What is a circular saw used for? It is a common question asked by beginners. A circular saw is a portable tool which is used in DIY jobs.
What is a circular saw used for? It is also used to cut large pieces of wood, metals, plastic, concrete and other materials like bricks and tiles.
A circular saw also cuts through metals accurately and quickly. It is cordless or with the cord; however, corded tools are more powerful than the cordless variety.
Many people are still unaware of it, and they usually ask what a circular saw used for? Circular saws are lightweight and portable that makes them an ultimate convenient power tool.
With the right blade, a circular saw can be used to cut framing lumber, roofing, sheet goods, masonry, and more.
A circular saw can make curvilinear and straight cuts. Using a circular saw, you can save much time at a workshop or on a construction site.
Circular saw blades are specially designed for specific material they are intended to cut, and in cutting wood, they are specifically designed to make rip-cuts, crosscuts, or both.
It is commonly powered by electricity, and it can also be powered by a gasoline engine or a hydraulic motor, which allows it to be fastened to heavy equipment, eliminating the need for a separate energy source.
A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor.
What is a circular saw used for? Circular saws may also be loosely used for the blade itself.
Using a circular saw is a really easy solution for all the tasks which require saw materials.
What Is A Circular Saw? Complete Guide
The circular saw is the commonly used saw which is used both professionally and in DIY home improvement.
The blade in a circular saw spins around to provide a clean cut to the material and can either mount to a table or can be used in the right-handed or left-handed handheld equipment.
Various blades are used to cut different types of materials.
It uses a round metal blade edged with sharp teeth to cut various materials such as metals, woods, brick, cement block, fiberglass, slate and plastics.
A circular saw is an electric saw having a handle with on/off trigger switch, an arbor nut to hold the blade in place, and guards to protect the operator from touching the spinning blade.
A circular saw is the finest option for rip cutting. It comes in various sizes, but the average is 7 ¼ inches.
Majority of the circular saws are powered by electricity, but there are some versions which use gasoline and hydraulic power as well.
Types Of Circular Saws
There are different types of circular saws. Every type has different characteristics to achieve different woodcutting tasks. They are as follows:
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Worm Drive Circular Saw
The motor is mounted on the back of this saw. The blade is longer and thinner than other saws; it is also ideal for cutting plunges on a wide board.
The saws cutting power is transferred to the blade by two gears positioned at 90-degree angles. It is the first choice among professionals.
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Sidewinder Circular Saw
It is the most popular circular saw. The motor is mounted on the right side of the saw.
It is lightweight, professional and portable. The blade rotates about 5500-6000 RPM to cut the wood as well as other materials.
They are available as cordless models; they are most ideal regarding weight, speed, maintenance and convenience.
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Hypoid Circular Saw
Its motor is mounted at the rear end, and they produce more torque through the blade. Hypoid saws have different transmissions and gearboxes.
They are heavier, and better for cutting long wood pieces, and are helpful when the wood is wet or damp.
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Cold Circular Saw
These saws are used for cutting metals and similar materials.
It has a large diameter of the blade as well as linear feed slow rotation is behind its delicate operation and pinpoint precision.
These blades have fewer teeth, and they give you many rough cuts, but they cut through the material quicker.
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Compact and Mini Circular Saw
They are compact and smaller sized saws. Ideal for carpentry and light-duty woodcutting projects.
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Abrasive Circular Saw
They are used for professionals to cut hard metals. The friction disc blade does all the cutting on metal pieces instead of a traditional toothed blade.
The edges are made of carbon nitride or diamond for the convenience.
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Concrete Circular Saw
The name explains it well, as this type of saw is used for cutting solid materials such as asphalt, brick, concrete, stone, etc.
A diamond saw blade is attached, which does all the cutting through solid and hard materials.
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Cordwood Circular Saw
These saws are used in sawmills that are used to cut thick slabs or logs, large timber, etc.
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Circular Saw Blades
Several saw blade types correspond to what they are made to cut, and they are as follows:
Common Wood Blades
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Ripping Saw Blades
These blades are made to get a clean, smooth and safe cut when ripping wood or cutting in the same direction along the wood grain.
They have large and straight teeth, which allows the dust from the cut to remove easily.
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Combination Saw Blades
These blades are designed to cut both crosscuts and rips. A combination blade cuts in both the directions, and has a variety of tooth counts.
These blades are great for circular saws that lack power; the higher the number of teeth, the smooth the cut will be.
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Crosscut Saw Blades
These blades achieve a clean, smooth and safe cut when cutting perpendicular to the wood.
Crosscut blades are mostly carbide tipped and will require to change frequently.
Other Blades
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Masonry
It is used for cutting through hard materials such as natural stone or concrete.
Masonry blades are made of fiberglass-reinforced silicon carbide abrasive, which is the same material which is found in sandpaper.
There are two types of masonry blades i) for soft materials like brick, limestone and ii) for harder materials like marble, granite, and all types of glazed ceramic tile.
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Metal cutting blades
They are toothless blades and often have heat expansion slots cut into the blade that is designed to disperse the heat created when cutting metal, they can be used to cut through aluminum flashing, copper tubing, aluminum sliding, and other types of metals which includes bronze, brass and light-gauge steel sheets.
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High-speed steel
These are harder than steel blades and also stay sharper for a long period.
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Carbide- Tipped (TCT Blades)
These blades are made with calcium, boron, silicon or metals like tantalum, cobalt, titanium or tungsten.
This makes them hard and are great for cutting through aluminum, Plywood, melamine and plastic.
These blades can cut through acrylic as well.
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Tile – Cutters
They are specially designed for cutting ceramic tiles. Higher-end tile-cutting blades have diamond tips.
Important Features Of Circular Saw
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Power
Corded saws use AMPs, while Cordless saws use volts. Higher volts and AMPs equals more cutting power.
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Brakes
Whenever the trigger is released, the electric brakes are used to reverse the saw’s motor’s electricity flow.
The blade is stopped faster with the reverse current; these blades usually stop the blade in less than two seconds.
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Blade Capacity
It indicates the maximum depth of cut, so with the larger blade the cut is deeper. The most common diameter is 7-1/4 inches.
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Blade replacement
Shaft locks and spindle allows you to change the blade much easier; the shaft lock immobilizes the shaft and blade.
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Bevel Capacity and Laser guidance
Bevel capacity indicates the maximum bevel angle the saw is capable of making. Laser guidance can offer precision cutting showing you the exact path ahead of the blade.
What Is A Circular Saw Used for
It is essential to understand that a circular saw is a power tool that uses a toothed blade or disc to cut through different materials.
It uses a rotary motion for its spin and cutting. The use of circular saw is not limited to woodworking only but it is also used to accomplish a wide variety of works.
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Straight cuts
You can make any type of straight cut using a circular saw, like rip cuts, crosscuts, miter cuts, and bevel cuts.
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Cutting Down Long Plywood
This is the same as making a straight cut but it is across a long length. You will need a straight edge guide for this and then set the blade depth to exceed the Plywood’s thickness.
Using an extruded foam or small blocks such as 2×2 from the floor, you can also support the Plywood.
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Cutting Logs into Firewood
A circular saw is also used to cut logs into firewood, in case you don’t have a chainsaw.
You can also use a worm drive saw which produces enough torque to push the blade through the hard layers, if the log is from a hardwood tree.
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Cut Large-Sized Timber
It is similar to Plywood; you have to support the stock and set the blade depth.
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Cutting down Metal
Cutting through metal is more in demand than cutting wood. So, a worm drive saw is recommended and it should be attached with a metal cutting blade.
However, the metal sheet should not exceed 3/8″ in thickness.