Justin,
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This is a highly subjective subject; therefore I can only speak for myself. As I see the design differences, I prefer the blade right sidewinder saw, particularly the Porter-Cable 315 model. I have been using these saws for over thirty years and have yet to see a better-designed saw hit the market. I especially like the one guide tilt/bevel features of this saw. No multiple guess, fat guide system, like most of the new saws has. (Even the new PC’s have this funky guide on them. If you’re not at a 90 or a 45 then you have to make an in-between guess adjustment. It works but it’s not near as nice as “One guide cuts allâ€)
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First of all you said, “When I was learning to work, the carpenter that trained me told me to use the saw blade to follow the line.†I would say that you were taught a bad habit. You were taught to ignore a feature of the saw that will make it work better for you, the guide. Both the left and right blade saws have this feature and just because you can see the blade better does not mean you should watch it. When I teach my guys proper saw techniques I tell them that the can look ant the blade as it meets the line but they should transfer their site to the guide once they have begun the cut. This is akin to aiming a gun as opposed to pointing it. Using the guide is like focusing on the front site of a gun. It increases the site radius and the blade (rear site) will follow the guide in a much better fashion. The saw is designed to do this.
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There are exceptions to all rules and here is a couple to my guide rules. A lot of cutting is done on 2/ stocks that the line is not long enough or the 2/4s are almost completely covered up by the saw as it cuts. This is the case with most 2/4 cuts and also true for scribed bird mouth cuts on rafters. There is basically no line to put the guide on for these cuts so “Blade Watching†becomes a habit. It is a bad habit if it is carried over to all cutting tasks.
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Another thing I tell my beginners is that their body has some built in features that they should not ignore either. Their senses of, sight, hearing, touch, and smell. If it looks good, sounds good, feels good, and smells good, then the saw is probable working as it is supposed too. Blade watching alone often leads to the ignoring of some of the other senses that are telling you that the saw is struggling to make the cut. If the saw is struggling then you will probably hear it and feel it, and if you can smell it you need to stop. You should stop long before you can smell it. The eyes can be fooled into thinking you are making a straight cut but the other senses can be used to confirm what the eyes are telling you.
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So whether you use a worm or a sidewinder, or a blade left or a blade right saw, remember to use all the features of the saw and pay sensible attention to the way it is cutting.
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On my pro “Blade Right†side of debate is that the blade is harder to see, unless you know where to look, but to me this is a good thing, I don’t get sawdust in my eyes as much because I keep them behind or to the left of the blade guard housing. Also, the blade is away from the body of the operator and if a kickback occurs it is less likely to hit them. I also recommend the use of earplugs and eye-protection when using a saw.
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Quote; “I Craftsman 7 1/4 that I own with the blade on the right and find it a challenge to get my cut straight.â€
Try using the guide. It might just be a poorly designed saw though. I have some new cheep little yellow DeWalt’s that are so flimsy that the guide is not held stable/sturdy enough by the material (plastic) that the saw is constructed from and depending on how hard I push the saw the guide flexes off the line in varying degrees. Sucks! I only bought them because they cut 56-degree bevels and my PC’s only cut 45’s. No wonder so many guys out there are “Blade Watchersâ€. The people who build these tools should be made to use them for a while…….in hell.
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Replies
If it’s the same article I read then I have to agree with you. I think there was a lot of room for improvement. The author was photographed contorting around and over the top of his saw so he could see either the blade or the guide from the opposite side of his saw, or so it appears. (Same article?) You should not have to contort your body to use your tool, at least not under normal circumstances. He was ignoring the features of the saw he was showing folks how to use. Excuse me for being so critical, but that’s what I remember. It was not the kind of article I expect from FHB.
I wear a bandana around my neck at work. It helps shade my neck when wearing “T”-shirts at work plus I have a ready to go dust mask when making cuts that are throwing saw dust back in my face. It helps quite a lot. Wetting it helps cool me on hot days too.
When I make my plywood cuts these days using the guide on the line and standing comfortably at the sawhorses I usually achieve a very straight cut, near table saw quality, and the straighter the cut the better, and easier, and faster, the fit.
There are a lot of other tricks to making nice easy cuts with a blade right sidewinder that make it my “Tool of Choice”. You probably know most of them already, like eyeballing the front edge of the saw table (foot) with the edge of the 2/4 to make quick accurate square cuts with only the length marked, and not squared. Remembering to keep the table, or foot, of the saw flat against the surface helps keep saws from binding.
A couple of things that I don’t like about the powerful blade left worm drive saws are;
1. The blade is so easy to see it encourages “Blade Watching” and the users often develop bad saw handling habits because of it.
2. The saws are so powerful (w/torque) that they will cut even when they are not being used properly, or have dull blades, and again helping develop bad habits.
3. I have seen them kickback and severely hurt the operator. Bad habits plus a powerful saw with the blade on the operator’s body side is just a recipe for disaster. IMO
Personally, I don’t allow them on my job unless they are being used by a lefty. Everyone else is welcome to do as they please.
Edited to add:
4. The saw is resting on the cut-off for right-handed users (Unless they are standing at he left side of the material which seems equally awkward to me). The saw often binds at the end of the cut because of this.
Edited 8/24/2005 2:51 pm ET by MrJalapeno
I don’t have the article I referred to either. My FHB subscript ran out in 11-2004 and that is the only issue I still have so the article I read came before that. I’ll have to go to the library and look up the one you are talking about. And I need to get my subscription started again. The good stuff in FHB way out weighs the poor stuff. Their circular saw article just fell a little flat with me. Like I said, “Subjective subject”, and that’s my opinionated subjective input on it. 8)