Circular Saws - Worm Drive vs. Direct Drive

[TravisG]

Ryan- gotta agree w/ just about everybody on here. I feed my family w/ a Skil 77 mag. All week on the Union job and on the weekend for the side jobs (Don't tell my Business Agent ) Can't beat it. And I also agree w/ whoever said not to overtighten the nut.

 

[GFritsch]

Mag 77 if you want a great saw to cut for years. Not to sound like a warrior, but I wedge the guard back all the time. Also don't have a gaurd on the table saw. Still got all my fingers after all these years. :-laf



Just got to be a little smarter than the tools and the materials. The worst accident I have seen involved a router,

 

[JohnRobinson]

1/2 of my saws dont have guards on them but cant use them when saftey inspectors are around i count my fingers every 2 minuts

 

[Allnew2Me]

In all my years of driving a 77 there have been very few instances where actually pinning back the guard was needed, and that was really due to being lazy. Even when taking a trim off the right end of a board when the guard doesn't contact the full edge of the board, it still is very easy to just tip it up and cut. I have seen the guys with a nail in the lever and they are scary. Imagine setting the saw down with it still winding down with the guard up, or making the cut and then resting it against your thigh. Not a pretty picture. The problem is that most of the time if you use the guard, you are always expecting it to be there and it is way too easy to forget you have it pinned up. A table saw is different in that many times the cut being made is not a complete cut, as in a rabbit, dado or groove, and the blade is always in the same place, it doesn't move. An exposed blade that moves around is a little more dangerous. If you use spinning steel you are at risk and to pin up a guard is just asking for trouble. Better to learn the tool within the limits of its design and not take the chance of a bite.

 

[GFritsch]

In all my years of driving a 77 there have been very few instances where actually pinning back the guard was needed, and that was really due to being lazy. Even when taking a trim off the right end of a board when the guard doesn't contact the full edge of the board, it still is very easy to just tip it up and cut. I have seen the guys with a nail in the lever and they are scary. Imagine setting the saw down with it still winding down with the guard up, or making the cut and then resting it against your thigh. Not a pretty picture. The problem is that most of the time if you use the guard, you are always expecting it to be there and it is way too easy to forget you have it pinned up. A table saw is different in that many times the cut being made is not a complete cut, as in a rabbit, dado or groove, and the blade is always in the same place, it doesn't move. An exposed blade that moves around is a little more dangerous. If you use spinning steel you are at risk and to pin up a guard is just asking for trouble. Better to learn the tool within the limits of its design and not take the chance of a bite.

Your advice is good. For the average user pinning the guard back invites a possible injury. The most common is setting the saw down with the blade still moving and having the saw run back over the foot. For those of us who have got used to making bevel cuts w/o adjusting the saw and wanting to make those trim cuts a little faster, tighter and truer w/o dropping the blade there is no danger with the proper experience. A saw is just a dangerous as the experience of the user. I have seen some scary use of almost every tool including the fella who took his finger off with a 1 inch chisel.

 

[JohnRobinson]

funnny i find it hard to use a saw with a guard maybe to old school &to stupid but would not ever recomend pinning the guard up

 

[Allnew2Me]

You want to talk about scary? This is a true story. I was trimming a custom a year ago and this other carpenter, a guy old enough to know better, puts a Skilsaw blade on a 4" grinder. Needless to say the guard was gone and he was going to trim something when I told him that there was no way I would let him even plug the thing in. He didn't understand why I was concerned and I told him that even if the blade that was designed to spin at no more than 4000 rpm held together at 10000 rpm, didn't he think maybe a sawzall would be a better choice? I love the process of natural selection don't you?

 

[TravisG]

I have seen some scary use of almost every tool including the fella who took his finger off with a 1 inch chisel.

OUCH!!!!!!! ​

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

I think you mean



DOAH!!!!

:-laf

 

[rbattelle]

There's a local Sears Hardware going out of business selling the HD77 Skilsaw for $139 plus 10% off. I'm going to jump on it tomorrow. Can't wait! Oo.



-Ryan

 

[JohnRobinson]

hi ryan that sounds like a good deal i pay 125. 00 ea cash [out of a guys trunk] good luck you will enjoy john

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Good pick, you'll enjoy it.



BUT... I was hoping for a Bosch trial report. :-laf

 

[tmacc]

"cash [out of a guys trunk] " Having had my truck and two employee's trucks broken into over the past 15 years, I have a very low opinion of anybody that approaches me w/ a "good deal" out of their trunk. The tools most likely were ripped off from a working carpenter or a small businessman like myself. That means I have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and pay for them again. Even if they came off the dock at Home depot, we all pay for it. OK, rant over.

BTW Note to everyone. The thieves hang out at the parking lots of HD and Lowe's looking for targets of opportunity. I can't tell you how many guys I've talked too that have had tools stolen there. I have a Reading Ind. contractors cap w/ HD locks and they would still try at least once a year to get into it.

 

[rbattelle]

Dumb Question

Okay, I've got this new beauty and I'm ready to make some cuts. One problem: the arbor is shaped like a large diamond. The blades I bought have a round hole in the middle (of course) and have a diamond-shaped perforation. Am I supposed to just pound out that perforation? Is there a special technique involved that prevents the blade from bending during that process? I've already pounded on it pretty hard using a screwdriver but it doesn't budge and I'm afraid of bending the crap out of the blade.



Or do I need to buy blades specifically designed for wormdrive saws?



-Ryan

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

I just lay the blade across a couple blocks of wood and use a nail set, duplex nail, nail, or what ever else will do the job to knock out the knock-out. Tap it at the apex of one of the diamonds.

 

[rbattelle]

Thanks, Traildog. I'm embarassed to have not known. Yeah, I'm a rookie.



Just tried out the saw on a couple scrap pieces of lumber. All I have to say is: it was AWESOME! The first thing I noticed was how remarkably quiet the saw is. Okay, maybe quiet isn't the right word. I have relatively sensitive hearing and direct-drive circular saws always have this horribly high-pitched scream that cuts right into my brain. This saw is MUCH lower in pitch, and I don't find the noise painful at all. I could easily use this saw sans earplugs.



The second thing I noticed was how remarkably well balanced it seems. Perhaps due to its high weight it transmits very little vibration into your hand. Very little. The phrase "smooth as silk" comes to mind.



When cutting, the awesome power of the saw is apparent even on small pieces of lumber (I cross-cut a 2x4 a few times and a 1x12 I had laying around). The change in pitch that accompanies the drop in RPM as you operate an ordinary direct-drive saw was absent; I don't think the saw even noticed it was cutting!



Having the blade on the left might actually take more getting used to than I thought.



Everything I've read about this saw is true: the power, the build quality, the toughness, and the weight. And it's made in the US. Seems like not many power tools left that are made in the US.



BTW, my warranty documentation specifically states that Skil is owned by Bosch. But the Skil website says they're owned by "S-B Tools". Did Skil recently change ownership?



Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Allnew2Me]

Like Traildog said, just tap the insert out and you are good. Just make sure you don't bend the blade and remember when you tighten the blade nut (left hand Thread) not to over tighten it, that won't allow the clutch to function. You can tell the difference between worm blades and others because the logo is printed on the opposite side of the blade on a worm saw so you see it with the blade on the left. If you don't see it, you are going to smoke! Skil was bought by Bosch quite a few years ago and it is now S-B tools, for Skil Bosch. The reason it is so quiet is because the worm drive runs in an oil bath. You can even change it with 77 lube. When it is cold out it takes a few minutes to warm the oil and speed up. It also runs slower with more torque, like our trucks.

 

[GFritsch]

Just tried out the saw on a couple scrap pieces of lumber. All I have to say is: it was AWESOME!

QUOTE]



Yea it is a nice saw. Funny how after using skilsaws for all these years I take for granted how well this tool works. On the job these saws are abused every day and just keep on going. I have skilsaws that are 20 years old, and with minimal maintainance this will be the last saw you will ever need. As with any saw the real power is a sharp blade. Enjoy.



Greg

 

[JohnRobinson]

tmacc sorry i didnt mean to imply stolen the saws and tools are legit w/recipt he does not have a store he goes to jobsites & sells cash only sometimes taxed &sometimes not depending how much you buy he has verry little overhead hope this helps my typeing skills are terrible sorry john

 

[rbattelle]

You can tell the difference between worm blades and others because the logo is printed on the opposite side of the blade on a worm saw so you see it with the blade on the left. If you don't see it, you are going to smoke!

Logo's on the wrong side, so you can't see it mounted on the saw. At first I thought that might mean there are "special" worm drive blades, but then I realized there are left-hand and right-hand versions of most direct-drive circular saws, and since there are no right and left hand blades at the store they must all be the same.



The blade didn't make any smoke... why would it smoke with the printing on the wrong side? Or do you mean if I installed the blade backward (so it was rotating the wrong way)? I certainly didn't do that.



-Ryan