Starting from nothing, what is your priority list for saws?

[ETAF]

perhaps my name was wrong, but called it a panel saw from my father carpenter since i was 10 ish (50+ years)
BUT called Panel Saw by Stanley
https://www.stanleytools.com/produc...tools/saws/15-in-tradecut-panel-saw/stht20348

As you are already into the Dewalt system - then a simple choice really
look at the Jigsaw choice of 3 i think - BUT be careful XR is often confused with Brushless & its NOT , just means Extra Runtime
I have the NON brushless jigsaw, DCS331N i thought was brushless - BUT the
DCS334N-XJ is Brushless
My son-in-law has this jigsaw DCS335N-XJ its brilliant

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...rushless-cordless-body-grip-jigsaw-bare/211hg

Circular saw DCS391
I have this one
https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcs391-165mm-18v-li-ion-xr-cordless-circular-saw-bare/23296
- and works well on 3AH batts , but now have a 5AH

I now have a Freud 40T blade in the circular saw and with a guide clamped to some material cut some spaces for behind a shelf / brackets and saw cut was very fine
I used the freud on my sliding mitre saw originally to cut a load of flooring and it was brilliant, so invested in the circular saw size as well
40T is quite a fine cut , used 60T & 80T on the mitre saw - but as thats 250mm dia then similar to the 165mm dia 40T

I also have the multitool, but not used as much as the jigsaw/circular saw yet
One of the best tools, was the planer, brilliant cordless tool

I purchased the cordless grinder DCG405FN and that may have been a bad idea, as the batteries do not last long
3AH cut 8 rusty 10mm bolts before flat

 

[Deleted member 174758]

use the one I bodged together, have been doing so for 20 years, no accidents to report

That's the old "I've done this for many years without having had an accident so I must be doing things safely" argument. And that attitude from someone who purports to have been engaged in the forestry trades for four decades is appallingly cavalier. Yes, I too am in the trades (joiner, with more than a few decades saw usage under my belt), but the difference is I wouldn't recommend dangerous techniques to DIYers who are potentially very ill equipped (in terms of experience) to differentiate between good advice and bad

I agree that over dependence on safety gizmos is bad, but features such as emergency stop buttons, riving knives, crown guards and properly designed rip fences (all present on a factory made table saw) are not "gizmos" - they are mandatory features on a manufactured saw, and for very good reasons.

Please, if you are going to suggest something potentially dangerous at the very least you should point out the pitfalls and potential dangers to the user

 

[Deleted member 174758]

perhaps my name was wrong, but called it a panel saw from my father...

To my mind 15 to 18in is really a toolbox saw. We were taught that a panel saw was 20 to 24in long with medium cross cut teeth (say 8 to 10 pt) whilst a standard crosscut saw was 24 to 28in long with 5 to 7 pt. There were also rip and half rip saws, which are real rarities these days (virtually nobody makes them any longer as power rip saws have replaced them). I suppose the modern versions might be what Spear & Jackson call first and second fix saws which are coarse and fine tooth respectively (Bahco do something similar)

I think I'd have to say that for home maintenance I'd probably go for a couple of hand saws first (a first and second fix saw), then a medium size power rip saw (184 to 190mm blade) - which can double as a sheet material saw with the addition of a home made cutting guide and an appropriate blade - and possibly either a multitool or a jigsaw after that. A power mitre saw is nice to have, but you can do quite a bit with an inexpensive hand saw (better, a tenon.saw) and a mitre box

 

[Burnerman]

For sure, developing the skill to use hand saws accurately has to be a priority, does it not?
Twice in the last 6 years I have employed ‘joiners’ to do some work for me and I was so disappointed.....
Jig saw in one hand, powered plane in the other.....neither had ever used glasspaper
Took me ages to sort the snagging but maybe I was just unlucky.
John

 

[EddieM]

For sure, developing the skill to use hand saws accurately has to be a priority, does it not?
Twice in the last 6 years I have employed ‘joiners’ to do some work for me and I was so disappointed.....
Jig saw in one hand, powered plane in the other.....neither had ever used glasspaper
Took me ages to sort the snagging but maybe I was just unlucky.
John

Conversely many years ago, when I was young I watched our elderly time served joiner build his garden shed from scratch, he built it in the same style as his house, which had a Dutch barn style roof. I remember even at that tender age how skilled the old fella was, thinking back I really should have asked if he could have taught me some of his tips and tricks.

 

[Munroast]

That's the old "I've done this for many years without having had an accident so I must be doing things safely" argument. And that attitude from someone who purports to have been engaged in the forestry trades for four decades is appallingly cavalier. Yes, I too am in the trades (joiner, with more than a few decades saw usage under my belt), but the difference is I wouldn't recommend dangerous techniques to DIYers who are potentially very ill equipped (in terms of experience) to differentiate between good advice and bad

I agree that over dependence on safety gizmos is bad, but features such as emergency stop buttons, riving knives, crown guards and properly designed rip fences (all present on a factory made table saw) are not "gizmos" - they are mandatory features on a manufactured saw, and for very good reasons.

Please, if you are going to suggest something potentially dangerous at the very least you should point out the pitfalls and potential dangers to the user

then in your following post you go on to make suggestions on a range of potentially dangerous tools and you don't point out the pitfalls and potential dangers ......

 

[Deleted member 174758]

There's a considerable difference in user safety between modifying a power rip saw so that it has no guard, potentially no riving knife and is in a position where the on off switch is inaccessible to the user and using a rip saw in the way the manufacturer recommends in the safety leaflet which accompanies the product, and well you know it

 

[bobasd]

Like others on here, I've spent my working life in the trades and have never used, or heard anyone else use, the name panel saw for a hand saw.
Panel saw has always meant the large, wonderful moving table saw - the saw we all wanted for our dream workshops when we were sitting around gabbing at break time.
But I live and learn.

 

[bobasd]

J&B,
the username you are responding to is a part time troll, and rest of the time defender of the dangerously nonsensical.
Can you imagine anything more idiotic than him boasting on a public forum that he is are a proud idiot of twenty years idiotic standing.
Maybe a comparison is "I've been darting across this motorway for a solid 20years and not got a scratch - starting this summer were going to do it as a family".

Please, anyone new to woodworking dont heed this dangerous foolishness, take it from experienced people with all their useful fingers - you certainly cannot adapt circular saws into makeshift table saws.

 

[JohnD]

Like others on here, I've spent my working life in the trades and have never used, or heard anyone else use, the name panel saw for a hand saw.

I have.

 

[Burnerman]

My requirements for handsaws, 1972......let training commence!
Rip saw
Cross cut saw
Panel saw
Tenon (or other back saw)
Dovetail saw
John

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You missed out the taper saw files, topping cramp and mill file, saw clamp (or saw vice) and of course a pair of saw setting pliers....., BTW did you reprofile the teeth on your do dovetail saw to a rip pattern, John? Makes it easier to use.

 

[Diver Fred]

Hand Saw - First purchase is a Spear & Jackson 2nd Fix (the Green cover)
Power Saw - buy a Track Saw - you can do so much by thoughtful placement of the track on the timber you wish to cut. Research 'Track Saw' on the web, but Peter Millard is very helpful and he has link to a one-handed carpenter. With a home made jig (or a Speed Square) you can replace the need for a mitre saw.
Then for hand saw - a Backsaw.

I do not think a Jig saw is of value until you have other tools. Whilst you can make many cuts with jig saw until you are practised to the tool it is very difficult to make accurate straight cuts with one. I probably use mine once a decade!

 

[Burnerman]

You missed out the taper saw files, topping cramp and mill file, saw clamp (or saw vice) and of course a pIr of saw setting pliers....., BTW did you reprofile the teeth on your do dovetail saw to a rip pattern, John? Makes it easier to use.

Aha the joys of training to be a metalwork / woodwork teecha!
We didn’t have access to a circular saw so had to rip solid baulks into planks.....reminiscent of the old saw pit
Our tutors hated plywood and the panel saw was to cut veneered solid, which we produced ourselves courtesy of scotch glue and a vacuum bag
Sharpening was courtesy of warding files and a pair of saw set pliers, I recall.
Maybe this training belonged in the Ark but when we left four years later we sure could use tools, and happily still can to a large degree although a little rusty, naturally enough.
We were’nt allowed orbital sanders, just a burred edge hand scraper followed by traditional glass paper and one sash cramp allowed when edge joining planks.....which meant hollow planing.
Mind, we were ‘appy - we were told
John

 

[foxhole]

Jack saw , circular saw, jigsaw, table saw, sliding mitre chop saw .