Circ saw blade

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jerrye

New User
Jerry
I mostly work with sheet goods and melamine coated board. What blade for a circ saw have you found yields minimum chipout? 7 1/4" size, BTW.

TIA :thumbs_up
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
60 tooth Diablo from HD. 40 tooth Diablo is my second choice. Do a scoring cut first, and then full depth cut, using saw guide of course.
 

Canuck

Wayne
Corporate Member
In addition to using a Diablo 60 tooth blade, I generally lay down two strips of blue tape (front and back) and rarely get any noticeable chip out.

Wayne
 

tarheelz

Dave
Corporate Member
Other ideas for chip out reduction:

1) Put good side of board down.
2) Adjust blade depth
3) Make a scoring cut first.
4) Use a sharp blade.
5) Use an good edge so that you actually go straight! (DAMHIK)
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
If your saw has a chip-out guard, make sure it is adjusted properly.

Out of curiousity I googled around trying to find a picture of a circular saw with a chip-out guard to see what that was. The closest thing I found was a reference to a Festool saw having something called a splinter guard. Is that what you were referring to? Do any circular saws besides Festool have some kind of chip-out guard?
 

Michael Mathews

Michael
Corporate Member
You could also put blue painters tape on the bottom of the circ saw, both sides of the blade. Or the other option would be to attach a piece of 1/4 ply to the bottom of the saw, then do a plunge cut...instant zero clearance throat!
 

kooshball

David
Corporate Member
Out of curiousity I googled around trying to find a picture of a circular saw with a chip-out guard to see what that was. The closest thing I found was a reference to a Festool saw having something called a splinter guard. Is that what you were referring to? Do any circular saws besides Festool have some kind of chip-out guard?

Not sure but if you search around for grizzly and scheppach track saw modifications you may see how folks are retrofitting them...
 

Charles Lent

Charley
Corporate Member
You can make a base for your existing circular saw using 1/4" plywood or Lexan. Remove the saw blade and make the base the same size as the shoe on your saw. Use flat head bolts to attach it to the saw shoe. One hole in the front and one in the back end of your saw's shoe and the new base and 2 bolts are enough. Then mark where the blade guard needs to swing down, remove the base and cut this marked area out. This opening needs to allow the full swing of the guard, but be careful not to remove material forward any more than necessary. Then, with the saw's depth of cut set as high as possible, replace the blade and this shoe on the saw and make a careful plunge cut, lowering the blade slowly down to it's lowest position while it's running This will cut a narrow saw blade slot from the guard clearance hole forward and this narrow slot will act like a zero clearance insert for the saw. I made one of these for the circular saw that I use to break up sheets of cabinet birch plywood outside of my shop before bringing the pieces inside (small crowded shop). I never worry about chipping anymore. It has worked fine for about 20 years now.

Charley
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
You can make a base for your existing circular saw using 1/4" plywood or Lexan. Remove the saw blade and make the base the same size as the shoe on your saw. Use flat head bolts to attach it to the saw shoe. One hole in the front and one in the back end of your saw's shoe and the new base and 2 bolts are enough. Then mark where the blade guard needs to swing down, remove the base and cut this marked area out. This opening needs to allow the full swing of the guard, but be careful not to remove material forward any more than necessary. Then, with the saw's depth of cut set as high as possible, replace the blade and this shoe on the saw and make a careful plunge cut, lowering the blade slowly down to it's lowest position while it's running This will cut a narrow saw blade slot from the guard clearance hole forward and this narrow slot will act like a zero clearance insert for the saw. I made one of these for the circular saw that I use to break up sheets of cabinet birch plywood outside of my shop before bringing the pieces inside (small crowded shop). I never worry about chipping anymore. It has worked fine for about 20 years now.

Charley
That is a GREAT solution Charley!
 

jerrye

New User
Jerry
Bruce, I found a 7 1/4" 56 tooth blade. I assume that is the one you are referring to?

Charley, I had already been thinking about some sort of ZCI. I like your idea, and I have some 1/4" tempered hardboard laying around. I would think the tempered side of that would be a good low friction surface to use. Any thoughts on this?
 

Charles Lent

Charley
Corporate Member
The tempered hardboard should work OK with the shiny side down. It just needs to be about 1/4" thick so the flat head screws can be countersunk into it to provide a smooth bottom. I use Lexan for router bases and for this because you can see through it, but in this case, there isn't much to see. It gets scratched and less transparent quickly so having a transparent ZCI on your saw doesn't buy you much. I used it because I always try to have some around for making router bases, so I used it for this too. Put some wax on that tempered hardboard and your saw will glide through the cut. I wax my Lexan base with Johnson's Paste Wax. Avoid using automotive waxes. Most contain silicone and the silicone will give you finishing problems when it gets on the wood. The Johnson's Wax doesn't affect the finishes.

Charley
 

jerrye

New User
Jerry
60 tooth Diablo from HD. 40 tooth Diablo is my second choice. Do a scoring cut first, and then full depth cut, using saw guide of course.

Okay, once I looked around (read: actually looked with more than a glance :rolleyes:) I found the 60. Thanks Bruce!
 

jerrye

New User
Jerry
Thanks Bruce. This blade cuts clean with very little tearout without a scoring cut. I'm impressed! I plan to make a cutting guide to use with this saw/blade combo.

Thanks again for all replies. Since I found my answer, I'll close this thread.
 
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