Circular Saw for DIY

Kemik

Kemik

Kemik

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Joined
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Widnes
Hi all,

Looking to do some basic wood working to build a coffee table, build a flower bed using decking boards and a few other things.

Screwfix seems to suggest this one is decent for less than £60: http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb286csw-190mm-circular-saw-230v/60525

Anyone have any suggestions for others? Where is the best place to put the saw during use? I have a cheap B&D work bench so was thinking of putting it between the two bits of wood.

Thanks

EDIT: I'm getting confused between a Mitre saw and a Circular saw. Any recommendations on which is the most flexible / best for a beginner?
 
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Ok, so from experience - having a circular saw upside down is rather dangerous (no finger-stop like a proper saw table), also there's no reference gauge to slide the piece against to get straight cuts.

What I have done in the past is use a straight piece of wood and clamp it to the main piece for cutting then run the saw along it - if you get it in one move you'll not have too much staggering etc.

The main issue is that circular saws are quite wide (their base) so for smaller tasks a jig saw works but the blades can flex. A band saw works far better for intricate pieces but without the blade flex..

I found Titan to be not particularly good from an accuracy point of view- erbaur is a step up and is good (I have a couple of things of that brand).

Next thing you will need to look at (and budget in) is proper cutting blades - 24T (tooth) will be a very coarse cut.. then 48T is finer result and then there's even more teeth.. but normally they comes with a cheap 24T..
 
Yeah don't use it upside down as a table saw lol. Main problem, even if you attach it to a solid table is that they have no riving knife, so if the fence isn't dead straight and the workpiece catches the back of the blade it'll be hurtling toward your face. Matthias wandel on Youtube is currently making a table saw with an old circular saw and some cheap ply, but he is one of these people that does dangerous stuff all the time and will one day have a nasty accident, so i wouldn't recommend it.

The saw you linked to will probably be fine for a bit of DIY. Evolution saws can be had fairly cheap on ebay for B and C grade. I think they would be a step up in quality from a Titan.


This is probably way out of your budget, but its a great budget table saw if you ever decide to get more into woodwork. Its compact, light and due to the rack and pinion fence it is very accurate. It's quite loud due to not using a heavy induction motor and doesnt have soft start, but other than that it has been a great saw.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEWALT-DW...238?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item541e258cde
 
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Oh no, I don't need a table saw. It would be used as a circular saw so sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I just wasn't sure where you put the device when using it as I've only ever used multi-purpose table saws in the past that flip upside down to display the circular saw.

NickK said:
The main issue is that circular saws are quite wide (their base) so for smaller tasks a jig saw works but the blades can flex. A band saw works far better for intricate pieces but without the blade flex
Click to expand...

Definitely found this with the jig saw I borrowed, hence I was looking for something a bit more meaty. It should still be useful for the smaller jobs but I think I need a finer blade too to be honest.

I should also have noted that I live in a pretty small house so storage is difficult. No space for a shed bigger than my lawn mower so this stuff is stored in the loft / cupboard until I need it.
 
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The circular saw has a depth setting so you can saw with the blade in the gap - but from experience of a jigsaw.. I lost reference point and ended up cutting a lengthways chunk out of the workmate :) I now made myself a large construction-timber workbench (~£40) that's heavy and with that it's side cutting, clamping to the bench (supporting over hang on the other side with a simple a-frame horse).
I've cut both flat and vertical ( the camps holding a guide so the circular saw runs horizontal) without a problem. It just is more faff setting up than a table saw.

I have a 1400W JCB thingie. It has enough oomph for dealing with floor panels and most stuff: http://www.diy.com/departments/jcb-1400w-circular-saw-cs1400/260525_BQ.prd it's 190mm blade. Currently £58..

I see the titan has a 16mm ID bore .. getting the right inner hole size makes it more flexible for getting different blades from different manufacturers - when I got the JCB, I noted that the rage series had a size that didn't seem to have any blades around.. may differ for you but check.
 
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Ahh, I'm getting confused between a mitre saw and a circular saw! Any recommendations on which is the most flexible / best for a beginner?
 
Circular saw - you can use any where, even on 22mm flooring (setting the depth), I've done cuts to make an octagon concrete former too, takes time to setup a straight guide and clamp down before cutting.
Maximum flexibility but at the cost of having to make a guide and clamp for each cut unless you're cutting my eye (which will result in wiggly cuts over the distance). If you're cutting sheet then a circular saw will do it, but a table circular saw is better. The benefit is that you can cut flooring in situ, etc without having to take to the table.
Cut depth, blade adjust and having a laser to guide is useful for doing long freehand cuts. You'll want a straight metal bar or trusty piece of straight hardwood that you can use as a guide. Add clamps to cost.

Mitre saw - it's across ways (±45deg and 90) makes more accurate straight cuts faster (without needing to set up guides as the blade is guided using a set of sliders. The down side is that the size (depth) and length of cut is depend on the mitre saw you bought. If you're doing decking, coving, skirting, wood frames etc then a mitre saw is faster and more accurate with a decent saw.
For the price of about £12 you can get a manual saw mitre box - works really well for outside work although not perfectly accurate or as fast!
Depth and width of cuts are important attributes. Laser is ok but you can setup then cut without needing one.

Careful though - some saws only allow a downward arc cut and not a sliding mitre cut. Check this carefully.

Saw table - thing that sits like a table with a circular blade sitting out of it. Long lovely straight cuts. Big size normally. Useful for just about anything.. including removing body appendages if it doesn't have blade retraction/stop protection (just watch out for nails that will set it off too - normally about £30-50 to replace the unit and add for replacement blade).

So it depends on your tasks. Just make sure you get one with a dust extractor port - attach a henry hoover (cheap but does a decent job) when you're doing a lot of cutting it makes it easier without lots of dust around.. If you're cutting pieces like I've described - get a mitre saw.. but they're big and bulky + you'll need a table to attach it. If you're sawing fence posts - a good manual saw will work with a mitre box if it doesn't fit..

I have a band saw that's pretty decent to cut 1-2 inches of pine etc but also allows curved cuts (changing the blade to a thinner blade). So between the circular, the band and the jigsaw I can do most stuff..
 
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I love my mitre saw.
But recently I have had some thicker wood and regret not spending the extra £30 or so quid on a sliding compound mitre saw. I am going to have to use a circular saw and pray I can line my cuts up correctly.

The difference being as said above the former cuts in a downward arc, the latter slides on a set of guides to allow deeper cuts, other than that they are pretty much the same tool.
 
Really depends what jobs you will be doing and what you will be cutting, circular saw is the most versatile even compared to a table saw unless you buy a monster panel type table saw, youd need a double garage to fit it in lol.

I agree about the evolution fury or rage as someone mentioned above, the mulipurpose blade is good, and nice and safe if cutting through any reclaimed timber as it cuts through nails like they arent even there

This is the one i use:-

http://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution...se-circular-saw-with-diamond-blade-230v/59618

This ones got lots of good reviews, is cheaper and uses the same blade:-

http://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-rage-1b-185mm-multipurpose-circular-saw-230v/84664
 
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I have the one in the first post, bought it to trim the bottom off some doors. Went through solid oak like a knife through butter, very impressed with it, could have done buying one years ago.

I made a guide for it to get a perfectly straight cut, just two bits of mdf screwed together, thin piece and wide piece on top of each other. Cut the guide once with the saw to get the straight edge on the wide piece. Then clamp the guide to your door or whatever and run the saw along the guide.

Edit: Actually, its actually the one posted directly above, not the first post, only 20 quid more.
 
Okay, slight oops moment. I bought a grade B of the Evolution you guys recommended only for it to arrive with a 110v plug. Is there a cheap adapter to convert it to a normal 230-240v plug? Otherwise it's going back :(
 
If you're only buying one tool then yeah just send it back. If you're going to get a few more then keep it and buy the transformer because 110V are safer :p
 
Hello Kemik, hope you're still around as I didn't want to open a new topic.
I'm looking to buy the Evolution grade B after reading a few reviews online, being recommended as cheap but good enough (https://bestsaw.uk/best-circular-saw/). So here I am, looking for a second opinion.

What do you think of it? I don't want anything fancy as I'll only use it for cutting some plywood, the Titan on screwfix costs approx. £10 more but the reviews weren't very helpful.
 
Sam-BM said:
Hello Kemik, hope you're still around as I didn't want to open a new topic.
I'm looking to buy the Evolution grade B after reading a few reviews online, being recommended as cheap but good enough (https://bestsaw.uk/best-circular-saw/). So here I am, looking for a second opinion.

What do you think of it? I don't want anything fancy as I'll only use it for cutting some plywood, the Titan on screwfix costs approx. £10 more but the reviews weren't very helpful.
Click to expand...

Works great. I probably would have got a table saw or similar though to be honest as I often needed to cut something perfectly straight, which was difficult when the wood disappears under the guide. Probably just takes some getting used to. Use your hoover to suck away the dust - gets everywhere!
 
Thanks Kemik, much appreciated.

@Solus Wickes's website isn't working right now, 'planned maintenance' apparently. I'll have a look tomorrow. I need to put my hands on one till the end of this week
 
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