How to Use a Circular Saw

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This tool is scary, but here’s how to use it safely.

Let’s be candid about this. Circular saws are scary power tools. I picked one up for the first time so many years ago, I don’t even remember what my first cut with the tool was or what the circumstances of using it were. I do remember this, however. Decades ago, there was absolutely no training on how to use this essential power tool. You were on your own. You either learned by trial and error how to use it without giving yourself a ghastly cut, or you ended up like many carpenters I know, missing all or part of a finger.

We’ll show you how to use a circular saw here and discuss its safety, then dive into circular saw types and blades that you should know about.

Circular saws are inherently dangerous tools. You need to be careful using them. Even as your skills advance, and you make cuts that professional carpenters make, you still need to be careful. This brings us to our first important point about saw safety. When you see these saws in use on a manufacturer’s website or retail source, the user is almost always using two hands to operate the saw-–one hand on the rear handle and one hand on the front handle. That’s driven more by companies’ concerns about product liability than typical use. In most cases, you use these saws with one hand, while holding the lumber with the other.

However, if single-handed cutting makes you uncomfortable, or you feel that you can’t control the saw, don’t do it. You can always clamp lumber to a pair of sawhorses and guide the saw with two hands. If you’ve never used a saw before, this is a good idea. It can help you get a better sense of the saw’s power and performance. We admit that this training wheels approach is inherently safer than one-handed cutting. But there’s a problem with it. Two-handed cutting doesn’t work in many instances. For example, when you crosscut and guide the saw along a square, you hold the saw in one hand and the square in another. Another problem occurs when cutting into the middle of a sheet of plywood. Often you have to reach way out there to do this—another example of a one-handed cut. All of the cuts you see in this article are one-handed cuts, and what follows are the five basic safety rules governing them.

The crosscut is the simplest operation that you will perform with a circular saw. Basic saw use starts here.

Many types of lumber are thicker than a circular saw can cut in one pass. One common example of this is the 4 x 4. The challenge is aligning the saw through the cut. One way to do this is to rotate the lumber under the saw as you make the cut.

Important Safety Note: This is a fast, accurate and effective cut but requires familiarity and dexterity with a circular saw. However, when attempted by an inexperienced user, it can be downright dangerous. The level of comfort with the tool necessary to make this cut comes from the experience of having made a variety of cuts safely. We’d recommend you get in at least several hours of crosscutting lumber before you try this.

You may rip both solid lumber and plywood. The important thing to remember is that when ripping large or heavy pieces that you don’t pinch the saw as the cut piece falls free.

Circular saws come in a wide variety of sizes and types. We’ll only cover the most common types of corded and cordless saws here.

Skil’s circular saw is the traditional power tool. It’s corded, and its blade is to the right of its body. It’s perfect for homeowners who need to do serious cutting but don’t need or want to spend the money for a pro power tool. It did well in our recent test and we continue to think of the saw as one of the best values in power tools.

The Metabo-HPT saw is a cordless saw with its blade to the left of the motor. It’s known as a rear-handle type. The Metabo-HPT saw did extremely well in a recent test of these saws. It’s lightweight, powerful, settles quickly on the line and cuts like a champ. It’s more expensive than homeowner-duty saws, but it’s not so expensive that it’s priced out of reach for a homeowner with a big project.

Many right-hand users prefer left-blade circular saws because they provide the clearest view of the blade relative to its cut line. The Bosch is a pro-duty corded saw powered by a 15-amp motor that turns the blade at an unusually fast no-load speed of 6200 rpm. Those features make for an extremely fast-cutting circular saw.

If this isn’t an endorsement, I don’t what is. This is the primary workhorse circular saw in our shop—a right-blade 15-amp corded saw, known to people in the construction trades as a sidewinder. You can see its image plastered all over the place up above. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s light, powerful, and churns through lumber fast enough to earn a living with it. Let off the trigger and the blade stops quickly thanks to its brake. When we needed to pull off this article under deadline pressure, we reached for this saw.

For most jobs around the house, we’ve come to be big fans of small (6-1/2-inch blade) cordless circular saws, especially those with the blade on the left, that promotes a good view of the blade. DeWalt’s small saws are competent wood cutters (we tested the right-blade version of this saw). Use this saw for cutting framing lumber, plywood, cellular PVC lumber, and solid hardwood used in building cabinets and furniture. Guide this saw along a square for a remarkably accurate cut.

Skilsaw’s famous left-blade corded saw is the power tool that launched the circular saw revolution, moving carpenters away from using hand saws to cut framing lumber and sheathing materials. The saw is known as a worm gear type because it employs such a gear in its drivetrain (for more on worm gear drive, see this link and this outstanding GIF at Wikipedia). The Skilsaw is known for incredible durability and power. We have one in the Popular Mechanics shop (and I also own one). I can testify that this heavy (12-lb.) saw is also heavy duty. I’ve cut everything imaginable with it and have even used it in demolition, with a carbide-tipped blade to remove water-damaged oak flooring (a nasty and dangerous job). One thing about this saw that users (including me) have never been happy with is that it has a powerful kick to the side when you pull its trigger—the saw’s powerful torque is responsible for this. See the saw below for another take on a left-blade saw that reduces this action.

Makita’s power tool is a stout, left-blade corded circular saw. It looks much like the famous Skilsaw but its drivetrain makes use of a hypoid gear (for more on hypoid gearing, see the excellent explanation here at TechBriefs). Compared to the equally torque-rich Skilsaw, it provides heavy-duty cutting but without the wrist-straining kick to the side when the saw starts.

A 40-tooth blade with an alternate-top-bevel (ATB) tooth geometry is a good general-purpose saw blade for finish work on decks, fences and for making various cuts in finish carpentry. For more on tooth geometry, see this excellent explainer at Vermont American.

Use a 24-tooth blade for fast cuts in framing lumber. This blade is not only equipped with a high-density tungsten carbide teeth, but a rugged anti-kickback shoulder behind each tooth. The combination of the two features produces a saw blade designed to withstand the rigors of hourse framing–while reducing the chances of kickback.

Select a blade like this for flawless cuts in plywood and materials like melamine which may chip easily. The blade not only has a large number of teeth (60) but also an alternate top bevel (ATB) tooth geometry with an unusually steep angle of the top grind. This form of ATB tooth produces a very clean shearing action, limiting or eliminating chipping of delicate surface materials. See this explainer of the blade’s unique attributes.

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.

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