Mini circular saw?

[Erni]

I saw a Woodcraft 4.5" circular saw on homedepot website. It promises to cut 2 by X wood, and can be used with a guide. Does anyone have experiance with mini circular saws? The woodcraft saw is around$70 and a 4ft track for it is about $40. With Christmass around the corner I want to see if its worth adding to the list.

I find myself cutting 1" and under wood constantly and getting the 10" circular to cut just right is a pain, plus its a heavy sob and wants to wander. A track saw is out due to cost/benefit.

Thanks.

[JohnnyEgo]

Are you talking about the WEN track saw or plunge saw? I ask because I didn't see any Woodcraft branded saws on the Home Depot site. I have three separate opinions about sub 6" saws in general.

Opinion #1 is that there are several great ones, by Dewalt, Milwaukee, and Makita. The cordless ones are great for breaking down large sheets of ply in the Home Depot parking lot so they will fit in the trunk of your hatchback. The high quality battery versions today are actually quite good. I'd trust a Milwaukee 6" cordless to go through a couple sheets of ply on a single battery. They are light weight, easy to maneuver, and usable anywhere.

Opinion #2 is that anything under 6" in blade diameter is an occasional tool for a light duty job. Mainly because it is going to take forever to cut through a 3/4 sheet of ply with a 4.5" blade. May be acceptable for quickly cross-cutting 2x4s, but that 1.5" depth of cut is going to be at about the maximum of a 4.5" diameter blade. So if you are only going to use it for light duty cross cuts or small panels, I think it would be fine, but I also think there are better tools for that, to include a cheap compound miter or a table saw sled.

Opinion #3 is that track saws are epic-ly awesome for breaking down ply and doing sheet good construction. When used correctly, they produce a straighter edge than you'd get from a table saw and fence, and it can be a finish-ready cut. Because you are bringing the tool to the material, it is much easier to carve up large panels as well. So you are getting accuracy at speed for the money. You can be just as accurate with patience and a shop built cleat or a Kreg style clamp guide, but a good track saw system will be much more time efficient cut to cut. Whether that justifies several hundred dollars is a fair question, particularly if you have more time than disposable income. Track saws are not great at small work, however, most of which I do at the table saw or by hand. I own a Festool track saw because it was the only game in town when I bought it, and my only regret was that I didn't have the $700 necessary to have bought it sooner in life. Now, however, there are several less expensive alternatives that offer 90+% of what the Festool does. I recommend the Milwaukee track system in particular to folks all the time. About $300 cheaper than the Festool, and the tracks are compatible and cheaper than the Festool as well.

So if it was me, going just from what you listed above, I'd either spend a little more money on the Milwaukee (I like the 18 volt better, but the 12 volt is very capable and only $149 with battery), or I'd save the money and apply it to a track saw purchase down the road. But if you could flesh out your use-case a little more, those recommendations might change.

[Erni]

Well I buggered the name of the saw, its actually genesis:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Genesis-5-8-Amp-4-1-2-in-Compact-Circular-Saw-GCS545C/300215280

I have a chop saw and it will do 2x6s, and the 10" circular saw. Both reside in the basement and are a pita to haul up. No room for a table saw, and I dont think I would use it enough to justify one.
I do occasional projects, and currently next on the list is a couple of closet orgs and shelfs. This will take cutting several 12 to 18 inch boards, etc. While doable with my Irwin guide and 10" circular, its not fast and usually ends with some saw wandering, and rigging some awful spacers since the track and clamps dont work well with the circular.
Another project is I need to replace some siding window trim which requires cutting some sheet siding into smaller pieces with fair precision.
Last several uses of the circular were cutting through sub 1" thick substrates where one was a 36" cut another couple were sub 24", and making a fake planter box which required cutting siding panels to 8" width by 46" long. And one more project that involved breaking down a 4x8 sheet of particle board, but cant recall what it was.
Small saw with a guide could probably do 80+ percent of all my cuts. As its an infrequent use tool I was looking at a corded setup. (My cordless tools are ryobi and their 6" battery circular just sucks) The Genesis saw has decent reviews and a track is available
I may drop real money on the dewalt track in the future but I just dont do enough wood work to justify one currently. Flip side being that if the small saws are junk I will make do with my current crappy equipment. Another option is to set up my wood work bench to do long cuts, but that will be limited in length to around 32" max and will result in me engineering some expensive contraption...

[Not_A_Llama]

I got the 6.5” Ryobi cordless and a Kreg Rip-Cut. Does small sized stuff well. Replaced my table saw. I see you hated the Ryobi - I’ve been happy with mine and a fine tooth carbide blade for Baltic birch and aluminum sheet. I just gotta keep the RPMs up and manage federate.

[Erni]

I got the 6.5? Ryobi cordless and a Kreg Rip-Cut. Does small sized stuff well. Replaced my table saw. I see you hated the Ryobi - I?ve been happy with mine and a fine tooth carbide blade for Baltic birch and aluminum sheet. I just gotta keep the RPMs up and manage federate.
Maybe it was the blade or maybe the motor was too big for the NiCad batteries it came with. It just never felt right. All noise and no power.

[Wulf202]

I own a dozen or more saws. I have a 4.5 in saw I use for tile, it's fine for small material. I would prefer my 6" 18v Milwaukee for simple wood cuts. A 7.25" worm drive skill saw for big jobs. I've never wanted to afford a 10in skill saw. Are you sure you have a 10in blade?

Have you been show how to use a skill saw and speed square?

[buffalobo]

I have never heard of a 10" circular saw. Assorted cordless 6 1/2" and smaller, 7 1/4 and 16".

10" blades typically table, chop/miter, radial arm saws

[def90]

I have never heard of a 10" circular saw. Assorted cordless 6 1/2" and smaller, 7 1/4 and 16".

10" blades typically table, chop/miter, radial arm saws

https://www.amazon.com/Makita-HS0600-10-1-Circular-Saw/dp/B071SB4H8J


As for the OP 4.5 inch saw.. I think you would be disappointed if you are trying to do anything serious with it.

[buffalobo]

Figures, and I'm a Makita guy.

Odd tool for home owner only.

[Erni]

You guys are right the circular is a 7in something. I just replaced the 10in chop saw blade and that was stuck in my head.
My sleep sucked for the last couple of nights, total fail boat on my part.

Sounds like the 4.5 saw may be a dissipointment, and this plan need rethinking.

[Wulf202]

I could have used a 10 in circular saw a dozen times in the past couple of months. Cutting 6x6s with 4 passes on a worm drive then finished with a sawzall.

[DFBrews]

I could have used a 10 in circular saw a dozen times in the past couple of months. Cutting 6x6s with 4 passes on a worm drive then finished with a sawzall.

I have a 16” makita for sale

[JohnnyEgo]

As a counter offer to spending money on something that may not do the job you are looking for, let me know when you want to cut your closet material, and I will gladly lend you my Festool track saw, rails, and vac for a couple days.

[encorehunter]

We run the Dewalt 20v 6 1/2 in saws. We use either the 5 amp hour batteries or a 60v. Use a speed square as a guide for a straight line.

[Not_A_Llama]

Maybe it was the blade or maybe the motor was too big for the NiCad batteries it came with. It just never felt right. All noise and no power.
Wait, it came with NiCads? Was this in the 90s? Or do you have the special low temp packs? The saw and batteries I had were this past year and the prevalent chemistry these days is lithium ion. It’s not the most powerful thing ever, but I haven’t felt it lacked for power, given the application.

[Erni]

Wait, it came with NiCads? Was this in the 90s? Or do you have the special low temp packs? The saw and batteries I had were this past year and the prevalent chemistry these days is lithium ion. It?s not the most powerful thing ever, but I haven?t felt it lacked for power, given the application.
Yep, got the kit around 2000. Came with nicads. Got lipos around 2 years ago, when the second set of nicads died.

And now that you mention it, I have not really done any cuts with that small saw on lipos.
Think it will much work better on lipos? I only have the 2Ah packs so not sure if that would be good enough?

[Not_A_Llama]

Yep, got the kit around 2000. Came with nicads. Got lipos around 2 years ago, when the second set of nicads died.

And now that you mention it, I have not really done any cuts with that small saw on lipos.
Think it will much work better on lipos? I only have the 2Ah packs so not sure if that would be good enough?
I would speculate it should be substantially better. Power-under-load characteristics for high drain devices really favor Lithium ion. 2Ah is a bit on the small side, but it should theoretically only impact run time (if it isn't dramatically better within the first minute of run, it ain't a size constraint)

[FoxtArt]

Despite other options, I find myself relying on just these two for 90% of complex projects:

1) Cordless Makita (6" iirc) - 2x lumber cuts, ripping OSB/Ply with spare batteries
2) Large Miter saw (12" iirc) - 45's, angles, 4x lumber cuts, etc. (also 6x lumber cuts with two passes)

And a table saw for the occasional 10% to do any ripping, notching, etc. Router for corner beading, profiles, rails, etc.

Most important overlooked woodworking tool in my book: Several cabinet clamps. I use those for every freaking thing.

I don't want for any more tools or any of the fancy stuff. I don't have track saws or anything like that, but I've done a ton of more-than-projects. Last week I built 3 benches start-to-finish on Monday. (36, 36, and 23, to fit one side of my table). Previously built a large cantilever deck, roof, desks, bookcases, deck rails, tables, etc.

With my father being a perfectionist that would take, say..... 6+ months to finish building a doghouse, designing, routing and edging every piece and making it airtight, I'm of course the opposite. Time is short; I'm not aiming for perfection I'm aiming for longevity and having time to enjoy everything being completed. If it's strong and looks visually good, I don't care. I find I can cut even 2x12 straight enough with a cordless that nobody can tell, same with ply and OSB, so I've never understood the need to be too concerned about setting up tracks. Even then, if critical, you can always use small clamps and a level or something similar as a guide -

For me, I'd never get the $500+ out of a tracksaw. And I don't see any value in a 4.5", a 6" is light and works more places. But, YMMV. Some people like the journey.

Note, this isn't calling my technique better or ripping on people with better tools. There's a lot of schools of thought, I'm not calling mine superior. Just trying to impart the value of prioritizing "getting it done", even if a corner needs to be cut occasionally, we've only got a few days of life to live.

If I catch a break I'll post up the 1 day benches, someone might want to copy the design.

[Erni]

Small update on the Ryobi battery powered saw. I cut up some 3/16 panels today.

Using Lipo batts this thing actually works great as far as power. But I found that the thin saw wondered away from the cutline over a distance as small as 20inches. I used a fence and did a great job of keeping the base tightly against it. But over that 20 inches the saw wondered about 1/16 to 1/8 from the cut line. Recutting did not grab the extra wood, and I had to cut in reverse to get the saw to bite.

The saw was the general rip saw, very thin and had flex.

Would a finer toothed saw do better? Maybe try a smaller blade?

This almost works, but with that much drift its not good enough.

[Not_A_Llama]

Small update on the Ryobi battery powered saw. I cut up some 3/16 panels today.

Using Lipo batts this thing actually works great as far as power. But I found that the thin saw wondered away from the cutline over a distance as small as 20inches. I used a fence and did a great job of keeping the base tightly against it. But over that 20 inches the saw wondered about 1/16 to 1/8 from the cut line. Recutting did not grab the extra wood, and I had to cut in reverse to get the saw to bite.

The saw was the general rip saw, very thin and had flex.

Would a finer toothed saw do better? Maybe try a smaller blade?

This almost works, but with that much drift its not good enough.
I have a fine toothed dedicated plywood blade on mine. No wandering to speak of.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Avanti-6-1-2-in-x-140-Teeth-OSB-Plywood-Saw-Blade-A06140A/202035216

[Erni]

Thanks, those work nice.

On further inspection, I think the bearing on the saw is gone. The blade goes in and out of body a bit and probably rotates/wobblrs against the axis of the motor a few drgrees.

So with shot bearings, back to square 1.

[Not_A_Llama]

I mean, if yours is almost 20 years old, maybe it’s time to try a new one. I’ve been using mine a lot. Still very satisfied.