Right vs. Left bladed circular saws?

In advance of purchasing a new circular saw, I have been googling to understand the pros/cons of blade left vs. right saws.

Can someone confirm that this is the right summary understanding:

For RIGHTIES: Blade right: easier to hold & balance, potentially safer since dust and chips don't blow back in your face

Blade left: allows you to see the cut line easier since it is in your line of sight

For LEFTIES: Blade right: allows you to see the cut line easier since it is in your line of sight

Blade left: easier to hold & balance, potentially safer since dust and chips don't blow back in your face

The takeaway for me is that as a lefty who usually holds the circ saw in the left hand and to-date has only used blade right saws, I would probably be best off continuing with a blade-right saw. Particularly, since like many lefties, I am partially ambidextrous and can hold the saw in my right hand if need be.

Does that make sense?

Reply to
blueman
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Absolutely. This subject has been beaten to death in the past. I am a rightly who really likes his lefty saw. One of the things that I took away from prior discussions is that it's tough for alot of people who are well-seasoned right-handed right-saw users to make the switch. "what you are used to" seems to be the big tie-breaker.

For me, a left-saw seemed to make somuch more sense, any was not "burdened" by much experience with a hand-held circular saw.

-Steve

Reply to
Stephen M

The above is correct. There is an indicator mark on the front edge ff the foot of the saw. This is what you SHOULD use to align the saw and guide the cut. Although like most people that do not use a blade guard with a TS many also like to watch the blade and line being cut. Neither method is correct.

It makes since but is incorrect. Regardless of which hand you use, the motor of the saw should be between you and the blade.

Reply to
Leon

It does make more since if you also believe that standing in line with the blade of a TS makes more since than to the side of the blade. While left and right hand saws are understood to many as a convenience it is really a personal safety feature.

Reply to
Leon

Not to be a grammar bitch, but "sense" is the word you are looking for. "Since" is usually used as a measure of time, like.

It's been years since I've seen anyone cut their finger off with a blade left circular saw.

Reply to
Tattooed and Dusty

I have the right tilt. I'm sticking with it because it is so hard to find blades for the left tilt.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

If you live East of the Rockies, sidewinders or prevalent. West, worm drives rule the roost. I too am ambidextrous but I find myself cutting with my MAG77 while holding stock with my left hand and the saw with my right.

Dave

Dave

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Reply to
Teamcasa

You can use your right-tilt blades on a left-tilt saw. You just have to feed the material in from the back of the saw.

Reply to
Roy Smith

You people aren't seriously still buying polarized blades, in this century, are you?

Reply to
Dave Hinz

Hmm. I thought the opposite.

I'm kinda sorta ambidextrous. I write with my left hand and throw a baseball with my right. I hold a circular saw with my left and operate a mouse with my right.

My circular saw is a right sided sidewinder. However, I'd love to find a right sided wormdrive. The only one I've seen is the Porter-Cable trimmer. It's too small.

Reply to
Never Enough Money

How about you work on a plug in that lets the spell checker read my mind.

Or perhaps a left handed circle saw.

Reply to
Leon

Umm Make that the west side of th Rockies

Reply to
Leon

So what if anything is the difference between a "right-tilt" and a "left-tilt"? I would have thought that you just flipped the blade around... what am I missing?

Reply to
blueman

What I find interesting in this discussion is that virtually no one takes into account the kind of work environment the saw will be used in, which explains why the right blade sidewinder is so prevalent.

On a framing job, many cuts on 2x materials are made either on a set of horses, or on the deck of the house over the edge or stair opening. The work sits on the support and the waste hangs over the edge. For a right handed user, the most logical work position has the left hand (and often a knee) holding down the work, while the right hand (and right bladed saw) cuts to the line and the cutoff falls away. The weight of the saw is supported by the work.

Now, while it seems logical that a right handed operator would be better off with a left handed blade, that's only true if the work AND the waste are supported, as the weight of the saw is primarily on the cut off.

I have both left and right blade saws, and for work on framing in a framing environment, a right blade saw is definitely more convenient (I'm right handed). However, if I'm in a situation where I can support the waste as well as the work, the left blade saw is easier.

I would think, given the foregoing, that a left hander would be better off with a left blade saw.

Unlike the left tilt/right tilt question with a table saw, it's more than just "what you're used to" with circular saws, as was shown above.

Reply to
LRod

I think you hit the nail on the head... But given that, those that live on the far left of the country prefer the left blade saw. :~)

Reply to
Leon

Reply to
Cherokee-Ltd

Surely you'd then be "cutting" with the back of the teeth?

Reply to
J

A very dry sense of humor

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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> -Brian

Not quite on two counts. Your link above shows a left bladed sidewinder. I want a worm-drive, not a sidewinder.

Also, I want a right bladed sidewinder worm-drive becasue I'm left handed.

My explanation below was probably a bad one. Sorry.

Reply to
Never Enough Money

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