With the circular saw, you will have a sawing machine that has a jagged circular blade. It can be hand held or mounted on a table and it can run off of a batter, a small fuel engine or electricity, which is more common.
Circular saws are often preferred because they can make a variety of cuts (straight, angular, cross and circular) and are easy to handle by virtue of their structural design. The basic design for a circular saw is housing for the motor, a handle for maneuvering the saw and a trigger switch which is used to operate the saw.
The main difference in circular saws can be brought down to the types of blades they use and the torque. It should be noted though that blade type and torque are co-dependent, with the determining factor being the desired function of the sawing machine.
The blades within the circular saws are either mounted to the drive shaft or the mounted motor can drive them. The sawing machine blades will also vary in terms on the use you intend.
Small blades are typically used to re-saw wood where they tear through the grain while, Tungsten Carbide Tipped saws and High Speed Steel saws are used to cut through timber. To cut through metal though, large diameter blades with slow rotational speeds are used (it increases torque).
When looking at torque, you need to know that this is the rotational force that is exerted by the blade of the circular saw. There are double gear drive sawing machines out there that will have high speeds but will have the low torque which will cut great through thin material. Worm gear saws are saws that can quickly change their motion in right angles. The cold saws will have a slow rotations speed but a high torque which is great for cutting thick material.
Generally, when you are using a circular saw, you will need to have the material clamped down with a clamp or a vice. Your material should always be measured and marked in order to be properly cut. On the saw there should be a foot plate. This will allow you to properly line up the sawing machine with the markings you placed on the material.
Before you start, the saw blade should be held about an inch above the material to be cut and the trigger switch inside the handle should be pressed down as the saw is guided along the cutting path. NOTE: Before putting the blade down or moving it or adjusting it once you have finished, make sure the blade has stopped rotating. To make angled cuts the bevel adjustment on a saw can be changed to suit the degree that you wish to cut.
Of course, the work table circular saw is an exception as you will move the material slowly towards the saw instead of moving the saw through the material.
Luis Torres is Owner of CML Machine Tools, a Circular Saw Supplier located in Boksburg, South Africa. For more information on circular saw technology, visit Intelligent Circular Saws. This article, The Circular Saw And It’s Many Options is available for free reprint.