Choose the Best Compact Circular Saw for Your Jobs

Posted on May 15, 2021

Best Compact Circular Saw

Many circular saw machines today provide high-speed cuts without burrs and sparks, which reduces the risks of discoloration and hazardous metal dust that affect the health of users, as well as the working environment. 

Introduction to Circular Saw Machine

The circular saw machine is designed to cut various materials, including metals or woods at a high speed through the toothed cold blade. The process of cutting is widely known as cold sawing. As its name, the cold saw machine implies, the compact circular saws allow both the circular blade and the stocks to be cut to remain cool during the high-speed operations. The saw blades of the compact circular saw transfer the generated heat to the metal chips, which are formed during the shearing process, making the versatile tools popular for shops and DIYers.

During the operations of the compact circular saws, the raw materials are released in the shearing motion through the blade teeth when the feeding units spin the saw forward to the stocks. Many circular saw machines today provide high-speed cuts without burrs and sparks, which reduces the risks of discoloration and hazardous metal dust that affect the health of users, as well as the working environment. 

Many power machine manufacturers offer circular saws, for those who are a DIYer seeking a compact model that is light in weight, or an experienced or pro in the market. It’s essential to understand the structures of the machine and the shop considerations to choose the best compact circular saw for your jobs.


Structure of a Compact Circular Saw Machine

A compact circular saw has a circular cold blade, an electric motor, and a gear system. When it comes to the power source, the motor, and the gear drives are the keys that the buyer should consider. This helps ensure the speed the circular blade rotates and cuts, the horsepower, the reliability, and the efficiency of the best compact circular saw is suited for the application. The gear drives allow the input speed of the motor to be reduced to a proper operational rate, and keep the high torque consistently during the operations in the circular saw machines.

The saw blades used in the circular saws are typically made from HSS, which stands for solid high-speed steels, to provide strong cut and durability. The TCT types are also widely used, which are tungsten carbide-tipped blades. As the raw materials are being critically clamped in place, the circular saw blades that are sharpened and treated regularly will cut the workpieces at a high speed, providing high loads of metal chips to each blade tooth.

:: Read more: An Introduction to Metal Cutting Circular Saw


Choose the Best Compact Circular Saw

Choosing the best compact circular saw for the shops or the DIYers can help achieve a wide variety of tasks efficiently. Following are some essential shopping considerations, including motor alignment, operational speed, amperage, and saw blade types of the circular saws. 


1. Motor Alignment and Position

When it comes to the arrangement and alignment of the motor and the saw blades, there are mainly two types to choose from, which are the sidewinder type circular saw models and worm drive type circular saws. The sidewinder-type circular saws have motors that are mounted in line with the saw blades, allowing the electric motors to work at a high speed within the compact system. 

As for the other type, the worm drive models, the electric motors of this type are in the rear of the circular saw blades, utilizing a set of worm gears by the blades, regulating the output speed and torque for the machine. The circular saw machines with worm drives are typically heavier and larger than the other type, obtaining higher torques but requiring lubricants for the gears, which the buyer should be aware of.


2. Saw Blade Size

The size of the saw blade is one obvious feature and difference among the models, ranging from 0.5 inches to 16 inches. Although the range is extensive for the buyers to choose the most suitable model, the standard size of saw blades which is suitable for general tasks is about 7 inches.


3. Amperage and Rotating Speed

Amperage is the electric power that the electric motor can withstand in normal operations. Today, most of the automatic compact circular saws employ 15 amp motors, but some models may use less powerful motors. As for the rotating speed of the saw, which is also an important factor that should be taken into consideration, the saws’ speed is related to not only the amperage of the motor but also the size of the saw blade in the circular saw machine. 

In other words, the same 15 amp motor has a smaller blade faster. In general, a saw blade that is 7-1/4 inches is suitable for a speed between 5000 to 5500 RPMs. One important point here is, the speed of the circular saw has nothing to do with the material density, but the blade quality.


4. Ease of Adjustment

The best compact circular saw should be a versatile tool that can be easily adjusted for cutting applications with various depth requirements. For instance, cutting certain sheet products requiring a shallow depth cut while fully cutting to the maximum depth for framing applications. 

The efficient circular saws that use levers rather than knobs can provide faster depth adjustments since the levers can be released and tightened more easily and faster. On the other hand, the holding power of the levers is typically better than knobs. 

Knobs are popular to use for adjusting the angle of the blades due to the excellent ability to accurately dial the desired angle. When the user wears the work gloves, loosening and tightening the knobs will be a bit inconvenient, an easily accessible knob will be extremely handy for blade angle adjustment.


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