Have you seen the large (12"-15" blade) timber framing saws? They're
just a heavy duty circular saw with large blades, seems to me. The
Makita I recently saw was only 12 amps at that...

What would prevent someone from making their own from a decent
circular saw to begin with, then fabricating a larger safety housing
for the blade? That housing alone, it seems, jacks the price up about
$200.

Just curious,
H

ps: I'm not looking for dire warnings from scaredycats and
hypersafetyites. If you have genuine experience with this sort of
thing and can offer reasoned caveats, however, feel welcome to offer
something.