[Closed] What Circular saw?

Do a search for Hitachi on here. There have been a few threads on this subject and I think Hitachi won everytime.

I've always fancied one of them flip over DeWalt saws.. bloody expensive though 🙁

I have a Hitachi and it's great. The blade is exactly 130mm from one edge, so always easy to clamp a straight edge for cuts you need to be bang on. Anything from Makita/Bosch/DeWalt should be fine, and I imagine £200 will get you something very nice.

I've not used a cordless one though I can see why one would be so useful in some circumstances. If I was going to buy one, I'd definitely demo it first.

With circular saws, I find that cheap blades are what make them mess up. Better getting two decent ones and having them re-sharpened.

It's also probably the most dangerous power tool I own. 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/need-a-circular-saw-nominations-please

Hitachi here too.

Reliable, solid, great at about £100
no need to spend more.

Even Ernie has one 8)

Anyone used the cordless ones, will I get a full days work out a charge?

I use one - got a makita one and its a remarkable tool but its not a subsitute for a mains one, more an ingenious addition. They're very light and manageable and you can sort of work freehand with them. They're well balanced and the blade is on the left side of the saw so you can see it. Its more of a replacement for a hand saw. In fact paired with a [url= ]roofing square[/url] as a guide they're quite a good subsitute for a chop saw. If you already have some of the makita 18v li-ion kit and therefore already have one or two batteries then unless you need to [i]only[/i] cut wood all day rather than be cutting, working out, marking, thinking, drilling etc then you'll get a pretty good duty cycle out of them. There can be good ebay deals for a saw and one battery of you already have a charger

Are the Evolution Rage saws just gimmick or a serious work tool?

Lots of people love the Hitachis, there'll be nowt wrong with the Makita you're looking at. There are few cheap festool-a-like saw and track kits appearing. Working with a track is brilliant but only if the track is good and the plunge on the saw works well. Even festool's have their limitations there - Maffel stuff is much, much better thought out.

I've got a evolution, and Maffel Cuprex and Makita cordless and they all get used so they've each got their own strengths

I have recently bought the Hitachi C92U and to be honest its not a bad saw, but it is not particularly well built, its the first saw I have come across with a plastic blade cover, all the other saws I own are cast ally.
My favourite go to saw for sheet materials and doors is a DeWalt DW368, this is easily the most powerful 7 1/2 saw (2200w) I have ever used and just flies through 50mm MDF.
Makita Have just brought out an 8 1/4 inch saw that looks quite tasty, plenty of guts but not too huge and unwieldy.

C7U2 has a cast ally guard. 7" would probably be big enough for the OP rather than the 9" C9U2.

Reminds me...walking the dog back home the other day, there's a chap doing some cutting outside. He's stood a sheet of 8x4 ply up against the open back door of his van and is using a circular saw to saw vertically up the sheet! Jeez...some people almost deserve to have an accident. 🙂

EDIT: Oh, and as for,

Mafell

It's around £300 outside the OP's budget and for that kind of money I'd expect it to make me a cup of coffee after doing the cut...by itself.

I have the Makita 5704 and I use it all the time for making bedrooms kitchens etc. Cutting loads of 18mm mfc and vinyl worktops.

It's well up to the job and I have only one issue - the baseplate adjusts through 45deg for mitre cutting but it is a bit awkward to set it to exactly 90deg for the main work.

I've made a few accessories for it - a 110mm guide which I can clamp on the board and make an exact accurate cut. I couldn't do my job without it

Thanks all for the advice. Mac - I've got the older style Makita combi but the batteries are going to need replacing soon so the cordless might be an option.
Any deals to be had at the moment on Hitachi or Makita?

EDIT: Oh, and as for,

Mafell
It's around £300 outside the OP's budget and for that kind of money I'd expect it to make me a cup of coffee after doing the cut...by itself.

Aye but I was referring to cheaper mafell-a-likes (plunge saw and track) that are appearing [url= http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/section/7385/sn/WDSDIVAR55PK1 ]that are in budget[/url]

Ah roight, fairy nuff.

That Woodster looks good (if it's good). I'm thinking cutting out borders in parquet floors...it's what rail saws are perfect for. I notice there's a new festool one (well, not that new anymore) that's saying it'll almost cut flush!

Stoner, the C7 also has a plastic cover, this is the bit above the base of the saw where the dust comes out, IMHO a very flimsy design that didn't last a full day in real working conditions.

I have a Dewalt DWE575 and it's great! It's my first circular saw, so didn't know what to look for, but I took the salesman's advice and am very happy.. It would be nice if it had an electric brake, but i'm super careful when i'm using it anyway (as I know three folk without a full set of ten fingers due to circular saws).

This is my Hitachi... C7SB2...metal guard.

[img] [/img]

Best Buy 8)

have both mains and cordless makita.

mine is mainly used for cutting up flooring to run pipes so cordless is great as more manageable no leads etc. For heavy duty work you really need mains if you are using all day.

Try Folkestone Fixings for tool deals, think online is FFX. Usually pretty cheap for power tools.

+1 for makita cordless but also have mains dewalt not that impressed with that one

+1 Makita 5704

Brill saw, and good blade - got mine for Fathers Day 🙂

Pity the festool is over budget ts55ebq can be had for less than 300
Tis a joy to use the track system makes life so easy

Not sure how well the cheap track systems compare

On the other hand the cheep McAlister saw from bnq does rightly for next to noo money

I've got the Makita and use it for kitchen fitting and handles worktops etc no problem but like other people have said it's the blade that matters more.

I'm a big fan of the Makita 18v LXT range.

Today I have used the 18v Chop-saw, Circular Saw, Jigsaw and 2 drills.

We have been putting together a 1st Aid room for a customer and the saws have been used for cutting 18mm ply, timber and MDF.

I really rate them all.

I had that makita till it got nicked off the scaffolding buy some tosser in aveley. Decent saw.

Now all I've been using lately is festool. Fantastic pieces of kit.

I reckon the scariest piece of kit I use is a router. At least with a circular you have a guard and if you set the fourth properly you should be ok. With a router the very sharp spiny bit is exposed. One slip sand it could hurt.

Saying that most of the less-than-ten chippies that I know have lost their digit on a table saw.

Thinking of getting this at some point. Need to spend more set against my tax. Sexy saw.[img] [/img]

Cam be had for about 500€ with track and other bit on the bay.

The fes TS55 is without doubt the best till I've ever bought. It's a lot of dosh but with every last penny.

Also have an 18v and 240v 190mm dewalt, and a 235 cheapo titan which is surprisingly good

That Festool and tracking is ace
firm I worked for got one and a router with 2 3 and 1 metre tracks for a big borderfit wood job and it sort of stayed on my van when they sold the shop to the new owners 😀

it sort of stayed on my van when they sold the shop to the new owners

Accidentally purpose...?

Accidentally purpose...?

I don't know what you mean
😉

I use a corded hitachi and a evoulution, more often the evo is comming out now as imo gives a better cut and if there is a stray nail it dosent shag the blade, in my makita cordless (18v liion) she lasts about an hour straight of solid cuts through 8mm ply and some scant or 4x2 then battery change but takes 20mins for battery and i have 3 of them, cordless is used if im "mobile" on site or on scissor lifts etc but im very happy with my rage saw, even use to cut scrap lengths of conduit to fit in van.