Circular saw woes

[Zack Lancaster]

I built a couple nice little circular saw jigs in hopes I could stave off buying a table saw or track saw for a while. I initially thought I had a great little setup.. until I decided to cut a few boards 'square' and join them together for a stair project I have going on. I could not get the wood flush so I could glue it. I trimmed and cut multiple thinking I did 'something' wrong when I was cutting. I even checked the blade multiple times thinking it must not be square to my blade. It was square..

So I paid more attention as I cut and right at the beginning and end of my cuts, there was a little movement of my saws base plate as that cut started and stopped, which is exactly where I was seeing my cuts were not flush when trying to join the boards together. Then.. it dawns on me.. my freaking base plate is messed up! So I get out my square and look at it, sure enough, it slightly indents in the middle of the plate (right below where there is a grove cut for the motor, which explains my consistent issues at the start and end of my cut as I was using a guide and pressing my saw flush against the guide. How irritating! Good thing I was testing on particle board prior to cutting up my nice oak..

Thoughts on what I should do here? I really don't want to lay our hundreds for a grizzly track saw or a table saw right now.. my saw is a Hitachi C7SB. I don't have a grinder to grind it down flat, either.. so: new circular saw or ?

[Greg Hines, MD]

It sounds like you need a track saw. If not, then rough it out with the circular saw, and then joint with a hand plane, power planer, or router.

Doc

[Steve Baumgartner]

Unfortunately, circular saws are usually considered rough carpentry tools and are not always manufactured to the sort of precision you would want for cabinet work. Seems to me you have three choices:
1. grind/file/bend your saw plate until you get it right, or maybe make a custom sub-plate that is accurate.
2. find a friendly shop with an assortment of brands, take along your square, and check them before purchase. You may find one that is close enough.
3. spend the bucks to get a track or table saw.

[Zack Lancaster]

I am going to buy a new circular saw. I can't afford a quality track saw and the Grizzly/Shop Fox/etc track saw isn't getting me overly excited with the so-so reviews. Thoughts on this unit: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-7-1-4-in-Magnesium-Circular-Saw-5007MG/100594811?N=5yc1vZc2dcZbwo5o

I called HD and they will honor the Harbor Freight 20% coupon, so I can grab this for about $120 out the door.

[Greg Hines, MD]

I am going to buy a new circular saw. I can't afford a quality track saw and the Grizzly/Shop Fox/etc track saw isn't getting me overly excited with the so-so reviews. Thoughts on this unit: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-7-1-4-in-Magnesium-Circular-Saw-5007MG/100594811?N=5yc1vZc2dcZbwo5o

I called HD and they will honor the Harbor Freight 20% coupon, so I can grab this for about $120 out the door.

Its a circular saw. Still intended for rough work. If you are trying to make fine carpentry, you are taking your chances. A Grizzley Track saw is slightly more expensive, but infinitely more versatile when the cut really matters. I recently got a Grizzley off Amazon, which included the saw and the track, but you can order it directly from the company and save a few dollars on it.

Doc

[daryl moses]

It's almost impossible to get glue joint quality cuts on any circular saw. Hard to do on a table saw for that matter unless you have a specialty blade.
I always run the edges through my jointer after cutting on the table saw for any glue ups.

[glenn bradley]

I took a file to my Dad's Makita that had a bad edge on the plate. Using a piece of hardwood clamped to the base as a guide, this took care of the problem . . . at least within the capabilities of that saw anyway. Another possibility is to attach a piece of hardboard to your exiting base. I hae done this to create a zero clearance effect. Be sure to cut a notch at the rear of the blade slot so your guard functions correctly.

[william watts]

The Makita looks to have a niece casting for the base. I have noticed on circular saws the brackets that attache the base plate to motor assembly are very light gauge stamped metal bracket, especially the rear bracket. I remember that Dewalt made a saw with an adjustable rear bracket that allows the base plate to be adjusted. The base plate needs to be parallel to the blade as well as have a straight side.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Thoughts on what I should do here? I really don't want to lay our hundreds for a grizzly track saw or a table saw right now.. my saw is a Hitachi C7SB. I don't have a grinder to grind it down flat, either.. so: new circular saw or ?

Zack -

If it was me, I would go to Grainger or McMaster Carr and get an appropriately-sized piece of aluminum plate stock - say 1/4" thick.

Pull the current base plate, and make a new one. Or - simply mount the alum to the existing base plate - either way you want to be sure, obviously, to get the alum edge dead-nuts parallel to the blade.

Alum is easy to cut with a drill bit, a hacksaw, and a cheap metal file. - the slot for the saw doesn't need to be pretty.

You can also cut the alum on your TS with a std blade, and with a dado stack........ some guys get nervous doing this, but then, some guys [not mentioning any names] have a nice miter cut thru their alum Incra miter jig fence. :o

[Sam Murdoch]

Or bring a straight edge/square with you when you buy a saw. Check a few and pick the best. Quality will likely be all over the place even from one manufacturer. I prefer Makita or Bosch over the most of the others but I would check those for flat, straight and square too.

[Victor Robinson]

I'd recommend a track saw, but I know you don't want to go there right now.

Do you have a router? A bit more time-consuming, but a flush-trim bit and a straight-edge for the bearing to ride on is a nice way of getting straight cuts and square edges.

I think there are some decent circ saws with nice baseplates, e.g. Makita 5007, but then you're still looking at spending 100-150 on a tool that quite frankly, you WILL end up replacing with a tracksaw eventually if you keep up doing these kinds of projects. I like Kent's idea of fabricating your own baseplate - could be cheap and easy if you have the right tools, or could be an exercise in frustration if not. You can also purchase aftermarket saw plates (e.g. from EZ Smart and others).

[Jim Dwight]

I used to use my Milwaukee to break down sheet goods with a homemade wooden guide strip. I could get consistently within 1/8 and often within 1/16 inch. But I chewed up the edge of the guide strip, I think because the arbor of the Milwaukee doesn't have the greatest bearings. That made setting the guide tough. The other issue is you must push the saw against the guide. If you vary pressure, your cut line will vary a bit.

I finally broke down and bought a DeWalt with two tracks for about $600. It is hugely different. I can routely get cuts under 1/32 from the desired dimension. Just by marking and cutting. I also have parallel guides I made which helps with wider cuts and consistency/speed. I plan a cutting table which will have a crosscut attachment (Ron Paulk design). That will further increase usefulness. I use my table saw much less now. I took the wide table kit off it. Much easier to move the saw when dealing with a sheet of 3/4. Much less space required too.

With respect to the Grizzly, the reviews are not great but check out this one:

http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/3616

It needs a blade and a extra guide strip on the base, apparently, as well as a reduced force spring but with those tweaks several people report good results. The prices for track saws vary hugely. A Festool is over $1000 with a couple tracks. DeWalt and Makita are around $600 with a long and short track. You can't get a long track for a Grizzly but you can join two shorter ones. And you can get the saw and a couple tracks for about $300. Seems like a really good deal, if it holds up. It probably will, at least for occasional use in a home shop. I've seen other decent reviews on the Grizzly at BT3Central.

[Allan Speers]

Welcome to the wonderful world of tracksaw accuracy! (or lack thereof.)

I'm a HUGE proponent of the "deadwood" concept, and have a deluxe Eurekazone system. You don't want to invest in an actual track system, which is fine, but you are in effect doing the same thing with your jigging.

And this is indeed the tail that wags the dog: accuracy. It's not just the frame, but looseness in the arbor. There are a few CS's made specifically to address these issues, but they are shockingly expensive. The CHEAPEST is the Festool, and I hope you're sitting down when you check the prices.

If you want an "acceptably accurate" saw without breaking the bank, the only two to consider are the Makitas, or a used Hilti. I have a 7 1/4" Hilti and it's a dream to use. The Makita has a great frame, but the arbor requires that you add a thin bushing to make it really tight. - Worth the trouble, however.

Another option is to go with a larger saw, and then use a stabilizer. IMO, this only helps if you need to cut very quickly.
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But hold on there - Ask yourself just how accurate your CS cuts have to be. If you have a routing table (Or a router connected to a track, which you obviously do not - yet) then it's a much better idea to use the CS to only get CLOSE. You then let the wood sit for a day or two, so any residual tension gets released, and THEN do you final glue line with the router.

Believe me, this is the best way to work, even if you have a table saw.
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if you ever do get a track system, and IMO these are a must at least for breaking down sheet goods, I highly recommend the Eurekazone system, even over the Festool. (And I'm a big Festool guy, overall.) - but I won't go any further as this subject tends to cause entire cities to burn to the ground. :eek:

[Michelle Rich]

Check out Izzy swan's Youtube channel..he just invented a very cool plastic gizmo that will give you track saw abilities with a good circ saw