recommend a circular saw if you please

VimFuego

I have a big carpentry/building job coming up and will need a robust circular saw, (I know this has been asked before, but seem to recall it being on the old place). Corded is fine, no idea of budget, will spend up to a reasonable amount for a good 'un but needs to be robust and have at least a 2" cut depth (preferably a bit more).

 

bertie

hand saw or table type mitre/compound mitre ?

having done some woody work like   making gates/fences/decking and pergola - I can say that having a "good" compound mitre  as a complete and utter godsend

The only thing I use my normal (skill)  saw for is ripping down timber widths........everything else I tend to use the mitre........

VimFuego

hmmm, I would be able to make use of a mitre saw, but would also need a hand held one the most. Not sure of the budget would stretch to both, and I can use a hand held to cut angles at a pinch.

 

EDIT: thing is, some of the timbers I'll be working on will be about 14 foot long, bit unwieldy to go on most mitre saws.

bertie

I (now) dont believe there is a need to spend oodles on reasonable 'home enthusiast' type tools - some of the 'cheaper' brands are perfectly good.  

My "hand" circular is a Skill -  I paid about £85 for it,  and its 15 years old -  my compound (sliding) mitre is a Ryobi I got from screwfix and has really stood up to some serious use - that was under £200,  probably 6 or so years ago

Jalapeno

Really ? Couple of trestles and job's a good 'un !

VimFuego

interesting, I shall check them out (and ask about a budget from the finance director).

bertie

Jalapeno said:

Really ? Couple of trestles and job's a good 'un !

I used my mitre on the floor with a couple of bricks for supporting  4m lengths of timber

ESBlonde

Whilst I heard what you asked for I'm going to ask a couple of ancillary questions. (I'm sure you know what you want but I'm not sure I do).

Does it need to be hand held (i.e. lots of sheet cutting).

Is depth really important?

Is accuracy and square ends (for buildings) important.

The reason I ask is because for one tool to do all those things makes it a big of a monster and maybe suffers in one or other degree.

Have you therefore considered

A reciprocating saw for hand held and depth/thickness.

A circular saw or sawbench for sheetwork.

A Chop saw for repetative and accurate cross cutting.

There are of course some circular saws available that 'clip' into a bracket to do Chop/mitre sawing and into another device to become a simple saw bench. Something like this might suit better for a one off build project.

Someone asked a similar question here.

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/28535

VimFuego

is this the kind of thing you mean?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Einhell-BT-SM-2131-Double-Bevel/dp/B005BSX0ZS/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1380553747&sr=8-7&keywords=mitre+saw

 

that's just the 1st one of that sort that came up on amazon, so not saying that's a good 'un.

calllvin

I just got one from Aldi for £30 which is fine but feels just a bit rattly and flimsy. Have a Makita Mitre saw that was about £150 and it is fantastic and gives a beautiful clean smooth cut; weighs a ton though. If you're going to be doing a lot then I would get something of the quality of the Makita.

Fergus

holnrew

Can you not get mitring attachments/templates for handheld ones?

ESBlonde

Heres a nice little thing that might appeal if you have accuracy and portability needs.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-hand-held-circular-saw-into-a-table-saw/

I'm sure I've seen other such ideas on that there interweb.

VimFuego

ESBlonde said:

Whilst I heard what you asked for I'm going to ask a couple of ancillary questions. (I'm sure you know what you want but I'm not sure I do).

Does it need to be hand held (i.e. lots of sheet cutting).

Is depth really important?

Is accuracy and square ends (for buildings) important.

The reason I ask is because for one tool to do all those things makes it a big of a monster and maybe suffers in one or other degree.

Have you therefore considered

A reciprocating saw for hand held and depth/thickness.

A circular saw or sawbench for sheetwork.

A Chop saw for repetative and accurate cross cutting.

There are of course some circular saws available that 'clip' into a bracket to do Chop/mitre sawing and into another device to become a simple saw bench. Something like this might suit better for a one off build project.

Someone asked a similar question here.

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/28535

I have a jig saw for sheet work, though I don't envisage there being much sheet work for this job. There will be a need to cut dead square, but I can (and am capable) of doing that with a hand saw). Probably the most use will be repetitive cutting, as well as angled cutting for the roof members and for cross braces.

TBH, I hadn't thought of putting the saw on the ground and working on it from there, will be hell on the knees and back, but would work.

VimFuego

ESBlonde said:

Heres a nice little thing that might appeal if you have accuracy and portability needs.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-hand-held-circular-saw-into-a-table-saw/

I'm sure I've seen other such ideas on that there interweb.

nice, duly book marked.

NervousJohn

Been doing the DIY thing quite a bit recently and an alternative for pricy tools is the local tool hire shop. Round here a Makita circular saw us around £20 a weekend, jigsaws are about £15 and a 1/2 inch router is about £30.

VimFuego

hmmm, good point. Not sure how long I'd need it for (I'll be doing most of the work outdoors, and it does tend to rain a fair bit here), but it's a good suggestion.

bertie

I had a "bought" jig table that "turns a hand held circular saw" into a mitre saw -  and TBH for any extensive piece of work - dont bother.

Reciprocating saws just arent accurate enough - the blades are too flimsy

it really is worth getting  a proper compound sliding mitre saw, like the one you found on Amazon is fine.

VimFuego

coolio. With the mitre saw, I probably won't need the hand held one, but I do have some big timbers left over from when I pulled down the old barn, and it'd be useful to be able to rip them down to manageable size. Mebbe for another time.

ESBlonde

If you are doing roof trusses or stud work and the like, you are best suited to a mitre saw. A decent old fashioned handsaw will probably do walking about cuts as and when. Beware with Jigsaws in thick sheets where the blade bends and leaves a not very square edge. A straight baton and a pair of G clamps are your friend here.

It's usually worth making Jigs/templates/tressells etc. beforehand if you can to speed up production. It seems a faff but once set it all goes much faster and more accurate.

VimFuego

yup, I plan on building it in modules, so hopefully each bundle will be identical, so jigs etc. will be useful.

bertie

one of the really good thing about a comp mitre - is you can shave mm at a time if something doesnt quite fit......... (assuming said piece is able to easily be returned to the saw of course !!!  )