Circular saw how to choose the right one

Convenient shape and design

You might think that the best circular saw is simply the best model with a lot of power. But in fact, it’s all about little things like dustbags, cord lengths, spindle locks, safety guards and electric brakes.

The saw can cut at 6,200 rpm, but if it lacks any of these features, it will be difficult to use in the long run. These features greatly increase the durability and versatility of the tool. A simple accessory such as the included carrying case makes the saw more portable and therefore more useful.

Makita 5008MG circular saw: the best circular saw for professionals

The Makita 5008MG is made of high-strength magnesium components with a powerful 1800W industrial motor, creates clean cuts and is light enough to prevent hand fatigue over extended periods of time. It has features you will often find on other saws, such as a built-in dust collector, as well as useful things like built-in LED lights to illuminate the cutting line.

The Makita 5007MG circular saw is also equipped with one of the best blades. Premium Ultra-Coated 7 1/4 ” with carbide tips, so it can easily cut through even wood with nails. With a high-grade blade and powerful motor, the Makita 5008MG can handle a wide variety of jobs with ease, be it dense structural panels or framing walls, floors and roofs made of lumber of various sizes.

We RANKED Every CIRCULAR SAW From BEGINNER LVL To EXPERT LVL (What Level Are You?)

How to choose a circular saw?

• How to choose the right circular saw?
• Cordless or corded circular saw?
• What to look for when buying a circular saw?
• Convenient shape and design
• Cutting features
• Can I use a circular saw instead of a miter saw?
• Miter saws pros and cons:
• Circular saws pros and cons:
• TOP 3 good circular saw blades
• Dewalt DWE575 circular saw: Best circular saw overall
• Makita 5008MG circular saw: the best circular saw for professionals
• Circular saw Milwaukee 6390-21

Cutting features

Cutting angle: the larger the better so you can cut with more choices. Positive tilt stops are also important as they allow you to quickly adjust the shoe to common angles.

How thick can you cut with a circular saw?

Circular saw blade diameters range from 6 1/4 “to 10 1/2”. Generally speaking, the most common blade diameter is 7 1/4 inches, which can cut wood up to 50mm thick. You can also cut materials up to 50mm thick. using a 6 1/2 “blade, but 7 1/4” is still the most popular.

However, the less common, large blades can come in handy if you are working on projects that use large wood beams.

Buying A Circular Saw? Here’s What To Look For! EthAnswers

Besides size, there are other factors to consider when choosing the right drive for the job. Buy special brick blades when you need to cut a brick or cinder block, and tile knives for your flooring.

Also, for certain jobs, you may need discs made of special durable materials. There are high speed steel blades that stay sharper than regular discs, and carbide coated discs that stay sharp even longer. Diamond coated discs can improve tile cut quality.

Miter saws pros and cons:

• Great for getting accurate angles for things like skirting boards and picture frames
• Your hand is usually not that close to the blade.
• Limited by cuts about 30 cm wide, so no work (for example, plywood sheets are out of the question).
• The machine is stationary, so the wood must be fed to the saw. You cannot take her with you. It also takes up space in your workshop.

Circular saws pros and cons:

• Can handle longer cuts on large pieces of wood
• Smaller and more convenient to pack making it versatile
• Less expensive
• Miter cuts are more difficult with a circular saw
• Bad reputation for leaving splinters around the edges, although a fine-toothed blade can minimize this

How to choose the right circular saw?

A good circular saw is a key element in almost every professional’s toolbox, thanks to its ability to make fast, accurate cuts in a wide variety of materials. But they have different functions and also vary greatly, which is why we have compiled this circular saw blade selection guide.

When it comes to choosing a good circular saw for you, it’s important to keep in mind the type of job you are going to use it for, as well as how often you are going to use it. The best cheap circular saws tend to have fewer features that would be useful for long or difficult jobs. But they are more than enough to carry out a number of simple household chores.

But if you expect to work with hard materials or your circular saw will be used regularly, then using one of the best circular saws with more power and durability will be much more beneficial in the long run.

The best circular saw manufacturers. which company to choose

European and Asian companies have been competing for a long time, fighting for a leadership position in the construction tool market, while improving product quality and expanding its functionality.

Top circular saw manufacturers:

Plunge-cut circular saw

The plunge-cut saw was developed to solve a problem that arises when cutting a workpiece with a circular saw: insufficient sawing accuracy. Positioning the saw blade with absolute precision is not possible, since there is no way to control the position of the blade relative to the workpiece.

The plunge-cut saw is devoid of these drawbacks, it has a slightly different principle of operation. In non-working position, the disc is completely hidden under the protective cover and located above the base plate. The cutting blade is lowered only when the tool is switched on.

The plunge saw can be used to make local repairs to floorboards or to cut a desired opening in the worktop. Cutting precision is adjustable to the millimeter. Sawing capacity at 90 °, depending on the model, ranges from 10 to 75 mm.

When working with laminated material, the top layer is cut to an incomplete depth of the workpiece, excluding the appearance of chips.

Benefits:

• High precision of workpieces processing;
• Multifunctionality;
• The ability to perform cross and longitudinal cuts.

Disadvantages:

• High price compared to conventional models;
• Difficulties in cutting parts of small width. their minimum size is limited by the dimensions of the support part of the tool.

Circular saw selection parameters

Table circular saw

When using a stationary saw, the tool stands in place during operation; to perform a cut, the workpiece is moved in the area of ​​the rotating disc. Whereas when using a hand-held circular saw, the workpiece is stationary.

The cutting depth of the table saw varies between 40-70 mm. The tool does an excellent job of cutting material at various angles in both the longitudinal and transverse directions.

Benefits:

• Mobility, light weight;
• Ability to work with workpieces with a width of more than 60 cm.

Selecting the Circular Saw that’s Right for You

Disadvantages:

• Significant vibration reduces the quality of the cut;
• Length and width of workpieces are limited.

How to choose a circular saw for home and garden

A circular saw is a hand-held tool for sawing workpieces from a wide range of materials: wood, plastic and even metal. The tool is indispensable on the personal plot, where the construction of a country house is underway. In the apartment, a saw will be needed during the renovation: it can be used to cut plywood, laminate, door fittings, plastic panels.

Working at an angle

Most of the offered models are capable of cutting not only in a straight line, but also at an angle of 45 °. Manufacturers have mastered the production of models with the ability to cut at an angle and 60 °.

It is important to pay attention to the characteristic “maximum cutting depth at an angle of 90 °”, this is the depth of the disc insertion into the workpiece when the saw moves perpendicular to its surface. To work with workpieces up to 40 mm thick, choose a saw with the same cutting depth at a right angle, that is, 40 mm.

Power

The thickness and density of the processed parts depends on the power of the tool. When working with wood, it must be borne in mind that the density of the wood depends on its species. A more powerful tool will deal with tighter wood faster.

It should be noted that the power of the saw is directly proportional to its weight. Working for a long time with a heavy tool is uncomfortable.

After analyzing the expected scope of work, select the saw power, which can be:

• Small. up to 0.8 kW;
• Medium. from 0.8 to 1.2 kW;
• Large. more than 1.2 kW.

An important parameter especially for a circular saw, which is suspended during operation. It is preferable to choose a lightweight version.

Circular saws depending on the design

The mobility of the device and the size of the processed parts depend on the design:

Stationary. Such a saw is suitable for performing a large amount of repetitive work, for example, in a production plant where a large amount of sawn timber is constantly being processed. Such a tool is installed on a separate frame, has the appropriate dimensions and requires a separate place for installation, and in some cases even a room.

Desktop. A smaller version of a stationary circular saw. also installed on a stationary base but of a much smaller size. Suitable for large volumes of household work. for example, when building a house, bathhouse or similar structure.

Manual. A mobile device that can handle a part in multiple planes. It is used to work with different materials: wood, plastic, soft metals, etc. Of all types it has the smallest power and requires periodic rest, but it is mainly used for such types of work where it is not critical.

Observation area

Depends on the design features of each tool, so before buying it is better to evaluate it with your own eyes.

Slip clutch

When the saw blade stops abruptly, none of the existing braking systems is able to instantly stop the engine so that its inertia does not create a kickback that pulls the saw out of the operator’s hands. To protect against such accidents, a slip clutch is used, which, instead of trying to stop the engine, simply breaks the contact between it and the saw blade. The latter remains in the material, while the engine continues to rotate by itself. However, the operator will immediately turn it off, because when the slip clutch is triggered, a short-term “howling” of the motor will occur due to a sharp increase in speed from a decrease in load.

Varieties and selection of the required type of circular saw

To choose the type of circular saw suitable for the planned work, you need to imagine their existing varieties.

Left-handed right-handed

About 10% of people on Earth are left-handed and manufacturers must take this into account when releasing mirror models of instruments.

Handle shape and location

If the rear handle is more or less standard, then there are at least three types of the front handle: straight, mushroom and staple. The first is more suitable when working with a saw “away from you”, the second is more convenient to guide the saw from the side, and the third is universal, but larger than a mushroom.

Straight.

Mushroom.

Staple.

Device, principle of operation and application of the circular saw

At first glance, the device of a circular saw is as simple as possible. a powerful motor, on the shaft of which a cutting metal disc is put on. In the case of stationary tools, the engine can be located separately and transmit force to the working shaft by a belt through a system of pulleys, but hand tools, which are the vast majority of household tools, are made in one housing.

The complexity of the device is added by the need to use high-quality materials, strict adherence to the centering of parts, plus withstanding serious safety measures. The saw blade rotates at high speeds, so neglecting any of the above points will, at best, lead to tool breakage.

As a result, an impressive number of mechanical-electronic protective and blocking devices are added to the engine and the cut-off wheel, the purpose of which is to instantly stop and de-energize the tool if something goes wrong.

The principle of operation of a circular saw is clear from its design. a rotating disc with teeth cuts the board along which the tool itself is pulled. In the case of a stationary saw, everything happens the other way around. the board is pulled through a circle fixed on the bed and divided into two parts.

There is one important note to the use of a circular saw. it is not suitable for curly cutting and is designed to saw boards and other materials only in a straight line. There are models with an additional graduation of the leading sole, which allows you to set the disc not strictly perpendicular to the surface being cut, but at a certain angle, but the saw is also carried out strictly in a straight line.

Upper main protective cover.
2. Power button.
3. Power-on lock button.
4. Button for switching on the laser switch.

Support handle.
6. Body with motor.
7. Laser pointer.
8. Adjusting the cutting angle.

Saw blade.
10. Bottom loaded casing.
11. Support sole.