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Just about everybody I know uses a circular saw to cut wood but a lot of times they struggle with it because maybe the wood splinters or you cannot keep a straight line as you cut. I am going to show you some tricks today. It is going to turn you into a professional.

The first thing you need to know about circular saws is which way the blade rotates. I know you are thinking that it does not make sense but I will show why.

Most circular saw blades rotate this direction so that the blade is cutting up towards you is the front of the blade moves through the wood. Here is why it is important to know which way that saw blade spins. Look at this piece of wood. You can see the graining in a wood. The grain runs this direction. So if I am cutting parallel with the grain, I am not going to have too many problems with splintering but if I decide to cut this piece of wood this direction, I am going to have big problems unless I take a couple of steps.

Look at all these splinters, what a mess. I am going to show how to avoid that. The thing I like to do is cut along the line where you are going to cut with a razor knife and actually prescour that grain and then when you cut with a saw cut slowly. Notice on this side of the line there is no splintering but over here with the saw blade was not against a cut line, you can see the splinters that I have got over here.

The final thing I would like to show you is how to cut curves with the circular saw, really simple. First thing you need to know is what is the thickness of the material you are cutting through. This is like half inch plywood but look at the way the saw is set up right now. Look how deep it is cutting. The trick is to adjust the depth of the cut so that it is just a fraction on an inch over the thickness of the material.

Check out that curved cut with the circular saw. Maybe that is why they call it a circle. I am Tim Carter, ask the builder.

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