Circular saw advice

[Traveller]

Hi Thermo.

No, I don't think he lied to me; on one occasion when I asked him to do a job for me, he left me his tool to do it myself as he didn't have time, which I carried out and then returned it to him.

The other guy owns his own factory and makes kitchens for aliving. The saw he did it on was the HUGE table saw at his factory, so he IS a professional, but as I said, he was in a hurry, and I suppose he doesn't really have to worry about satisfying a customer if he is doing it for free as a favour and in a rush. Probably would be different if I was a paying customer.

 

[Traveller]

Hi All.

Well in the end I decided to go for the most sensible option for my situation, and that was to get a cheap saw temporarily to get the current work done quickly and then look into a better/more advanced one in future when I have more work to do and am more experienced. No doubt I'll be back to bug everyone again then!

Conveniently enough, just at the right time, Argos made the decision for me by dropping the price of their cheapest saw further to £12.99! Yes I know I said that I was weary of buying a Challenge one, but for a temporary saw for a few quick jobs, I had to go for it.

Anyway, the specs for the saw are as follows.

1200W
4500 RPM
64mm
185mm, 20mm, 2.8mm, 24 teeth

Naturally I have a few questions.

Is 2.8 the thickness of the blade?
Up to what thickness blade can I buy?
Can I only buy blades that are exactly 185mm? Are these the same as 184mm ones?
What about 190mm blades?
Is my new saw supposed to come drenched in lubricating oil??

Scrit, you mentioned a 'fine tooth triple chip laminate blade'. How 'fine' is acceptable and what is 'triple chip'? Also, how many teeth would be acceptable?

Forgot to ask; how do I secure the board for cutting? How do I secure the battening without damaging the board?

Thanks.

 

[big-all]

ok 2.7 is the the tooth thickness
20 the bore [centre]
64 cutting depth

the size of blade [maximum and minimum] is governed by the clearence at all points around the blade plus the minimum and maximum movement of the ryving knife
in general most saws will accepts a blade thats a few mm different but not always

you wont get a satisfactory finnish on melamane board with your saw unless you use a triple chip blade

you can reduce the dammage buy using a sacaraficial bit of board on top

other options are planing the cutting so cut edges are out of site with machined edges most visible ect

use g clamps with plastic feet for clamping the ones with single hand operation sometimes called solo or mastic clamps

other alternatives cut the board 2mm bigger and plane sand or router to size routering being the best for a strait edge

 

[Traveller]

Thanks big-all.

 

[Traveller]

Hi again.

Got four further questions.

As stated above, the saw's maximum cut is 64mm and the blade required is 185mm.

1- Can I use a 180mm blade with this saw?

2- If yes, then won't it be able to cut 64mm with the blade?

3- What do I place the wood/board on to cut it (I've got one of those cheap benches which has two handles that can be turned to bring together and move apart the two parts of the bench top)?

4- Does using those adapter/reducer rings adversely affect the cut in any way or doesn't it matter?

Thanks

 

[big-all]

yes you more than likely can [adjust you riving knife closer accordingly]
your depth of cut will be reduced by half the difference to 61.5mm

you need the reducing rings to keep the blade running true otherwise if the blade is off centre only a few teeth will do all the cutting and may even cut the riving knife or innards of the blade guard

dont use the clamping block on the jaws of the workmate to secure the work or it will jamb up as you cut over the jaws area

you can cut boards supported by "G" clamps and or battons clamped to the workmate jaws either cutting between the open jaws or off to the side making sure the both halves are fully supported to help stop splintering jambing or chunks falling off

any more questions

 

[Traveller]

Thanks very much big-all!

'any more questions'

Well, now that you've asked; what should I.....just joking.

You can tell that I'm a seasoned pro at DIY, can't you?!

 

[big-all]

Thanks very much big-all!

'any more questions'

Well, now that you've asked; what should I.....just joking.

You can tell that I'm a seasoned pro at DIY, can't you?!

don't worry i have set next tuesday aside so i can come round your place and----------------------------















and have a laugh at you efforts


but seriously if your not putting a sacraficial bit of board on top to help stop the chipping
use a bit of masking tape over the cut line to not so much stop chipping but capture the chips so you can re-affix the bigger bits.

and set the saw blade to stick out the other side only 2mm[1 tooth]

 

[Traveller]

'and have a laugh at your efforts'

You mean have a laugh at the guy with three fingers!!!!

This 'sacraficial bit of board' you mention, is this one piece of board that is to be cut through along with the 'real' board and which has the lines drawn on it or is it two pieces of board on either side of the line drawn on the actual board that is required and the blade cuts down the middle between the two?

Thanks again for the helpful advice; it's easy to miss out vital information when advising a newb, assuming that what would be obvious to someone in the know would also be obvious to someone totally new at it. Appreciate your pointing out the baby stuff as well as I wouldn't have a clue otherwise.

 

[big-all]

only on the top as the blade pulls out into the base plate and yes you need to mark the top

something like 12mm mdf has enough structure to stop chipping out but only if its clamped close to the cut edge and in contact with the board
it only has to overlap enough for the base of the saw to be stable
but obviously if your cutting 2" off for example and you have 5 cuts to do you will need 12" spare

you dont live in surrey do you

 

[Traveller]

Thanks big-all.

It's nearly 1 am and I'm tired and sleepy, so at the moment I haven't been able to fully understand your post; will try again tomorrow and see what I make of it.

Is the 12mm mdf the actual board or the sacraficial one?

 

[big-all]

Thanks big-all.

It's nearly 1 am and I'm tired and sleepy, so at the moment I haven't been able to fully understand your post; will try again tomorrow and see what I make of it.

Is the 12mm mdf the actual board or the sacraficial one?

yes the devil worship sacrafices one bit of mdf the 2 inch thing is that will be cut off each time so the board reduces by 2 inches each cut

 

[Deluks]

Sorry Traveller, but you really are hard work mate.

 

[Traveller]

Thanks big-all.

Deluks, my policy is 'better safe than sorry', so I usually try to make sure that I understand everything clearly BEFORE carrying out any work as oppose to going ahead with it and then asking why everything went wrong, as is so common a case when it comes to DIY.

For example, in this very thread, I don't think I would have carried out ANY of the advice given if I hadn't asked about it and was told what to do and how to do it.

In my understanding, DIY is not just a case of doing something wrong and then having to buy a new piece of material or equipment. A small thing which experts take for granted could be a serious mistake for someone not in the know.

Anyway, not to worry, I don't think I have any more questions on this topic.

Thanks.

 

[big-all]

and don't forget try and plan so your machine edges are on the most prominent parts and cut edges are always cut onto the same face so any chipping out be on one face and not both

and don't worry traveller your sentiments are fine

best you ask than make an expensive but more important possibly dangerous mistake

in general appreciation for our time and trouble is not expected but we are over the moon when we do get a thank you
fortunately in this department "traveller"you are generous with your appreciation