Saws

Here are my two favorite Makita circular saws. My first saw ever was a Hypoid, but it's power oriented for hacking wood. I like a lower center of gravity with a more positive if not less aggressive saw for stability and cleaner cuts. Even for framing-if you're going to cut a piece of wood, might as well do it right-safe, square, clean and enjoy the process.

The 5.25" I purchased over 20 years ago for about 120 dollars. This was almost as much as the more common 7.5" saws back then. This little guy now sell for about 250 dollars when you can find one, about twice what the average circular saw is going for. But you only need to ever buy one because they just go and go and go.

I hope to get the same longevity and rock solid performance from my new and 16" big bad beam saw.

I've begun looking at different lines of tools, fancier more expensive European tools, frustrated with the crap in the box stores. Dewalt tools bug me, Hitachi is ugly, Bosch is really hit or miss as is Porter Cable, and none of the companies

make a 7-8" saw that's worth a damn. So I gave up on a mid sized and started looking at 10" saws. Only one, Milwaukee, and it's got to be the worst design I've ever seen. Just inspect the foot/saw attachment and adjust it.

ToolTalk-On the little saws, most people make a little hook with about 12g stiff wire and run it through the eye on the top of the foot that hinges it to the saw. The little hook, about an inch from the base, catches the flat part of the guard in the open position and holds it. I'm going to have to do something like this for the big guy which is a little scary. There's a lot of blade showing with the guard up and with a 7.5 " depth of cut (at 90) that's just about enough to get through my entire leg. Ah, but at least I could design and build a better leg than that clunky think of Mr. hooks!