehand - since the body stays resting on the uncut bit.

[John Rumm]

The riving knife should limit the scope for that as well.

[newshound]

+1. Trouble is, my ancient Bosch just won't die (and it is green, not blue).

[stuart noble]

Binding is likely to occur with full size sheets when the surface you're resting on (in this case my back garden) isn't 100% level.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I've been very happy with a Kress one I bought probably 12 years ago. It's 1400W, probably twice the power of the one I had before and came with a very good blade, and that made it much easier to use. It looks like Kress still do it. I've bought a couple more blades since.

For a long time, Wickes also did it rebadged as their own (although mine predated that).

[John Rumm]

Yup, had that happen once... using long battens over the saw horses can help.

[happy zombie jebus on the cros]

i borrowed a friends neighbours son in laws one a couple of months back. it was indeed a good tool. i did think about buying one myself. for some reason i went for a wickes one. i don't recal why. i've not had the chance to use it yet, but since i started a project i've put off for 3 years, it'll be used this week.

when i was a builder, we used to use mainly bosh, makita (i kept the drill as it was a keeper) and stihl. all good tools, but damn expensive.

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