Circular Saw Tips

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Circular saws are the go-to tool for crosscutting and ripping lumber and plywood. But a circular saw's strengths don't stop there. You can cut nearly anything with a circular saw provided you use the right blade. Here are some of our favorite techniques for cutting wood more efficiently and cutting almost anything else you can think of.

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8d ripping assistant
Work off the stack
Cutting through stone and masonry
Mini circ saws
Nonbinding compound cuts
Your foot as a sawhorse
Cutting thin metal
Steep bevel cuts
Cutting curves
Dealing with pipe
One-step roof cuts
Perfect, painless, safe siding cuts

Article

8d ripping assistant

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Nail boards to sawhorses for stability

Whenever you have to rip boards and there’s no table saw around, nail the board down to the top of the horses with 8d nails. Just keep the nails away from the cut. It’s much safer than holding the board with one hand while you cut with the other. And you’ll get a straighter cut. When the cut is complete, pull the board free, tap out the nails to expose the heads and jerk them out.

Work off the stack

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Cut boards where they are

Don’t pick up sheets of plywood and place them on horses every time you have a cut to make. Save your back and your time. Get down on your knees and work off the stack. Slip a couple of 2x4s under the sheet undergoing surgery, make your marks and then your cut. It’s that simple. By the way, a drywall square is the perfect tool for marking crosscuts on plywood.

Cutting through stone and masonry

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Use diamond blades

Forget about those throwaway abrasive masonry blades. Diamond blades have dropped in price in recent years ($25), and they’re the key for this task. Find a volunteer to hold a slow-running garden hose right at the cut while you saw your way through. That’ll keep the blade cool, speed up the cut and eliminate dust. And don’t worry. It’s safe as long as you’re plugged into a GFCI-protected outlet.

Mini circ saws

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Smaller saws are light and versatile

If you have a yen for an extra circular saw, consider picking a mini saw with a blade in the 5- to 6-in. range. You’ll love it. It’s much lighter than a standard 7-1/4-in. saw, yet you can still cut 1-1/2-in.-thick material at 90 degrees. But here’s the big reason. On most mini saws, the blade is on the left side of the motor (called a “left-tilt saw”). Sometimes, this saw will fit in places where a larger saw won’t.

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Conventional saws are right-tilt

Mini circ saws also come in handy to cut bevels that are awkward or impossible with conventional right-tilt saws.

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Nonbinding compound cuts

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Pull back guard for steep angles

Cutting steep angles, especially if they're compound (cuts with a bevel and an angle), requires one special step. That’s pulling the guard back from the blade as you begin the cut. Skip this step and your guard will get bound up as you enter the cut and make it impossible to continue.

Your foot as a sawhorse

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Prop board on your foot (safely)

Master this trick and you won’t have to lug lumber to the sawhorse for every cut. It’s simple and saves countless trips back and forth. It’s also perfectly safe as long as you keep your foot at least 12 in. away from the cut. Just prop the board on your foot with the other end resting on the floor or ground. Tilt the board up and make the cut.

Cutting thin metal

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Use a metal-cutting blade

With a metal-cutting blade in your circular saw, metal roofing cuts as easily as aluminum foil. No magic to it—just place the show side down for a nicer finish. If you have metal to get rid of, like old exterior doors or even old metal tanks, you can cut them up into bite-size chunks that’ll fit in the trash can or make them easier to haul to the dump.

Steep bevel cuts

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Subtract the angle you want from 90

Most circular saws will make bevel cuts of only 45 degrees. Here’s a trick for cutting bevels that exceed 45 degrees. Let’s say you need a 55-degree bevel. Subtract 55 (or whatever bevel you’re after) from 90 and set your saw at that bevel (in this case, 35 degrees).

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Support saw base with a block as you cut

Next, clamp or screw a block even with the end of the board to support the saw base while you cut. The blade probably won’t complete the cut, but it’s easy to finish it with a handsaw or reciprocating saw. This trick works for compound cuts as well. Cut the angle first with the saw at 90 degrees, and then use the off-cut to support the saw while you cut.

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Cutting curves

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Use a circ saw for gradual curves

A circular saw will do a sterling job for long, gradual curves in a fraction of the time a jigsaw will. Plus, you’ll get a much smoother cut. If you’re cutting plywood, set the saw to cut just deep enough to cut through the wood. The deeper the blade, the harder it’ll be to make the cut because it’ll get bound in the kerf. If you’re cutting thicker material, cut halfway through on the first pass and then make a second, deeper final cut following the original cut.

Dealing with pipe

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Works for any pipe except cast iron

A circular saw makes short work of pipe—any kind but cast iron. Use a fine-tooth carbide blade for PVC, ABS or copper. Choose a metal-cutting blade for cutting up steel, such as fence posts, and metal plumbing pipe.

One-step roof cuts

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Cuts through shingles and decking

Sometimes you need to cut a hole in a roof for roof vents, chimneys, skylights, whatever. You don’t have to remove shingles before you cut. Just stick an old carbide blade in your saw and plunge-cut right through the shingles and decking.

Perfect, painless, safe siding cuts

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Build a jig

Cutting lap siding is tough because it’s awkward to “four-wheel” the saw over the laps. Next time you’re faced with cutting through siding, make a plywood cutting jig. Screw a 1x3 or 1x4 fence to a 12-in. strip of plywood about 6 in. from the edge. Then rip off the excess plywood.

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Screw it to the wall

Snap guidelines on the siding. Then align and screw the jig right to the siding with the edge of the plywood directly over the desired cutting line, and set the cutting depth to cut just through the siding, including the thickness of the jig. The saw’s base will ride on the flat surface and you’ll get a perfect cut every time. With a diamond blade, this trick works great for stucco, too.

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