Mini circular saw?

[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...140A/202035216