Let's talk skilsaw/ portable circular saw issues

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67Dart273

67Dart273

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I have several portable circular saws, Gramps/ Dad / others always called them "skilsaws." I don't have a table saw, and have done many cuts in large panels using a clamped -to- the work fence made of a factory pressboard shelf, angle iron, or other straight object

IT IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM getting a saw with a blade parallel to the darn saw table/ shoe

I have one or two saws, have made a particle board shoe using an uncut edge, carefully wasted time squaring the blade to the "new" shoe edge. BUT THIS sometimes gets in the way of the guard, and detracts from the cut depth

Any of you guys (girls) do this? Whaddaya do to parallel the blade, accessary shoe, etc??

This photo, stolen off the www, shows the idea at hand. My shoe is nowhere near this large

fetch
 
Usually just clamp a fence the distance of the blade away from cut.

Another way is to just build a jig
 
I bought a $79 ryobi plastic table saw. It is light, I can carry it out in the yard & use it so I don’t make a mess inside. It is not the most accurate thing, but I am just a hack carpenter anyway. Makes most jobs easy compared to a skillsaw. When I am done with it, I hang it up on a hook on the garage wall.
 
get a wood table, invert the saw through the wood just like its in the pic (that shoe would become the table) and make yourself a table saw. Run the fence parallel to blade. When your 'shoe' is not parallel, what do your cuts look like off a fence? seems the kerf would just be wider than the blade the amount of angle its off parallel, but youd still get a straight cut?
 
If the factory shoe is not parallel to the blade , no way will the cut be accurate , period . If the bearings are worn in the saw , same result . I use a 7 1/4" worm drive Skil with a metal shoe . To make a saw guide : cut 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood (not chipboard) 1 @ 8" and one @ 6" . Fasten them together with an offset a little more than the offset from the shoe to the blade . Run the saw down the offset . The jig is complete except for clamps of your choice . Hope this helps .
 
I would never check my measurements using the back side of the shoe, as shown in the picture you provided. I would not use wood either, lexan or something similar. I just looked at both of my saws a Skill and an older Craftsman, no adjustments for that type of issue.

I would suggest removing the wood shoe and make another check, using the factory metal fence, making sure you use the same area on the blade (the area right behind the tooth) for the front and back measurements. Put your “new shoe extension” to compensate the difference.

Just the front of blade and fence does the cutting the back side is along for the ride, if it binds on the long cuts yes you have problems.

Generally I find if I start getting bad cuts, the blade is the problem, gummy areas, bent, broken dull saw teeth or just the wrong blade for the job….

My first cut of the day, always is to make sure the blade is square with the shoe……
 
383Scampman said:
If the factory shoe is not parallel to the blade , no way will the cut be accurate , period . .
Click to expand...

"The obvious" LOL and that is the problem. I think part of the problem is, that the factory shoe is not "stable." They all have the blade tilt/ depth tilt nonsense, and this I think is where the movement comes. One post I saw on the www the guy had a high quality saw with a CAST shoe and even it was out of square.

So far as the comments about a table saw, no, they can be just as bad as a skilsaw, and much more difficult when you have a large panel likea 4x8
 
One problem with bearings is some of these saws were never that 'tight' to start with lol
 
As stated^^ the only thing that you will notice is a little wider cut. And if it is really out of adjustment, binding. Line will still be straight, just a little wider then the blade....Really...
I Have a cabinet shop, and of course you want everything nuts on, BUT.......
 
Mopar Tim said:
As stated^^ the only thing that you will notice is a little wider cut. And if it is really out of adjustment, binding. Line will still be straight, just a little wider then the blade....Really...
I Have a cabinet shop, and of course you want everything nuts on, BUT.......
Click to expand...


Binding is the problem. The saw I had setup worked great last time I remember, now it is binding. I don't remember dropping the damn thing. "We'll see...........>"
 
I looked at my old Black & Decker, made in the 1960's. Aluminum shoe with riveted uprights that hold the motor and blade. Medium grade saw or better. It's been a good tough saw. I noticed it has a screw with a ball end on the back of the shoe. By loosening the lock nut and turning the screw you can adjust the shoe parallel to the blade. It's a 7 1/2'' blade. I use the regular width blade, not the narrow kerf.

I made a 'square' piece of wood about 1/2'' thick and the width of the shoe to the inside of the blade [see pic in post #1], then made the length about 1/8'' longer. This is handy when you clamp down your straight edge to the marks or line you want to cut.

A sharp blade is important.
 
I may be able to get at this later today. Yesterday it rained ALL day. "Spring" (late winter) in the N end of Idaho LOL
 
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