Cutting Wood with the Circular Saw
By: The Working Man



The Circular Saw is a powered saw with a metal disc or round
blade with saw teeth on the edge of the blade. The machine
causes the blade to spin at high rpm. A Circular Saw is used
to cut wood or other materials and can be hand-held or
mounted on a table.

There are many different types of blades that can be mounted
to the Circular Saw for cutting through different kinds of
wood, masonry, metal and plastics. Circular Saws can also be
specially made to cut different materials like metal and
masonry.  See Types of Circular Saws

Circular saw sizes are usually classified by the diameter of
their blades. Blade sizes range from three inches to sixteen
inches, but 5-3/8 inches to 7-1/4 inches are the most
common. The larger the blade, the deeper the cut. Most saws
with blade capacities of six inches or more can cut through
two inch dimensional lumber at a forty-five degree angle in
a single pass. A 5-3/8" saw can cut through two inch
dimensional lumber in one pass at ninety degrees, but
requires two passes at forty-five degrees. As a general
rule, saws with smaller blade capacity weigh less and are
easier to control.


The great majority of Circular Saws are powered by
electricity, but the very large Circular Saws that are in
operation at lumber mills may be powered by water. Now you
can also purchase cordless circular saws for use where
electricity is not available.

It is unknown who really invented the Circular Saw due to
the various claims of different people who say they were the
inventors. One such claim is made by a sail maker, Samuel
Miller of Southampton, England. He obtained a patent for a
saw windmill; however the patent does not have any
specifications, just a mention of the form of the saw. Some
people believe this means he did not invent the circular
saw; he only put the patent in for it.

Walter Taylor of Southampton originally built a sawmill in
1762 that was replaced in 1781. From descriptions of the
sawmill it is assumed that he had a Circular Saw. He did not
put a patent in for it though it was just publicized, which
makes it un-patentable.

Another claim to the invention of a Circular Saw is from
Holland in the 16th or 17th century. No more is known about
this claim.

Still another claim is that it was invented in 1813 by a
Shaker woman by the name of Tabitha Babbit. She saw the
plight of the male sawyers and supposedly invented a way to
ease their labor.

Aside from the hand held Circular Saws there are different
saws that fall under the same category and use the Circular
Saw blades:

- Miter saws (or Chop saw or Cut-off saw)
- Radial arm saws
- Saw mills
- Table saws
- Panel saws
- Biscuit joiners
- Pendulum saw
- Brush cutter

You can find these different Circular Saws at hardware
stores or lumberyards, and home supply and departments
stores usually sell the smaller versions.


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