- In today's video, we're gonna look at
three helpful questions
to make buying a circular saw easier,
and then we're gonna look at three must-have accessories
for that new saw.
Question number one, do you need a blade-right,
or a blade-left saw?
Now, this question doesn't really come up often on YouTube,
but it makes a huge difference,
or it can make a huge difference for the user.
So, let's start off by looking at
a blade-right saw like this one here.
But before we do that,
I do want to mention that I am right-handed
so all the information that
I'm gonna be presenting today is
from a right-handed perspective.
However, if you're left-handed,
all you have to do is flip what I'm saying
to make it right for you.
For starters, when it comes to right-handed users
with a right-blade saw, it can be kind of hard or awkward
to see your cut line because the blade is away from you.
So, you either have to look through this small opening here,
or you have to look over your right shoulder,
which can be awkward.
But the nice thing about a right-blade saw
with a right-handed user is that the sawdust is
actually going away from you.
Unlike if you had a left-blade saw, like this one,
where the sawdust would be coming right at me.
Blade-right saws, like this one here,
for the right-handed user are generally more comfortable
to use two-handed because
your hands are right next to each other.
It's also a little bit better
when you operate the blade guard
as my left hand reaches over to raise the blade guard,
it is safely over the motor
and not anywhere close to the blade.
Unlike, if I was to use a blade-left,
once I reach in to start to operate the blade guard,
my hand would almost feel like it's going into the blade,
which can be quite uncomfortable for some people.
Another thing to consider here is,
where is the weight of the saw?
Is is on the waste-side or is it on the keeper-side?
For example, with a blade-right saw,
cutting a two by four to length would mean that
the saw is now over the keeper piece,
or the piece that you're keeping,
which makes the cut more stable
because the weight of the saw is being supported,
even after the cut.
However, if you're cutting a small strip
off a wide piece of plywood and you can't reach over it,
you'll have to change directions
which means that the main weight of the saw is now
over the waste piece, making for a less stable cut,
because you're cutting off the piece
that is supporting the saw.
So, just know, in general,
if you have a hard time holding up the weight of the saw
and/or you're just interested in making the most stable cut,
always keep the main weight of the saw
on the piece you're keeping.
Moving on, when it comes to right-handed users
with a blade-left saw,
your cut line is completely unobstructed,
you have no problems seeing your cut line
and you don't have to look over your right shoulder.
However, when it comes to two-handed operations,
it can be somewhat uncomfortable
because your left hand is almost crossing over your right.
And, of course, the sawdust is gonna be coming right at you.
And, like I did mention briefly already,
when you go to operate the blade guard,
your left hand can be somewhat uncomfortable
being that close to the blade.
However, if you were cutting that
same small strip of plywood,
the weight of the saw is now supported better
because it's not on the waste-side of the cut.
This topic of blade-right versus blade-left is
highly debatable, but ultimately,
it comes down to what saw you feel most comfortable with,
whether you're right-handed or left-handed.
Question number two,
do you need a battery operated or a corded saw?
Well, in order to help you answer that question,
you need to first think about
how much you're gonna be using the saw
and for what purpose.
For example, are you more of a DIY hobbyist,
who might only be using a saw for the weekends
and on small projects?
Or, are you someone who is gonna be using the saw
on the daily basis?
Are you looking for the saw to work really hard for you,
like with a lot of demolition and house framing?
Or, is the saw gonna be used for lightweight projects mostly
and maybe a little bit of heavy use now and again?
In general, if you're using the saw
on a daily basis and for heavy use,
a corded version might be the best option for you.
And then, if you're looking for anything less than that,
maybe a battery operated one might be best for you.
Again, this isn't a hard rule, but as you can see,
it helps to think through these
to figure out what saw is gonna be best for you.
Another thing to think through is a pros and cons list
for each saw.
The corded saw, for example, is always ready to use.
They have lots of constant power, meaning it never slows
or gets tired after a long day of use.
They are more powerful and can be cheaper to maintain
over their lifetime compared to a battery operated version.
The cons are, of course, that you need constant power
plus the corded saws themselves can be heavier,
which can be a deal-breaker for some of you.
Battery operated saws, on the other hand, are great
because they're not restricted by the cord.
It's safer because you don't have to worry about
the cord getting caught on something,
or accidentally cutting it by mistake.
They're great for locations that may not have power,
or where getting power to the saw
might be just too much work.
Cordless saws are generally lighter,
which makes them much easier to handle.
The biggest con for battery operated saws is
the batteries themselves.
You have to keep them charged, which means at some point,
you'll either have to have multiple batteries
to get you through the day or be around a power source.
In addition to that, batteries do need to be replaced,
which nowadays is expensive.
So, the maintenance on these saws is
more than their corded versions.
As you can see, it's helpful to think through
some of these pros and cons before you make a decision,
but regardless of what you do, either way you go,
I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Question number three, what style or size saw do you need?
There are two main styles of saws.
A worm drive saw and a direct drive,
or sometimes called a sidewinder.
The worm drive saw hit the market
somewhere around the mid 1920s.
It was made by SkilSaw.
As you can see, the motor and the handle are all central
making the saw more balanced from left to right.
It's smaller in width, but overall longer,
so that you're able to reach out further,
making cuts more easily when you're trying to cross cut
or rip full sheets of plywood, for example.
Worm drive saws have a special spiral gear,
or worm gear, that transfers the motor's power 90 degrees
making it possible to have
the motor shaft pointing in one direction
and the blade pointing in another.
The other thing the worm gear does is
it actually increases the overall torque of the saw,
making it feel much more powerful.
So, for example, this is a 15 amp motor,
and this is a 13 amp motor, but this saw,
because of the gearing,
feels much more powerful than this all here.
Very soon after the worm drive saw was invented,
another company came along and
started working on another saw
and they called this the sidewinder.
The sidewinder doesn't utilize a worm drive
like this saw does, but a direct drive,
meaning that there's a shaft that comes
right out of the motor and attaches to the blade itself.
These saws generally run at a higher RPM and lower torque,
where these are at lower RPM, but higher torque.
These come generally blade-right,
where these come blade-left.
And the other thing to note is that
because the motor is offset,
this saw generally feels off balance.
And like we already talked about,
this really comes into play
when you have the weight of the motor on the waste-side
as it wants to fall or drop as you make the cut.
For the majority of people,
a worm drive saw is just too much of a saw.
But for those in the trades, who work on the daily basis,
this saw could be a good option.
So, now that you know the two different styles of saws,
let's talk quickly about the size of the saws.
Circular saws are sized by the diameter of the blade.
And the blade sizes can range anywhere
from four and a half inches, or 114 millimeters,
to over 16 inches, or 406 millimeters.
I wouldn't recommend going smaller than a six and a half,
or 165 millimeters, because the saw's cut
can cut to a depth of around two and a quarter,
or 57 millimeters, at 90 degrees,
and about an inch and three quarters,
or 44.5 millimeters, at 45 degrees.
And I recommend not going smaller than this
because if you do,
you'll be unable to make a 45 degree bevel
through any framing material,
like a two by four, for example.
So, the most common size
and the one that works for the majority of people is
this seven and a quarter, or 185 millimeter saw,
which cuts at a depth of two and a half inches,
63.5 millimeters, at 90 degrees
and an inch and three quarters at 45 degrees.
Choosing the right size saw is relatively easy
because once you know the thickness of the material
that you need to cut through,
that dimension will dictate the size of the saw
that you need to buy.
Now that you know all the details
behind the three questions, at this point,
you should be able to think through what you need,
what you want, maybe what you desire to have in a saw
and choose what's perfect for you.
Now, before we end for the day,
I do wanna quickly talk about
three accessories for your new saw.
The first accessory,
and the one that may seem too obvious is
to get a good quality blade.
One would assume, and myself included,
that each new saw would come with a great blade.
Some do, and some don't.
If you're looking for a clean cut,
you will have to upgrade to a higher quality blade,
like a Diablo, for example.
This is a finished blade, meaning it has more teeth
than a standard framing blade,
which means it is gonna cut much cleaner.
There are a lot of good quality blades out there
so I don't want you to think Diablo is
the only one out there for you.
The next accessory, which I recommend getting is
a good straight edge clamp.
A straight edge clamp allows you to cross cut
and rip large pieces of material with your saw.
What I have here is a 50 inch clamp from Trend Tools.
And I like this one because it has T-tracks built into it,
which means that I can attach other accessories to it.
All you have to do is clamp it down
and ride your saw along the edge
to get a perfect straight cut.
There are plenty to choose from,
but this straight edge is by far
my number one most used accessory in the shop.
And what's also nice about this is that
it can also be used with a router and a jig saw.
The next accessory,
which I recommend getting is a good rip fence like this one.
Because the straight edge clamp is limited to 50 inches,
there may be times
when you're gonna need to rip longer cuts.
Therefore something like this,
Kreg Rip-Cut jig works great.
It allows you to mount the saw on a sled
and then you can make long rip cuts with it.
If you don't have a table saw,
this is a must-have accessory.
This jig isn't perfect by all means, but for the money,
I think it does a pretty good job.
And since we're talking about rip cuts,
let me give you just one more accessory
and that is a squid jig.
This is a great little tool
that clamps onto the front of your saw
and allows you to make narrow long rip cuts
on plywood and framing lumber.
And like the straight edge clamp,
this is a multi-purpose tool as well,
this is fantastic for laying out stairs.
So, all of these accessories are great,
which one is best for you is totally up to you.
I know that some of you may be wondering
why I didn't tell you about the best specific brand to buy,
and I'm just not gonna do that.
In general, all of the name brand saws are great
and you really can't go wrong with any of them.
I also do know that there's
a lot of non-name brand saws out there,
for those, just look at the reviews
and if you can ask or talk to someone who owns one,
that would be ideal as well.
And, of course, if you're out shopping online
and you need my input, just send me a message
and I'll do what I can do.
Thank you so much for watching today's video.
I hope you all are doing extremely well.
God bless, see in the next video
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