E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a circular saw is on
the left. DeWalt have replied as follows;

"That is an excellent question; across the UK and Europe all mains
circular saws have the blade on the right hand side. Yes you are right
that this makes it difficult to see the line you are trying to cut on
but through thorough research we have found that this is what the
customers want. You will notice all other manufacturers follow in the
same way".

No help really.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"The Medway Handyman" wrote

"That is an excellent question; across the UK and Europe all mains
circular saws have the blade on the right hand side. Yes you are right
that this makes it difficult to see the line you are trying to cut on
but through thorough research we have found that this is what the
customers want. You will notice all other manufacturers follow in the
same way".

No help really.

so basicaly it's on the left because that's the way it's always been, and
everybody else does it like that.

wonder what the thorough research was, did they produce a saw in both left
and right sided motor versions and see which one sold more,

Maybe someone should come up with a non handed circular saw, have the motor
inline with the blade and drving it through a bevel box, like and angle
grinder, same size soleplate either side of the blade etc.

The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a circular saw is on
the left. DeWalt have replied as follows;

"That is an excellent question; across the UK and Europe all mains
circular saws have the blade on the right hand side. Yes you are right
that this makes it difficult to see the line you are trying to cut on
but through thorough research we have found that this is what the
customers want. You will notice all other manufacturers follow in the
same way".

No help really.



Can't see why would you ever need to follow a line by eye. That really
is asking for kickback.
The main reason I imagine is to keep the weight of the saw on the
workpiece rather than the offcut

Stuart Noble writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a
circular saw is on the left.

The main reason I imagine is to keep the weight of the saw
on the workpiece rather than the offcut

That's where we came in. With the motor on the left, if the workpiece
is wider than an arm's length it makes it rather difficult.

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2009-01-31)

On Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:17:19 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a circular saw is on
the left. DeWalt have replied as follows;

"That is an excellent question; across the UK and Europe all mains
circular saws have the blade on the right hand side. Yes you are right
that this makes it difficult to see the line you are trying to cut on
but through thorough research we have found that this is what the
customers want. You will notice all other manufacturers follow in the
same way".

Sounds like it's just one of those things. Just as someone decided that
all hens eggs sold in Britain should have brown shells. It didn't used to
be like that (and in america they're white) and makes no difference to
the contents.
Iconoclasts unite!

Jon Fairbairn wrote:
Stuart Noble writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a
circular saw is on the left.

The main reason I imagine is to keep the weight of the saw
on the workpiece rather than the offcut

That's where we came in. With the motor on the left, if the workpiece
is wider than an arm's length it makes it rather difficult.


Not half as difficult as trying to keep the base of the saw level when
it's resting on fresh air

Stuart Noble writes:

Jon Fairbairn wrote:
Stuart Noble writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a
circular saw is on the left.

The main reason I imagine is to keep the weight of the saw
on the workpiece rather than the offcut

That's where we came in. With the motor on the left, if the workpiece
is wider than an arm's length it makes it rather difficult.


Not half as difficult as trying to keep the base of the saw
level when it's resting on fresh air

So don't do that then. If the work is wide enough that it'll support the
motor side of the saw, put the motor side on the work. With the motor on
the left this means having the work nearest you, with the motor on the
right you have the waste nearest you.

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2009-01-31)

Can't see why would you ever need to follow a line by eye. That really
is asking for kickback.

Cutting large radius curves. Yes - it's perfectly possible, and
boatbuilders do it.

Dave,

Have you come across worm drive saws? They usually have the blade on
the left.

This article is about how in-line saws ended up with the blade on the
right:

http://www.asktooltalk.com/articles/...ory/divide.php

Interesting.

And here are pictures from the current Porter-Cable website of both
right and left bladed CC's:

http://www.deltaportercable.com/Prod...4272.4276.1610

Jon Fairbairn wrote:
Stuart Noble writes:

Jon Fairbairn wrote:
Stuart Noble writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a
circular saw is on the left.
The main reason I imagine is to keep the weight of the saw
on the workpiece rather than the offcut
That's where we came in. With the motor on the left, if the workpiece
is wider than an arm's length it makes it rather difficult.

Not half as difficult as trying to keep the base of the saw
level when it's resting on fresh air

So don't do that then. If the work is wide enough that it'll support the
motor side of the saw, put the motor side on the work. With the motor on
the left this means having the work nearest you, with the motor on the
right you have the waste nearest you.


I don't think that would work in practice, at least not unless the
workpiece was clamped to to something very heavy. Often it's the
operator's body weight or pressure that secures the bit you're worried about

The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a circular saw
is on the left. DeWalt have replied as follows;

"That is an excellent question; across the UK and Europe all mains
circular saws have the blade on the right hand side. Yes you are right
that this makes it difficult to see the line you are trying to cut on
but through thorough research we have found that this is what the
customers want. You will notice all other manufacturers follow in the
same way".

No help really.

Depends if you're left-handed, like me.

John Rumm wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:
Jon Fairbairn wrote:
Stuart Noble writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
E-mailed DeWalt, Bosch & Makita to ask why the motor on a
circular saw is on the left.

The main reason I imagine is to keep the weight of the saw
on the workpiece rather than the offcut

That's where we came in. With the motor on the left, if the workpiece
is wider than an arm's length it makes it rather difficult.


Not half as difficult as trying to keep the base of the saw level when
it's resting on fresh air

well cut from the other side then!


I'd need to be left handed to do that comfortably