Circular Saw insists on turning to the right

[Dustin Sandage]

With or without a jig, with a jig (1x2 that happens to be long enough for the purpose) that extends far enough out at the beginning to ensure base plate is flush against it the "jig" for the entire cut, watching the line... it absolutely insists on turning to the right.

Please... somebody help this rookie understand what he's missed. I just want to cut a straight line with a 20 degree angle.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Dustin, do you mean the saw "pulls" to the right and won't stay tight to the jig?

Possible that your base plate is not aligned to the saw blade (ie - the edge of the base plate which you're aligning to the jig is not parallel to the saw blade).

[roger wiegand]

With more than one blade? Asymmetric sharpening might do that. Dan's suggestion is what I might check first.

[keith wootton]

the retracting guard can influence how the saw cuts, especially on bevel cuts. it is ok to use a finger from the hand not pulling the trigger to retract the guard once the saw is resting on the workpiece and you are ready to make the cut. do not pin the guard up so it won't retract!

[Lee Schierer]

I would try a different blade to eliminate a dull blade.

IMO the problem is a misaligned base plate. If the base plate is not parallel to the blade, the saw will also want to travel to the side. If your saw was dropped at some point the base plate could easily be out of alignment. Turning to the right would indicate that the base is farther from the blade at the front than it is at the back. With a digital caliper you can check the alignment by extending the blade to maximum cut depth and then measure the distance from the base plate edge to the face of the blade as far forward as you can measure and then take the same measurement to the same spot on the blade as far to the rear as possible.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I would try a different blade to eliminate a dull blade.

IMO the problem is a misaligned base plate. If the base plate is not parallel to the blade, the saw will also want to travel to the side. If your saw was dropped at some point the base plate could easily be out of alignment. Turning to the right would indicate that the base is farther from the blade at the front than it is at the back. With a digital caliper you can check the alignment by extending the blade to maximum cut depth and then measure the distance from the base plate edge to the face of the blade as far forward as you can measure and then take the same measurement to the same spot on the blade as far to the rear as possible.

Substitute tooth for spot for measuring. Use same tooth, both front and rear. This way you eliminate differences in tooth geometry. That's why I love my B&D Super Sawcats,and the DeWalt that they morphed into. All have adjustable bases, so you can adjust blade parallel to edge of the base.

[glenn bradley]

Many circular saws today do not have an adjustable shoe to align the side of the shoe with the blade. The saws then get moved about and transported all sorts of ways and things can get bent. It doesn't take much to take the blade out of parallel to the side of the shoe. If your saw has adjustments, you can realign it per the manual. If not, you may be able to figure out what needs to be tweaked and tweak it using a crescent wrench, mallet, etc. A quick fix is to fasten a piece of hardboard to the shoe that extends past the factory edge. Make the proud edge parallel to your blade plate and you now have a reference edge that will track true.

circsaw-base.JPG

[Wes Grass]

I ran into that with the rip guide on my Festool. If it's not dead nuts parallel to the blade you're going for a ride.

[Lee Schierer]

Substitute tooth for spot for measuring. Use same tooth, both front and rear. This way you eliminate differences in tooth geometry. That's why I love my B&D Super Sawcats,and the DeWalt that they morphed into. All have adjustable bases, so you can adjust blade parallel to edge of the base.

Teeth often have a taper to them and may have some amount of set which can affect the accuracy of measurements. You should mark a spot near the outer edge of the flat metal of the blade disc and use that for the point of

[Pete Staehling]

If the pull is slight enough a quick and dirty solution might be to put the guide 1x2 on the right side if the cut isn't too close to that side of the work piece. if the pull is too bad it will bind though.

As has already been said, a bad blade or a base not aligned with the blade are the likely issues and either can be addressed. If the saw doesn't have a base that is designed to be adjusted you may need to be more creative in the solution. I thought Glen's hardboard solution was especially creative.

[Darren Kloomok]

I would try a different blade to eliminate a dull blade.

IMO the problem is a misaligned base plate. If the base plate is not parallel to the blade, the saw will also want to travel to the side. If your saw was dropped at some point the base plate could easily be out of alignment. Turning to the right would indicate that the base is farther from the blade at the front than it is at the back. With a digital caliper you can check the alignment by extending the blade to maximum cut depth and then measure the distance from the base plate edge to the face of the blade as far forward as you can measure and then take the same measurement to the same spot on the blade as far to the rear as possible.

I agree with your diagnosis that the base plate is misaligned. I have a Makita with a misaligned plate, but as much as I search, I can't find a remedy; is there any way to realign it? I see plenty of instructions for correcting bevel mis-adjustments, but no left to right corrections. I'd be grateful for any help.