2019 Fall Home & Garden

2019 Fall Home & Garden Video Magazine Lincoln Daily News Sept. 26, 2019 Page 33 Circular saws can do about any straight cuts, rip cuts and cross cuts across the wood’s grain just to name a few. In addition, circular saws are great for breaking down sheets of plywood without having to wrangle a huge sheet through a table saw, and their portability means you can do cuts at a job site. Many features on circular saws make them versatile. For instance, the saws have two handles: a rear handle with a safety switch and trigger, and a front handle that provides added stability when you are cutting. The shoe or baseplate of the circular saw rests on top of the lumber you are cutting and is used to set the depth and angle of the cut surrounding the blade. One lever sets the cut depth. Your blade should just extend a small amount below the depth of your material. For 45- and 90-degree cuts, there are positive stops on the circular saw. When the shoe is set up for making bevel cuts, a notch on the shoe indicates the blade’s location. For shoes with recessed markings, an amendment you can make is to paint over the marking with white paint and then wipe away the excess. This leaves paint in the recessed areas making markings easier to read even when everything gets dusty. To make a cut, rest the shoe flat on the lumber you want to cut with the blade clear of the wood. Pull the trigger and let the blade spin up to full speed, then push the blade smoothly through the material using the notch to guide your saw. Make sure not to move the saw too quickly. Instead, let the blade do the work. When you push the blade away from the material, clear the material, release the trigger and wait for the blade to come to a complete stop. You also need to let your off-cut fall freely since you do not want your wood to be supported on both sides, which can cause kickback. If a kickback happens, lift your saw door and reposition the wood before continuing. Extra tools that help you get more out of your circular saw are a speed square for assisting with cross cuts and a long beam level clamp to help guide the saw for straighter and more accurate rip cuts. For notch cuts, mark out the area you want to clear, set your blade depth and make a series of cuts to clear away the wood, knocking out any remaining material with a chisel. Having different blades is good, too. The 18-tooth blade leaves a rough finish on crosscut plywood and the 90-tooth crosscutting blade leaves a nicer edge though it may bog down in longer rip cuts. Making accurate cuts takes time and practice, but a circular saw’s portability and versatility make it invaluable for woodworking. Continued n