Entry-level circular saw

[doug748]

Buy the 40 quid saw, it will work till you know what you are doing and what you want. Keep your fingers out of the road.

 

[TLouth7]

I have the Macallister (my second after lending the first to my sister) and use it regularly. Yes it is a bit cheap, so the adjustments (depth, angle etc) are a little naff. It cuts just fine though. One major weakness is that the straight line guide is rubbish, so I always just clamp a batten (e.g. offcut of ply) along the line to be cut.

Personally I really like circular saws - any time you think of using a jigsaw, but want a straight cut, you use a circ saw. With a bit of thinking you can do anything a table saw could do (e.g. I ripped a big piece of teak) without needing a really long workshop. Also you are less likely to chop your fingers off!

Just as with a jigsaw getting a nice edge on ply can be tricky, mostly this comes down to choice of blade, and not buying the cheapest grade ply.

I would wholeheartedly recommend buying the Macallister.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Buy the 40 quid saw, it will work till you know what you are doing and what you want. Keep your fingers out of the road.

I would still suggest that he buys a cheap track saw to that end I found these videos

There are loads more, I am not particularly a fan of PM videos but it's a start for someone starting out.

 

[Stemar]

Cheap power tools invariably lead to ... bald patches on one’s head.

So that's what I've been doing wrong. Still, it does save on combs and shampoo

Buy the 40 quid saw, it will work till you know what you are doing and what you want. Keep your fingers out of the road.

That's my philosophy when buying tools. I've bought numerous cheap ones over the years and still have most of them. A typical example was a big angle grinder that I bought in Aldidl (can't remember which) for less the £20 to cut slabs for a patio. I figured that if it lasted long enough to do the patio I'd have had my money's worth. 20 years and a couple of full house and garden refurbishments later, it's still going. Aldidl tools generally seem to be decent DIY quality. If I use one enough to wear it out, then it's time to buy DeWalt or similar.

The one area I do get quality is in a cordless drill and screwdriver, and drill and screwdriver bits (Aldidl's are far too brittle) and hand screwdrivers. A worn screwdriver, whether manual or electric, is one of the quickest ways I know to wreck a project.

 

[Moodysailor]

I have nothing constructive to add to this, but would just like to say thanks to the contributors. We have some interior work planned this winter and has started looking at table saws & circular saws. The advice above has helped me greatly.
I may get chastised for this, but i'm a Ryobi One+ tools guy - I only "tinker" with woodwork so the quality seems fine for my basic needs, the cost is about right and they have a huge range for all areas that uses the same batteries. I have lights, garden tools, drills, drivers, etc.

 

[Graham376]

I would still suggest that he buys a cheap track saw to that end I found these videos

Nothing much wrong with the cheap saws, the problem is they usually come with a couple of very short tracks and some don't fit long tracks of other makes.

 

[Mister E]

I have nothing constructive to add to this, but would just like to say thanks to the contributors. We have some interior work planned this winter and has started looking at table saws & circular saws. The advice above has helped me greatly.
I may get chastised for this, but i'm a Ryobi One+ tools guy - I only "tinker" with woodwork so the quality seems fine for my basic needs, the cost is about right and they have a huge range for all areas that uses the same batteries. I have lights, garden tools, drills, drivers, etc.

B&Q had a deal on the Ryobi circular saw a couple of weeks age. They might have the offer still on. I would have bought one but had just got the Parkside 20v one.

 

[Moodysailor]

B&Q had a deal on the Ryobi circular saw a couple of weeks age. They might have the offer still on. I would have bought one but had just got the Parkside 20v one.

Good to know, thanks. I need to get some paint anyway.....

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Nothing much wrong with the cheap saws, the problem is they usually come with a couple of very short tracks and some don't fit long tracks of other makes.

As far as I know (check the Peter Millard videos ) the Aldi one and I think the evolution one fit to the Festool / Makita track There is nothing problematic about joining the 1.4M rails I have been doing that for a couple of years and providing you align the back edge with a good straight edge when you join them there is no problem or at least not one that I can measure on 2M+ cuts. Some people say the Bosch / Mafil rail joining system is the best but I don't find a problem with the Festool joining.

 

[Blueboatman]

I have never ever regretted buying top end power tools ( when I could haha )
Otoh the nastiest noisiest tool I ever threw away was a Macalluster pad sander . Bought only because the switch died on my good ‘un and it was what was available on that day in that place . £40 pished away really . Man , vibration and howling noise ugh
Otoh 2. Lidl inexpensive tools seem to be a ahem cut above , pound for pound and the warranty is good
For what it’s worth I have TWO DeW compound saws on a bench with different blades and a DeW 71/4 for panel sawing ..just do the job without fuss or faff

I would say , to the OP, since he is asking us to decide , buy Lidl AND
Makita !
And make one of them a bench compound mitre saw ?
And grab a spare discarded cyclone vacuum cleaner to take care of the dust ?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I have never ever regretted buying top end power tools ( when I could haha )
Otoh the nastiest noisiest tool I ever threw away was a Macalluster pad sander . Bought only because the switch died on my good ‘un and it was what was available on that day in that place . £40 pished away really . Man , vibration and howling noise ugh
Otoh 2. Lidl inexpensive tools seem to be a ahem cut above , pound for pound and the warranty is good
For what it’s worth I have TWO DeW compound saws on a bench with different blades and a DeW 71/4 for panel sawing ..just do the job without fuss or faff

I would say , to the OP, since he is asking us to decide , buy Lidl AND
Makita !
And make one of them a bench compound mitre saw ?
And grab a spare discarded cyclone vacuum cleaner to take care of the dust ?

I agree in terms of buying "quality" tools be they spanners sockets or woodworking stuff and I would have no hesitation saying buy a Festool track saw but the OP is at the budget end of the market.
For woodworking power tools I buy Festool, Makita and occasionally DeWalt. although I did buy a cheap multi saw the other week because I had to remove a section of skirting board and it was far easier to use that than any other way of doing the job. I doubt I will use it again though.

 

[Blueboatman]

I concur
If one is lucky enough to have a sense of what is ok then some of the design and spec on value range tooling is perfectly acceptable .
The knack is to know what is just frustrating tat, or as the OP, to ask of those who have ventured before ..

I have seen Black and Decker power planes in boatyard daily abuse which refused to die ! Albeit they did cry out each day ?

 

[DownWest]

I would not buy that mini saw as my first circular saw, too limiting. For less money a bigger one will be more versitile and faster. You can always mount one under a table to make a simple bench saw. Handling big sheets of ply on a bench saw is tricky, which is partly why that top end one from Screwfix is much more expensive as it has the kit to handle sheets. I don't have a track saw, but it is on the list if I do another big sheet project. At the mo, I just use straight edges to guide the saws.

I concur
If one is lucky enough to have a sense of what is ok then some of the design and spec on value range tooling is perfectly acceptable .
The knack is to know what is just frustrating tat, or as the OP, to ask of those who have ventured before ..

I have seen Black and Decker power planes in boatyard daily abuse which refused to die ! Albeit they did cry out each day ?

Gone off DeWalt after looking inside a drill that conked just out of warranty. Cheaply done and nothing like as good as my older angle grinder. I also have an older B&D two speed drill that is Italian. Their label is on one side and B&D's on the other. Brute of a tool with wristbreaking torque. Had it for 40yrs I just realised..

 

[Blueboatman]

Time for an ‘oldest working power tool ‘ thread perhaps ?

Iirc The Times did one on incandescent lightbulbs which was illuminating

 

[Rappey]

Being a tradesman I have a whole range of makita. Could have just as easily ended up with dewalt , milwaukee etc.
My friend has bought many lidls cordless tools. They seem quite well made and nice to use. The batteries always seem to be an in stock item along with a range of power tools and great value for money. For diy use I would certainly consider them.
Their cordless circular saw was very smooth and felt like a quality tool.

 

[TernVI]

What's the job needing to be done?
Sometimes you're better off with an £8 handsaw.....

 

[savageseadog]

There's quite a number of very cheap second hand Makita power saws on ebay.

 

[LadyInBed]

Sometimes you're better off with an £8 handsaw...

Talking of hand saws, I do like the Japanese style draw saws, they seem to easily produce a straight line cut with very little effort.

As for battery tools, I have never regretted buying cheap tools for diy use, mainly Lidl. The biggest issue that I have found, especially with expensive tools is that it's expensive to replace the battery, not an issue with Lidl.
I have an 'expensive' DeWalt drill that has been through 4 batteries in about 6 or 7 years and the latest pair are now not holding charge.
I find that the one thing worth buying good quality are drill bits and interchangeable cutting blades, which normally fit cheap tools as well as their branded device.

 

[dancrane]

More thanks, all round. Please, let's not get into the cordless question. I love my cordless Bosch tools but a circular saw seems to be so power-hungry and unsuited to remote working, that there's no advantage in paying twice as much for cordless.

My current project was cutting a 1200mm x 900mm sheet of ply into strips, for some heavyweight laminating...

...which I have since considered may be entirely unnecessary. So, I'm tempted to use the ply (and quite a lot more) to make a decent workbench instead. The absence of a bench makes all my DIY frustrating and difficult.

Hand-saws had crossed my mind but I decided I'm tired of the uneven cuts that I always end up with. I can see that early misadventures with a power-saw may quickly waste far more plywood than all my poor work with a hand saw, but it looks easier.

So I don't even have a particular job in hand, and I might not use a power-saw more than five times in ten years...I'm just tired of the scruffy results (especially over large pieces) that the hand-saw gives.

 

[Blueboatman]

Scaffold boards make brilliant workbench because you can hinge them to the wall and , with stout feet/legs, they don’t bend and flex ( ooer Mrs ) as you work away ...