circular saws

[tablesawtom]

I find this last page to be some very interesting reading

I consider myself left handed. I write left handed,  I eat left handed, even with chop sticks and I do most other things left handed, but I bat right handed, fish right handed and I prefer to used my right hand to saw with. Now I can use my left hand just fine to saw with. But I prefer to use my right hand.

Now lets be honest I never said once that one couldn't find a  corded left bladed saw, only that all the saws at the store I was in were right sided saws, corded that is.

Battery powered saw are a fairly new addition to the saw market. Again this is true only from a age thing. Battery operated saws, lets say have been on the market for 25 years, not exactly for sure. I bought my first saw in 1971 at the age of 23, 24. so I have been using a corded right handed saw for over 30 years before the battery power saws even came out. I also bought my only battery operated ( left sided) saw about 3 years ago and I find after all these years of doing something one way and then having to switch bothersome or as it seem to me backwards.

Not right or not wrong, just bothersome or as it seem to me backwards. I would be much happier if the blade on my battery operated was on the right side because of the way I work. but it seems I have a drill, flash light, jig saw, right angled drill  and a sawsall that all take the same battery and I have 4 of them besides the circ. saw

The reality is I prefer not to use a circular saw  at all if I don't have to, so investing in a different brand is an extra expense I prefer not to shoulder.

So to younger generation I am trying to call attention to some things one might want to consider when making their purchases. Some have 3 year warrantee's, what is the battery replacement cost? One has a lifetime warrantee on both tool and battery. One can get a corded saw in either hand,  it is harder to do but one can get a battery saw left or right sided But why not get them both the saw?
Why not save some money and hassel at the same time?

As a final comment, when I started wood working the only Mag. was workbench period. When I started one went to Sears to buy a table saw. I hadn't even heard of Delta or know enough to know that if I went to an industrial supplier I could buy a better saw. There were no big boxes. You now have a lot of choices that I didn't have or that I didn't have enough experience to realize the problem, for a lack of a better word.


Tom

[Downwindtracker2]

Skilsaws have gotten inexpensive. In '74 I was working on a pulp mill expansion in northern BC as a carpenter, the contractor was buying a bunch of saws, Skil 534s , for $134 each, a great deal, and asked if I wanted in. I already had the cheap 574, so I declined. Last year, few saws later, when my Milwaukee died , I picked up another. This time $99.

[ez-duzit]

One of my favorite circular saws is the little 5-1/2" Skilsaw with the blade on the left.

It is rather lightweight and easy to control. And it really doesn't matter that the largest part of the platen is on the off-cut (or hanging in space) as it is so easy to press down on the left side of the platen, using thumb and forefinger of the left hand, while guiding it precisely along the cut line.

Also own an ancient, all-aluminum, Milwaukee gear-drive for heavier work.

Battery powered saws blow.

[EdL]

Bosch offers a left hand sidewinder......IIRC, Porter Cable used to.

Ed

[daddo]

Just last night I was cutting the tongues out of a oak wood floor for repairs with the old 1972 Craftsman 7.5" circular saw. Now this saw was a bargain.
I had bought a new Ridgid 7.5" a year ago because I was way out of town and needed one quickly- mistake- good saw but too bulky.