circular saws

[tablesawtom]

I was looking through my new issue of Woodsmith and on of the articles is Cordless Tools. And the first picture I see is the Bosch battery operated circular saw. I was with a friend and was looking at getting a battery operated saw. He is now a retired contractor and his comment was that battery operated saws are left handed. My comment at the time was good because I am left handed.

Fast forward, I checked corded saw and they were right handed and I really had to go out of my way to find a left handed one, they are out there though. But I also started checking battery operated ones and they are all left handed except for Ridgid and I believe one other although I don't remember the brand off hand. And I ask myself why, when most men are right handed, why do they make most battery saws left handed? It was his main complaint. I may be left handed but I live in a right handed world. I can pound nails with either hand and if I stop for a minute I can switch hands and continue. But switching to a left handed saw has caused me some problems with how I set up for a cut. And even though I am left handed I wish my battery operated saw was right handed.

So I have several questions that maybe one here has some insight to.

I can understand manufacturers making circular saws right handed. Dewalt, I believe, I could be wrong, made the first battery operated saw, Was it left handed? And if so did all of the other manufacturers copy their design and add the little things that made it their own. Hence all corded saw have to be right handed and all battery saws left handed.

Because one made it that why we all must make it that way to compete? I observed in the last coupe of months that when one does an article on work benches next month all have an article on workbenches. It is the same with tool reviews. One does one on mid sized routers next month they all do the same review on at least a router of one size or the other. And at the end the highest priced tool gets the best tool award and the cheapest get the best value. 

I won't ask the obvious question about originality. Just why should I pay any attention to the review when I know the out come before I start reading?

I also have thrown away a 9 volt drill and a really nice Porter Cable 14 volt drill because of battery going bad. It is cheaper in most cases to buy a new tool than tor place the battery(s). It is to late for me but now Ridgid has a life time warrantee on both tools and battery(s). And their saw is right handed. So if a person was just starting out it would be worth checking into. I know not all their tools have the lifetime so make sure when buying and save your receipt.

Am I missing something obvious ?

Tom

[Huxleywood]

First, you have to swallow circular saws aren't built for left and right handed people, the blades are simply on the right or left by design.  See the venerable Skil worm drives which were used by roughly 9 times as many right handed people than left handed people.

[tablesawtom]

Yes, I commented about at least one corded saw as being left handed. I yes I understand being on the left or right by design, but 95% being on the right for corded and 95% battery operated being on  the left. And all of this just happen by design?  And which hand is the primary source of power to propel the saw though the cut doesn't inter into the equation, just company preference by design.  Most shot guns sand simi automatic rifles eject the shell casing to the right away from the users dominate eye which in most cases is the right eye for a right handed person and that is by design. And before we go there I just want to say I am a Viet Nam vet. and well a where of shell ejection, me being left handed and all.

So if you are right handed and right eye dominate why would you want a saw with a blade on the left. A circular saw with a blade on the left causes me problems and I am left handed, what problems if any does it cause a right hander.

What am I hoping to get out of all this?
1. that someone in engineering in one of the companies will wake up and smell the roses.
2. Just because everyone else is building it this way doesn't mean we have to.
3. And that a person just getting into battery operated tools or someone considering replacing an old drill/'saw might want to explore lifetime warrantees. I will next time.

Tom

[Robert Adams]

Yeah there are no right or left handed saws. There are sidewinders which are typically rright bladed and then hypoid saws which are left bladed. 

        I like both. I prefer a right bladed saw for framing usually because the big part of the platen is on the left so it's supported on the keeper piece(usually). 

          In the shop and for any sheet goods cutting a left bladed is easier to use as I am right handed. You make your cut from right to left and it keeps the platen on the keeper piece and you just walk down the sheet as you cut. 
            With a left bladed you have to be on top of the keeper sheet while you cut. 

 
           It all depends on what material you typically cut and prefrence. I need a new battery saw as well and debating between the milwaukee and bosch. I don't have any bosch tools though so no batteries. I haven't had good luck with bosch in the past but I'm giving them a chance again. I have have a new bosch jig saw and hopefully the trigger switch will last more than 6 months as they used to be horribly unreliable.

[CanoeBoy]

So would you consider a Left tilt TS right-handed and a Right tilt a left-handed TS. I have both styles of circular saws and I really don't notice the difference when using them. A lot of times when I'll grab the one that allows me to see the blade the best if I need to see it to follow a line ie: sink cutout.

[ronlaughlin]

What i did when i worked on a job that furnished  worm drive saws was run them with my right hand.  When the job furnished direct drive saws, i ran them with my left hand. 

It didn't matter which kind of saw we used, the big part of the platen wasn't always where one would chose to have it be.  Also, it didn't matter where the blade was much, because either way, the cut line is on the back side of the blade, if one is running the saw with the big side of the platen on the 'save' side, or the 'longest side'.

Another thing i always found interesting is here where i grew up, we used direct drive saws, but out West of here, in Montana, we mostly used worm drive saws.

There were no cordless saws until just before i retired. 

Me, i kinda think there is no such a thing as a 'left' handed saw or a 'right' handed saw.  All cuts depend on how the material is arranged, and whether one wants the major platen on the 'save' piece, or not, and whether one can cut with the line on the face of the blade or the back of the blade..  I know i made a jillion cuts with the line on the back side of the blade, even though i much preferred to saw with the face of the blade following the cut line.

Out in my shop, i like using cordless tools of all kinds, including circular saws.

[Steve N]

I've known more than one person to call a right bladed circ saw a left hander, because the operator was looking at the blade, rather than the shroud. Which side of the saw would be facing you on the one he called a Left handed saw? Blade, or shroud? I think like a lot of things "handed" is just a label. Which ever side of the saw you feel comfortable facing you is the best saw for you. When I did trade work I used the hand that allowed me to look at the blade as it contacted whatever it was cutting. The saw itself mattered little to me, though I did prefer a worm drive saw. So I was usually sawing right handed.

For me this would be a Right handed saw.



This one would have been a left hander, and I could easily use either one.





Now many folks would call them the opposite hand, because the blade was on either the right, or left side. The important thing here is just that you be comfortable with which side the blade is on, not what it is called.

[Robert Adams]

I've known more than one person to call a right bladed circ saw a left hander, because the operator was looking at the blade, rather than the shroud. Which side of the saw would be facing you on the one he called a Left handed saw? Blade, or shroud? I think like a lot of things "handed" is just a label. Which ever side of the saw you feel comfortable facing you is the best saw for you. When I did trade work I used the hand that allowed me to look at the blade as it contacted whatever it was cutting. The saw itself mattered little to me, though I did prefer a worm drive saw. So I was usually sawing right handed.

For me this would be a Right handed saw.



This one would have been a left hander, and I could easily use either one.





Now many folks would call them the opposite hand, because the blade was on either the right, or left side. The important thing here is just that you be comfortable with which side the blade is on, not what it is called.

          When I call one left or right it's just as you have. left blade for right hand right blade for left hand. Makes more sence from a functionality aspect.
       I can make perfectly good firewood with either of them.

[EdL]

Doesn't matter to me what side the blade is on, as long as it's sharp.


Ed

[Downwindtracker2]

My theory was framers liked worm drives so the battery powered ones were designed for framers. I worked for a number of years as a form carpenter, I wanted that blade as far away from me as possible. We used right handed sidewinders. They balanced better.  And  yes they are left handed as are worm drives.