How to work with an electric saw

Electric saws, like any tool, require certain rules of operation. Powered saws equipped with sharp cutting discs or blades are unsafe tools. Improper handling can result in serious injury to the operator. Therefore, you should use the electric saw with the utmost care, observing certain safety rules.

Safety precautions when working with an electric saw

Since this power tool is equipment that is characterized by increased injury, certain safety precautions must be observed when working with a saw.

General safety requirements

To work with circular electric saws must be allowed persons over 18 years of agewho have been instructed and have practical training in working with these tools. Employees are strictly prohibited from smoking in the workplace. Also, the staff should have an idea about the methods of fire fighting and first aid. First aid kit and fire extinguisher should be in easily accessible places. In case of poor health, the machine operator must refuse to perform work.

Safety requirements before starting work

At work foreign objects must not be present. It is necessary to remove all objects from the working table of the unit (wrenches and adjusting keys), and also to free all approaches to it. The floor near the work area must be non-slip, clean and dry to prevent the operator from accidentally falling onto the running machine. The machine must be well grounded.

Operator clothing should be well buttoned and tucked in. You can not approach the machine with the developing ends of the clothes. Long hair should be picked up and hidden under a headdress. The eyes of the machine operator must be protected by goggles, and the respiratory tract by a respirator or a regular medical mask (available at a pharmacy). It is also recommended to protect your hearing organs with special headphones.

Before starting the saw, you should check:

• serviceability of the saw blade (are there any broken cutters, dirt, sharpening quality);
• the reliability of its fastening;
• correct installation of the riving knife and guide bar;
• the presence of a protective cover.

If a hand-held circular saw with a short electric cable is used, an extension cord will be needed to allow the operator to move freely within the work area. A hand-held electric saw must be equipped with a soft start system to prevent the tool from jerking when starting.

If it is not provided for by the design of the unit, then you can also connect a soft start through an outdoor module made by yourself or bought in China.

Safety rules during work

Before starting to cut with a circular saw, let the machine idle. If abnormalities are found in the operation of the unit, it should be turned off and the faults repaired. During the sawing process, the following rules should be observed.

1. When starting work, the machine operator must be to the left of the machine, near the left (front) corner of the desktop, so that if the part is accidentally ejected, it does not injure the operator.
2. Workpieces before sawing should be carefully inspected to exclude the presence of nails, ice, dried dirt or concrete that may fall on the cut line.
3. Never pass any objects over the rotating saw of the machine.
4. If the board has a crack or knots, then at the moment the saw approaches these places, the feed of the workpiece should be slowed down.
5. Do not bring the workpiece close to the saw with your hands. For this there are special pushers.
6. The circular saw must not be used with the riving knife and guard removed.
7. To change the blade on a circular saw, you must first completely de-energize the unit. Turning it off with a button will not be enough.

If a the partner helps the machinist to take the boardthen he must also adhere to the rules:

• the board should be taken without distortion;
• the part can be removed from the table only after it has completely passed through the riving knife;
• having accepted the part, it should be put aside (piling up) and clean the workplace near the saw blade from scraps using a long stick;
• Do not pull the workpiece towards you while sawing.
• the feeding of the board to the saw should be only from the side of the machine operator, who controls the movement of the workpiece.

Rules for working with circular saws

Working with manual and stationary circular saws requires a certain sequence of actions, which we will discuss below.

Manual models

If you have to work with a hand-held circular saw, then first you need to select a saw blade that matches the type of work ahead, adjust the sawing depth and tilt of the equipment. The depth of cut of a circular saw is set according to the following principle: the tooth of the saw blade must protrude from the workpiece either to half or completely.

To work you should:

• fix the workpiece on the workbench with clamps (you can not hold the workpiece with your hands);
• position the tool on the workpiece so that the saw blade does not touch it;
• start the engine of the unit and wait until the equipment picks up full speed;
• holding the machine firmly in your hands, cut, pressing the sole of the hand saw to the workpiece;
• after finishing sawing, make sure that the casing has returned to its original position, after which you need to turn off the machine.

Important! Never leave an unplugged unit with the start button locked. Plugging in the saw will start the engine and may cause injury to people nearby.

Stationary Models

To start working on a circular stationary machine, follow these steps.

1. Select the saw blade of the required diameter, which will match the material being processed in its parameters, and install it on the unit shaft. It is necessary to check with a dial gauge or a conventional caliper distance from disc to guide splines of the table. You need to check the distance at the beginning and end of the disc. The maximum discrepancy should not exceed 0.05 mm.
   
2. Adjust the required disc height above the workpiece. It should rise above it no more than the height of the cutting element.
3. Install parallel stop at the right distance from the saw blade. The width (length) of the product that will be obtained after sawing the workpiece depends on this distance. It must also be strictly parallel to the grooves on the desktop (offset no more than 0.05 mm).
   
4. Install riving knife. It should be about 5mm from the cutters and in line with the saw blade. This is easy to check with a ruler, placing it between the cutters of the tooling.
   
5. Turn on the machine, wait for the engine to reach full speed, place the workpiece along the parallel stop, then, pressing it against the table and the stop, cut.

What can be done with electric circular saws

Circular electric saws allow you to process wood and products based on it in different ways, which depend on the type of tool chosen.

Types of work with a manual circular saw

With a hand-held circular saw, you can perform the following types of work:

• to perform trimming of a plurality of workpieces laid in one plane;

• trim wide boards using parallel stopthat cannot be cut with a pendulum saw;

• cut boards when laying floors;

• trim the workpiece at an angle, without a guide and with its use;

• perform longitudinal sawing of the workpiece at an angle;

• align the unedged board along a pre-drawn line;

• choose a quarter in a board or beam;

• to cut sheet materials using guide bar;

• changing the equipment, you can cut metal profiled sheets with a circular saw;

• cut plexiglass and various types of plastic;

• install the hand saw on the table and use it as a stationary circular saw.

Working on a circular machine

Working with a circular saw (stationary) is slightly different from working with a manual unit. With a circular saw, you can do the following:

• cut and end wide workpieces, both with a straight cut and at an angle;

• to produce longitudinal and transverse sawing of wooden boards;

• cut wood-based sheet materials;

• dissolve the board at an angle;

• sawing unedged board.

Types of work with a miter saw

The miter saw can do the following:

• to trim wood blanks at any angle with respect to the edge;

• to cut the workpiece at an angle to its face;

• miter saw with broach allows you to cut wider workpieces;

How to cut a board evenly along and across

Due to the difference in the design of hand saws and stationary saws, the methods for sawing wood differ significantly.

Working on a circular machine

If you need to cut a board along the fibers, for example, unedged, then this is done as follows:

• draw a straight line on the workpiece with a ruler;

• then, along this line, with maximum accuracy, make the first cut to cut off the bark;

• next, set parallel stop (guide) and dissolve the workpiece into smaller boards;

If the length of the circular table does not allow long boards to be unraveled, then a simple device can be made for this purpose, shown in the following figure.

With this carriage, you can trim boards and bars both at a straight line and at any angle.

Cutting boards with a hand saw

Many owners of hand-held circular saws are faced with the problem of trimming the board along the line. At the very beginning of sawing, the line is visible, but then it is blocked by the casing of the unit. Since the markings are not visible, the cut is uneven.

To cut the board straight and get the perfect cut, you need to position the tool so that the saw blade is opposite the markup. On the other side of the assembly to the board attach square and slide it towards the base of the device. Secure the square with a clamp. You will receive a guide set at a right angle. Carry out the trimming of the board. The result is a perfect 90° cut.

For longitudinal cutting boards are used guide bar. It may have longitudinal grooves in which a hand-held electric saw is installed. Also, a tire in the form of a simple long guide can be made independently. In the second case, one of the sides of the sole of the unit during sawing will go along the tire (ruler) fixed on the workpiece. As a result, you will get an even longitudinal cut.

The following illustrations show homemade guides, the width of which depends on the size of the sole of the hand saw.

Possibilities of a reciprocating saw

This unit is a universal tool and besides, it is easy to use. Therefore, it is allowed to work with a reciprocating electric saw, without special skills. With the help of a reciprocating electric saw, you can perform the following types of work:

• dismantle old windows and door frames;

• cut unnecessary branches on trees in the garden;

• cut wooden blanks to length;

• cut metal profiles and pipes – thanks to flexible toolingpipes can be cut flush to the wall;

• cut metal bars and fittings;

• cut decorative elements in wooden blanks.

A reciprocating electric saw allows you to make a parallel cut, but its quality, when compared with circular saws, is not worth talking about. It is quite difficult to make a long and straight cut with a reciprocating electric saw.

Before starting to work with a reciprocating saw, check the security of the attachment and the stop shoe. When using this tool, adhere to the following rules.

1. The workpiece intended for sawing or cutting must be securely fastened. Especially it concerns metal blanks.
2. The tool must be held with both hands.
3. The cloth is brought to preparation only at the included unit. The web is removed from the material only after the engine has stopped.
4. To cut pipes flush, use long and flexible blades.
   
5. Do not work with a curved blade. If this happens, then first align it.
6. When using a reciprocating saw, do not allow the blade to hit the ground, wall, or other obstacles.
7. During sawing, the support shoe of the unit must be well pressed against the workpiece. This will eliminate vibration and kickback.
8. You need to choose the right length of the canvas. A blade that is too long and extends beyond the workpiece will begin to vibrate and eventually bend.
9. In order not to scratch the surface of the workpiece with the support shoe, you should put on it piece of insulation.

Advice! To work with a reciprocating saw on wood more efficiently, you can turn on the pendulum stroke, which will significantly increase the sawing speed.

Cutting metal with a band saw

Band saws for wood are not used for cutting metal due to their flimsy design. In addition, their cutting speed is too high for these purposes. Therefore, there are special band saws for metalboth stationary and manual.

The band saw for metal is a high-power equipment capable of sawing both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Also, these units can cut plastic blanks.

When cutting metal on a stationary machine, the workpiece is rigidly fixed on the working table of the unit to increase the cutting accuracy. The machine is also equipped water cooling system, since the blade tends to heat up during the sawing process. Thanks to this system, the coolant is supplied directly to the cutting site. The hand band saw also has high power (about 710 watts). It can be used both in manual mode and stationary. The unit is completed quick clamping mechanismto securely hold the workpiece.

The following photo shows the pipes fixed in the clamping mechanism. In this case, the unit is used as a pendulum saw, but already a band saw.

The following photos show how metal is cut with a band saw in manual mode.