Need circular saw advice.

[Raymond Fries]

Looking to buy a circular saw to be used on "rare" occasions to cut sheet goods. Any advice for a mid to low priced saw? I do not want junk but do not need all of the fancy stuff like a brake, laser, etc. I just need a basic saw. I plan to make my own guides to use to cut down the sheets. I have like three storage projects for my shop and after that it will sit on a shelf for a while as I am just not a sheet goods guy. At least not yet. LOL

Thanks

[Dan Rude]

First check out Craig's list for one of the better ones' used. I have the 71/4" Dewalt It was a gift, I like it for the heavy work. For smaller work I have the corded C-Man 5 1/2" trim saw. I do not think they make it anymore. If looking today for one I would try the Hitachi, which goes around here for about $70. The other one which costs a little more is the Milwaukee Tilt-lock. It allows you to keep the handle in the same orientation when you need to make a shallow cut. Stay away from the barging brands if you want to use it all the time or want accuracy. Good Luck. Dan

[Scott Britton]

I like my old trusty Porter Cable 146A

[scott vroom]

I've got an old Porter Cable 7-1/4" framing saw and like it. But for what your needs are, just go to Amazon and read the reviews on lower priced saws and pick one.

[Lonnie Gallaher]

I have a Dewalt DWE 575 with a Diablo thin kerf 60T Ultra Fine blade. With a guide it will cut a glue ready, chip free cut. I bought mine for just the same reason - cutting sheet goods.

It is light and easy to use. I had been using a Skil 77 - about 15 pounds and it is a left cut framing saw. The Dewalt is a right cut saw with a nice plate that rides a guide easily. It weighs about half what the Skil 77 does.

After having use it for a couple of jobs, I would buy the same saw.

For short crosscuts I bought a Kreg guide. It has worked well. It is plastic so cannot be abused, but is accurate.

The saw was about 120 (mine is the one without the brake) at Lowes (HD does not carry it in their stores in my area) and the Kreg guide was about 12 or 14 at Lowes. I don't remember what the blade cost (bought it at HD).

[Jim Matthews]

I use a Porter cable with magnesium body.

It requires a proper guide, for the best results in plywood.

Blade choice with plywood is important.
I use a Tenryu and like the finish it leaves.

I'm migrating to a Jigsaw with one of the beefy Bosch T-shank blades.
It's easier to handle, and has almost zero chip out.

290908

[Raymond Fries]

Hmmmmm....

I have a nice DW331 jigsaw. maybe I will give that a try first.

[Andy Pratt]

Cordless saws are really coming along. If you don't use it much and don't already have a set, you might look into a kit with drills/batteries/circular saw from one of the main manufacturers. Unless you are doing a lot of heavy work the cordless is a lot handier, if you pick a good set you'll get good utility out of the other items.

[Von Bickley]

My favorite is the Makita.......

[Jim Matthews]

Hmmmmm....

I have a nice DW331 jigsaw. maybe I will give that a try first.

Bosch makes a T shank and a U shank version of those blades.
FWW did a piece discussing these and I've been really surprised at the cut quality.

I use the beefiest version, the T308B.

For sheet goods, I really like them.
For hardwood, they're good for crosscutting
but wander on long rip cuts.

http://woodworking.about.com/od/woodworkingaccessories/gr/BoschT308B.htm

[Charles Lent]

What ever saw you buy, if you are going to break down full sheets of plywood for projects, you are going to need a fine tooth blade for this new saw. You are also going to need to create a zero clearance base for this saw to minimize chipping of the edges of the cut and you are going to need a good straight edge that you can guide the saw along for straight cuts. Circular saws straight from the factory all seem to be designed with the framing carpenter in mind who doesn't care if his cuts are chipped and splintered or slightly out of square. You are going to need to perform some upgrades to make it work for cabinet and furniture making.

Charley

[Curt Harms]

Using even a homemade guide along with a good quality blade can produce some pretty nice cuts. I made two guides, one a little over 4' and one a little over 8'. The 8' guide is a little awkward to store. The guide is 1/4" plywood with a straight fence for the base of the saw's base plate to ride against. I also prefer the P-C 314 trim saw on this type guide. The fact that it's longer than it is wide seems to make it easier to track against the fence without wanting to twist. Make the 1/4" ply wider than the saw's base then once the fence is secured, run the saw along the fence thus creating a zero clearance edge. That seems to help reduce chipout. I doubt this is a substitute for a real track saw but it works pretty well.

I read once that saws with cast and machined base plates tend to be flatter and more accurate than saws with stamped base plates. I don't know if it's true or not.

[Mike Monroe]

For occasional use? Get a Skilsaw. I have a 20+ year old Skilsaw 5150 that still going strong, though it's been regulated to cutting masonry blocks now. I have a newer Skilsaw for cutting up sheet goods and rough cutting lumber. When I framed houses eons ago my boss was fond of Milwaukee and Makita saws. I always liked the Makita the best.

[Doug Ladendorf]

I just did this. I also needed a drill/driver set so got one of the Makita 18v sets at Home Depot where they give you a free battery or tool. I chose the circular saw and used it on 1/2" CDX plywood. It cut great and was light to handle.

[Marc Rochkind]

I wouldn't make the final cut with the circular saw... I would cut oversize, and trim on the table saw. (Response to Charley's post.)

[Charles Lent]

Marc,

I did cut my panels oversize and then finish cut them on my table saw for many years, until I put a zero clearance insert on the bottom of my circular saw and changed to a fine tooth blade. My cutting accuracy is now good enough and the panel edges are now clean enough that I've been cutting to the final size without the need to final cut them on my table saw. I have a 40 year old Black & Decker Commercial circular saw that still works very well and I have dedicated it for exclusive use as my panel cutting saw.

My shop is too small and too crowded to try to cut full size sheets on my table saw. Instead, I've been cutting them outside and bringing the pieces in for finishing. I built a cutting table (a 1 X 3 rectangular frame 30" X 70" with 2 X 4 cross pieces laid flat and level with the top edges of the 1 X 3 frame. There is a center cross piece plus two more near each end. These are to attach banquet table legs that fold up when not in use. When folded they fit inside the bottom half of the 1 X 3 frame so the folded thickness of the table is the width of the 1 X 3. The whole table is joined together with glue and biscuits, so the only metal is the table legs and the screws used to attach them to the table. The top surface is completely free of metal so there is no danger of hitting metal with the saw blade.

In use, I set up the table and lay the plywood sheet to be cut on it. I clamp my aluminum straight edge at the appropriate location and run my circular saw along it to cut the panel. The saw depth is set about 1/4 - 3/8" deeper than the thickness of the plywood, so it leaves shallow cuts in the table frame work, but these do not affect the table function or strength. The beauty of using this cutting table is that you can break down a sheet of plywood without any pieces of plywood falling to the ground. There is no end-of-cut breakage that is frequently the case when using saw horses, and at the end of the cut I can just remove the smaller finished piece from the table, re-position the larger piece for the next cut, and continue cutting until I have cut out all the pieces that I need. With a good straight edge (I use both a 4' and an 8' Pro Grip guides from www.ptreeusa.com and their saw guide which doubles as the zero clearance insert) I can get the same results as others can using the new and more expensive track saws. I may someday buy a track saw, but my method seems to produce cuts that are just as clean and accurate as any track saw that I've ever tried.

Charley

[Ole Anderson]

I would skip spending money on the circ saw and spend $295 on a Grizzly track saw http://www.grizzly.com/products/t25552. Yes, it is a big jump from a $70 circ saw, but will serve you much better out into the future and it gets you a finish cut. Now I wouldn't use it for ripping 2x stock all day long, but for sheet goods, you can't beat it. Lay the track edge on your cut line and that is where the cut will be, no offset to figure in. $295 gets you the saw package with 110" of guide and the clamps. Yes I have one and used it for many finish cuts on my kitchen cabinets, 8 sheets of 3/4" hickory ply plus a lot of use in my son's rental house rehab.

If you get a circ saw, be sure to grab one and hold it like you are cutting horizontally then vertically, that is where the handles will shine or not. Make sure it had a good balance. Yesterday I used my son's Milwaukee to cut some vertical T111 and it was much more awkward than my 45 year old B&D saw cat based on the lack of a good front handle.