Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:20:02 -0700 (PDT)
Ivan Vegvary wrote:

Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for
the last 5 years. Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using

what is the blade diameter

may be that it wanders and is not stiff enough

maybe you should plunk down 1000 bucks for an uncle festool

have seen some nice and somewhat affordable track saws for around 100
or 120 or thereabouts

On 4/4/2017 5:20 PM, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary



Your blade is not parallel to to the saw shoe rdges. I would say it is
toed in toward the wider section of the shoe.

I am not sure if this can be adjusted with that saw.

To make this work you need to set the saw on a small sled to index
against you fence instead of the saw shoe/base. You will also need to
be able to adjust the minute angle that the saw sets/attaches to the sled.

On 4/4/2017 5:50 PM, Leon wrote:
On 4/4/2017 5:20 PM, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for
the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as
the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7
foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4
inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it
becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I
can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the
fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A
gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw
for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a
line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary



Your blade is not parallel to to the saw shoe rdges. I would say it is
toed in toward the wider section of the shoe.

I am not sure if this can be adjusted with that saw.

To make this work you need to set the saw on a small sled to index
against you fence instead of the saw shoe/base. You will also need to
be able to adjust the minute angle that the saw sets/attaches to the sled.


To confirm this, unplug the saw, expose as much of the blade as
possible and then mark the front most tooth with a Sharpie. Then
measure the front most tooth, to the edge of the saw shoe. Rotate the
blade so that the marked tooth is at the back of the saw and make the
same measurement. If the measurements are not "precisely" the same you
have found your problem. The blade absolutely has to be parallel to to
the fence reference.

Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:


To confirm this, unplug the saw, expose as much of the blade as
possible and then mark the front most tooth with a Sharpie. Then
measure the front most tooth, to the edge of the saw shoe. Rotate the
blade so that the marked tooth is at the back of the saw and make the
same measurement. If the measurements are not "precisely" the same
you have found your problem. The blade absolutely has to be parallel
to to the fence reference.


It might not hurt to do this with a second tooth, say 90 degrees away
from the first. If your blade is flat and your arbor is running true,
you'll get the same readings.

I think Leon's on the right track with the blade not being parallel to
the fence, but in the back of my mind is the possibility of a bent blade.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:20:02 -0700 (PDT), Ivan Vegvary
wrote:

Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary

Ivan, I agree with Leon in that the problem is your saw. Make sure the
saw blade is attached properly, take it off and put it back on, with
everything cleaned. Then make sure it does not wobble when you
physically manhandle the blade. (like for worn bearings. Up/down,
sideways.

Then check to see if your blade is parallel to the foot of your saw.
Measure each end to the opening parallels to it. Sometimes you can
loosed and realign the foot. Then check to see if the blades is
parallel to the outside edges of your saw.

Hope this helps.

On 4/4/2017 6:15 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:


To confirm this, unplug the saw, expose as much of the blade as
possible and then mark the front most tooth with a Sharpie. Then
measure the front most tooth, to the edge of the saw shoe. Rotate the
blade so that the marked tooth is at the back of the saw and make the
same measurement. If the measurements are not "precisely" the same
you have found your problem. The blade absolutely has to be parallel
to to the fence reference.


It might not hurt to do this with a second tooth, say 90 degrees away
from the first. If your blade is flat and your arbor is running true,
you'll get the same readings.

I think Leon's on the right track with the blade not being parallel to
the fence, but in the back of my mind is the possibility of a bent blade.

Puckdropper



I think because he is getting the exact opposite effect when using the
opposite side of the saw it pretty much insures that the blade alignment
to the shoe is the issue.

BUT NOW, it could be a number of issues if he forced a narrow kerf blade
into submission. The blade is probably warped now, too.

On 4/4/2017 6:09 PM, Leon wrote:


One more suggestion. ;~)

https://www.festoolusa.com/products/...ic-us#Overview

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 3:20:06 PM UTC-7, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary

Thank you everybody.
Did check for blade parallel to shoe. Exactly 3-3/8" on both ends of the blade using same tooth. Checked the blade on my granite surface plate. Absolutely flat. Blade is extremely thin and ve.....eerey old. Will buy a new 6-1/2" blade tomorrow with a wider kerf. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Otherwise I will go to my ancient Skill Worm Drive saw. It's amazing how much heavier everything gets after 25-30 years of ownership! It weighs a ton. No way would I ever try and cut with it while 'out of position'.. Can't handle it at my age (74).
Thank you again, Ivan Vegvary, Oregon

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 6:20:06 PM UTC-4, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary

Have you checked for parallel between the blade and the edge of the base?

It sure sounds like they are not parallel. If they are not, the blade will
win every time.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 11:18:31 PM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 6:20:06 PM UTC-4, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary

Have you checked for parallel between the blade and the edge of the base?

It sure sounds like they are not parallel. If they are not, the blade will
win every time.

Whoops, sorry, late to the game. For some reason I didn't see all
the other posts. Strange.

Ivan Vegvary wrote in
:

Thank you everybody.
Did check for blade parallel to shoe. Exactly 3-3/8" on both ends of
the blade using same tooth. Checked the blade on my granite surface
plate. Absolutely flat. Blade is extremely thin and ve.....eerey old.
Will buy a new 6-1/2" blade tomorrow with a wider kerf. Hopefully
that will solve the problem. Otherwise I will go to my ancient Skill
Worm Drive saw. It's amazing how much heavier everything gets after
25-30 years of ownership! It weighs a ton. No way would I ever try
and cut with it while 'out of position'. Can't handle it at my age
(74). Thank you again, Ivan Vegvary, Oregon

Sounds like the saw is ok, did you check the fence? It might be worth a
test cut with a 2x4 fence to make sure the fence isn't flexing on you.

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

You have plenty of good advice, and all of it I certainly agree with. So these are just a couple of more thoughts.

I use straight edges to break down material and the circular saw/straight edge combo was the preferred job site method from the time I started. Still it isn't perfect.

I found on my older saws that they lined up parallel as needed, but once switched on they fell out of alignment. This happened on my saws that had sleeve bearings at the arbor blade side, not roller bearings. Of course, when the roller bearings wore, they would do the same thing. So measuring the saw revealed nothing, but using it did.

Out of balance saw blades that appeared true and flat, but when whirling at 5K+ r.p.m.s, it made it difference.

Last, and the hardest for me to find the first couple of times was the shoe of the saw wasn't clean. It would pick up a bit of adhesive, some wood resin, or even a small gouge in the sole plate and that would turn the saw. Now I check the sole plate and the blade guard point that rides on the wood and clean or polish them up with 220gr sand paper as needed before cutting along a straight edge.

Robert

Ivan Vegvary writes:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.


I would guess that the blade is not parallel to edge of the
baseplate.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 6:20:06 PM UTC-4, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

1. When I try to pass the saw along the fence with the blade about 3-4 inches from the fence, I can only saw about 7-8 inches before it becomes humanly impossible to push the saw forward. I'm a big guy, I can push 80-100 pounds.

2. When I pass along with the saw flipped (blade 1-1/2" from the fence) it is impossible to keep the saw plate against the fence. A gap of approximately 1/8" develops no matter how hard I try.

What am I doing wrong? Has anybody run into this. I've used this saw for thousands of cuts, but always cross-cuts, or, simply following a line by eyeball. This is the first time I've cut along side a fence.

All suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Ivan Vegvary

Sounds like the edge of the saw base is not parallel to the blade, pulling tight one direction, and wandering away in the other. Not sure whether there is adjustment built in, or if you need to either fab a suitable wedge, or otherwise grind/trim the sides to be parallel. I have no experience with your issue (or a Makita saw), so these are no more than pure guesses/suggestions...
Good luck

On Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 8:52:09 AM UTC-4, Scott Lurndal wrote:
Ivan Vegvary writes:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with it for the last 5 years.
Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.


I would guess that the blade is not parallel to edge of the
baseplate.

Some suggestions he
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/7671

On 4/5/2017 2:37 AM, wrote:
You have plenty of good advice, and all of it I certainly agree with.
So these are just a couple of more thoughts.

I use straight edges to break down material and the circular
saw/straight edge combo was the preferred job site method from the
time I started. Still it isn't perfect.

I found on my older saws that they lined up parallel as needed, but
once switched on they fell out of alignment. This happened on my
saws that had sleeve bearings at the arbor blade side, not roller
bearings. Of course, when the roller bearings wore, they would do
the same thing. So measuring the saw revealed nothing, but using it
did.

Out of balance saw blades that appeared true and flat, but when
whirling at 5K+ r.p.m.s, it made it difference.

Last, and the hardest for me to find the first couple of times was
the shoe of the saw wasn't clean. It would pick up a bit of
adhesive, some wood resin, or even a small gouge in the sole plate
and that would turn the saw. Now I check the sole plate and the
blade guard point that rides on the wood and clean or polish them up
with 220gr sand paper as needed before cutting along a straight
edge.

Robert


One other thing I have witnessed many years ago. A thin kerf blade on a
saw like this can warp from heat. I have seen one warp and stay warped
until it cooled, as it cooled it suddenly popped back flat. I just
happened to be looking at the blade when it did that.

Oddly while it was still relatively hot I could easily wiggle it from
warped to flat and it would stay which ever way I left it.
Once it cooled it popped back to and stayed flat.

On 05 Apr 2017 04:42:38 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

Ivan Vegvary wrote in
:

Thank you everybody.
Did check for blade parallel to shoe. Exactly 3-3/8" on both ends of
the blade using same tooth. Checked the blade on my granite surface
plate. Absolutely flat. Blade is extremely thin and ve.....eerey old.
Will buy a new 6-1/2" blade tomorrow with a wider kerf. Hopefully
that will solve the problem. Otherwise I will go to my ancient Skill
Worm Drive saw. It's amazing how much heavier everything gets after
25-30 years of ownership! It weighs a ton. No way would I ever try
and cut with it while 'out of position'. Can't handle it at my age
(74). Thank you again, Ivan Vegvary, Oregon

Sounds like the saw is ok, did you check the fence? It might be worth a
test cut with a 2x4 fence to make sure the fence isn't flexing on you.

Before I had a track saw I made a "fence" by fastening a ~3" strip of
MDF down to a ~12 strip. the 3" piece as the fence to cut the 12" in
the right spot. The whole thing is pretty rigid - not much flex. I
still use it if I can't clamp the track down like a floor).

Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 4/4/2017 5:20 PM, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with
it for the last 5 years. Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing
guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16
inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium
(extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

[...]

Your blade is not parallel to to the saw shoe rdges. I would
say it is toed in toward the wider section of the shoe.

I don't think so. I think the teeth on one side of the blade are dull, probably from hitting some
foreign object.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..

Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in

Your blade is not parallel to to the saw shoe rdges. I would
say it is toed in toward the wider section of the shoe.

I don't think so. I think the teeth on one side of the blade are dull,
probably from hitting some
foreign object.

This is a plausible explanation... I'd also add that I've used circular saws
that had a lot of end-play in the shaft such that the blade moved away from
the motor as I ran the wide side of the shoe down a straight edge. One of
those saws (Sears or Black and Decker??) led me to buy my first Porter Cable
tool...

On 4/5/2017 4:50 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 4/4/2017 5:20 PM, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with
it for the last 5 years. Trying to make a long (8 foot) sawing
guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to 7/16
inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot aluminium
(extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

[...]

Your blade is not parallel to to the saw shoe rdges. I would
say it is toed in toward the wider section of the shoe.

I don't think so. I think the teeth on one side of the blade are dull, probably from hitting some
foreign object.


Think about that. How often do you hit a foreign object that does not
hit both sides of the blade... It is possible but less likely than the
whole blade hitting that object.

Either way the blade apparently was worn out. LOL

BUT what you said would certainly cause the blade to track off center.

Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 4/5/2017 4:50 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 4/4/2017 5:20 PM, Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Using a Makita battery operated circular saw. Very happy with
it for the last 5 years. Trying to make a long (8 foot)
sawing guide. Using a 1"x 1/4" slat as the fence, secured to
7/16 inch thick plywood. Slat aligned with a 7 foot
aluminium (extremely straight) extrusion. Two problems.

[...]

Your blade is not parallel to to the saw shoe rdges. I would
say it is toed in toward the wider section of the shoe.

I don't think so. I think the teeth on one side of the blade
are dull, probably from hitting some foreign object.


Think about that. How often do you hit a foreign object that
does not hit both sides of the blade... It is possible but less
likely than the whole blade hitting that object.

Depends on what you're using the saw for. Roughing cabinet plywood
to size almost never involves hitting foreign objects of any sort.
In home remodeling, though, it's pretty easy to almost miss a nail
head, and dull only one side of the blade. In my experience, in
that type of work, it's much more common to hit a nail with only
one side of the blade than full-on.

Either way the blade apparently was worn out. LOL

BUT what you said would certainly cause the blade to track off
center.

On 4/6/2017 6:38 PM, Doug Miller wrote:


I don't think so. I think the teeth on one side of the blade
are dull, probably from hitting some foreign object.


Think about that. How often do you hit a foreign object that
does not hit both sides of the blade... It is possible but less
likely than the whole blade hitting that object.

Depends on what you're using the saw for. Roughing cabinet plywood
to size almost never involves hitting foreign objects of any sort.
In home remodeling, though, it's pretty easy to almost miss a nail
head, and dull only one side of the blade. In my experience, in
that type of work, it's much more common to hit a nail with only
one side of the blade than full-on.

Not trying to drag this to prove who is right... ;~)

When remodeling, removing a wall or cabinets I always used a bimetal
recip saw. The blades are made to cut through nails cause you are going
to cut through nails. ;~)

BUT my above thoughts were me remembering cutting through finish nails
on my TS looong ago.. I do not recall the reason but it happened. I
tried not to do it and fortunately there was no issue.

And having said that I was always using carbide toothed blades.










Either way the blade apparently was worn out. LOL

BUT what you said would certainly cause the blade to track off
center.