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Left blade circular saws

22K views 45 replies 16 participants last post by  woodworkbykirk  
#1 · (Edited)
Who makes a quality left blade circular saw? I know Bosch and Milwaukee each make one. I think porter cable does too. Other than that, I dont really know of anything.

Anyone have any recommendations? Why dont more companies offer saws with blades on the left side of the motor?
 
#4 ·
PaliBob said:
All blades are unisex. They can be used on RH or LH circular saws.
.
But the ones that are marketed for LH saws have blade direction, manufacturer name etc showing while on saw! Blades marketed for RH saws will have info on blade not visible ie facing in when put on saw! For example a Freud 6 -1/2 inch blade bought for my Milwaukee LH 6310 18 volt saw has info showing but the CMT blade bought for the same saw has info facing in! So Freud had cordless LH saws in mind designing blade. It's just a pain to check that blade direction arrows match when info is on inside!
 
#6 ·
Since about 99% of ciruler saws are right hand why would any company invest the money to do that?
Not only would they have to lable everyone of the differant blades they make but then who's going to buy them? No distributor or sales outlet is going to give them the shelve space for an item with that low a turn over rate.
 
#8 ·
joecaption said:
Since about 99% of ciruler saws are right hand why would any company invest the money to do that?
Not only would they have to lable everyone of the differant blades they make but then who's going to buy them? No distributor or sales outlet is going to give them the shelve space for an item with that low a turn over rate.
Guess it's not that expensive to stamp, print etc info on the other side! FWIW I use my Bosch 1578 LH blade top handle the most! My old Dewalt 357 Right hand blade sidewinder doesn't come out to play much!
 
#9 ·
Total Tool said:
I'm not sure how anyone would think I was talking about just the blades...:huh:

The title of the thread is left blade circular saw. Anyone have input on those? Or know of any besides the Milwaukee or bosch?
I like the blade on the left! Cause as right handed person I can watch the blade cut through the line w/o looking over the saw! Plus I like the extra torque of a worm drive which are left hand blades!
 
#11 ·
Total Tool said:
Who makes a quality left blade circular saw? I know Bosch and Milwaukee each make one. I think porter cable does too. Other than that, I dont really know of anything.

Anyone have any recommendations? Why dont more companies offer left blades?
I like my bosch 1578! Not made anymore but can still be found! I like the top handle.
Most workers are rear handle!
 
#15 ·
I also find it odd that most saws have the blade on the right. If you are right handed, it would make more sense if the blade was on the left where you can see it better while cutting. When I was in the market for one I could not find any so I settled for one with the blade on the right. You can still kinda peak at it, but it requires getting your face a little closer. Wear those safety goggles. It also depends if you are cutting away from yourself, or sideways. If you are cutting sideways then it's not so much an issue. Depends what you are cutting and how you're placed.

Oddly,. the cordless ones seem to have the blade to the left, not sure why only the cordless ones though. My guess is the AC motors probably all come from the same manufacturer and they are designed to spin a certain way.
 
#18 ·
woodworkbykirk said:
they cut on the up through the bottom of the material...
Actually, the leading edge of the cut travels downward through the material (from top to bottom). This is a result of a round blade moving forward, and also because the foot can never be higher than the CL of the blade. This is evidenced by the bottom of the material being the 'last' area to be cut. The teeth are moving up, but the cut is moving from top to bottom.
 
#23 · (Edited)
woodworkbykirk said:
??????
the only way for a circ saw to cut on the downstroke is if you are going backwards..... as the blade cuts up from below at the front of the saw.. believe it or not this is a question that is asked on the national exam for a carpenters red seal
I didn't say "on the downstroke". I said the cut moves downward.

True or false: at any given point along the cut line, the bottom of the material is the last portion to be cut?

True. The stock is being cut from top to bottom.

I would be inclined to challenge the authors of the national carpenters red seal exam.
 
#26 ·
I didn't say "on the downstroke". I said the cut moves downward.

True or false: at any given point along the cut line, the bottom of the material is the last portion to be cut?
The blades tooth still makes the cut from the bottom of the material upwards.

The fact that the blade is circular has no bearing upon whether it cuts on the upstroke or not. The fact that it rotates from bottom to top does.

If you want to get technical, the cut does not move from top to bottom or vice-versa, it moves forward from the beginning of the cut to the end.
 
#27 ·
woodworkbykirk said:
then why is it that when your making finish grade cut on a peice of wood you put the good side down when using a circular saw.
Because the teeth are moving upward...as you and I both originally stated. This moves the splinters into the stock, if you will. It's just that the top surface of the stock gets cut before the bottom surface, so the entire cut along the stock moves from top to bottom.
 
#28 · (Edited)
loneframer said:
The blades tooth still makes the cut from the bottom of the material upwards.

The fact that the blade is circular has no bearing upon whether it cuts on the upstroke or not. The fact that it rotates from bottom to top does.

If you want to get technical, the cut does not move from top to bottom or vice-versa, it moves forward from the beginning of the cut to the end.
Ehhh, not really.

1. Any given tooth will contact the highest level of available stock in its path.

2. The circular shape has EVERYTHING to do with this phenomenon. Remember, the foot on a normal saw can't be higher than the center of the blade.

3. The cut only moves forward if you push the saw forward. I'm discussing the vertical components...which in fact are derived when one pushes (or pulls) the saw.
 
#31 ·
You gentlemen can argue symantics all you want. There is a reason that the top of the workpiece is what splinters while making the cut and that is because all the energy of the spinning blade is coming from bottom toward the top as the teeth rake out material from the kerf.

For the sake of argument, suppose the workpiece has parallel bevels of 45 degrees with the long point of the bevel on the bottom at the point of blade entry. Now the cut starts and finishes from bottom to top.