How to Choose a Circular Saw

Steps:

Ask general contractor Tom Silva and host Kevin O’Connor discuss how to choose and use a circular saw.

• Tom praises the versatility of circular saws and shows off a variety of them.
• Tom also shows off a worm-drive circular saw. This saw offers good balance and more power. It also has the handle behind the blade for better control of the saw.
• Tom demonstrates the circular saw most commonly used, the sidewinder, electrical version.
• Tom admits while circular saws vary in quality, much of the experience boils down to the quality of the blade.
• Tom illustrates the difference between blades. Blades with a lot of smaller teeth are typically used for a finer cut. Less teeth, but larger blades are used for framing and give you a rougher cut.
• Diamond-tipped blades can be used to cut masonry.
• Tom says each circular saw comes with a knob that can adjust the height of the blade. That can determine how deep you would like your cut to go.
• Tom says there is also a knob that adjusts the angle of your cut up to 45 degrees.
• Tom illustrates the use of a 45-degree angled cut. Those pieces can come together to form a perfect 90-degree angled corner.