Circular saw adjustment?

[Steve Rybicki]

I'm making a panel cutting table and guides for my circular saw. This saw is a bit old and was heavily used for construction. I noticed the the blade does not run parallel to the edge of the saw base. The 7 1/4" blade is off by almost a 1/16" from parallel. Is there a way to adjust this? The saw is a 10 year old craftsman and may have been this way all along.

[Todd Burch]

Steve, I've knocked mine out several times by dropping it. Unless there are slotted screws holes holding it on, you'll just have to bend it back. I would suggested taking it off and torquing it, and that way you can make sure it's flat too.

One suggestion on the "zero-board." Make the sled part (vs. the fence part of it) extra wide, so that your clamps won't won't interfere with the motor housing.

[Jamie Buxton]

Few saws have an adjustment to make the edge of the shoe parallel to the blade. That's just not a big feature for most customers. If your saw doesn't have an adjustment, you can build a sub-shoe. It is a piece of plywood bolted underneath the saw's shoe, with sloppy through-holes so you can loosen the screws and tweak it around. The small drawback to this approach is that it reduces the cutting capacity by the thickness of the sub-shoe. However, if you're mostly cutting panels with this saw, that doesn't matter.

[Steve Rybicki]

Jamie, that is a great idea. I have another saw for construction work, so the added base would not be a problem.

Todd, thanks for the tip. I've made them in the past, so I know how important the width is. I usually make them so the narrow side matches the narrow edge on the base of the saw, just in case I have to use the saw from that position, even though that almost never happens.

[John Schreiber]

I took my budget Skill-Saw from way out of allignment to just right with a few solid taps from a rubber mallet.

It used to screw up any time I tried to use it with an edge guide, but now it's plu-perfect.

[Steve Rybicki]

Just an update on what worked easiest.

I found that the base was very flexible and that a rather light rap with a mallet moved it easily. I imagine that it will just as easily move out of alignment again, so just bending it, like Todd suggested, or rapping it, like John said, seems to be the fastest, best way to handle the problem.

This has made the cuts much smoother. Thanks....