Adjustable Circular Saws?

glenn bradley

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Without going the Festool route, are there other circular saws that allow adjustment of the sole plate to blade relationship. When using an edge guide my current cheepo saw blade is not very parallel to the edge of the sole plate. That's OK, I don't expect much from a low dollar saw.

In looking for a replacement I am not finding any that do allow this adjustment. I may just be "digging in the wrong place" so I thought I would put it out to the forum. My alternative would be to attach a shop made plate to the existing sole plate and cut it accordingly.

TIA,

Glenn
 
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Hi Glenn,

I just purchased a porter cable 424MAG w/ left sided blade to replace my "cheepo" skil circular saw. I know that you are writing in regards to base plate adjustment, but first let me say wow; the difference in power is astonishing to me. I'm using it to cut 13/8" oak doors to size w/ a 58-tooth ATB blade from amana and it does the job quite well.

OK, on to adjustability. I know that you are able to index the base to zero degrees, but when I checked for square in regards to the sides of the base it was spot on so I haven't looked into it further. I don't know if that helped......:dunno:
 
[size=+1]I have (among others) the little 4½" Porter Cable trim saw. Its blade was off parallel with the edge of the sole plate by nearly an eighth of an inch. PC didn't provide for any sort of adjustment, so what I had to do was remove the plate and install shims (washers, actually) to the mounting screws. It took a couple tries, but I was able to finally get the blade almost perfectly parallel to the edge of the sole plate.

It made a BIG difference in the use-ability of the saw with an edge guide - like my 'Clamp-n-Guides.'[/size]
 
I bought a DeWalt several years ago largely because it had an adjustable shoe/sole. I didn't know much then, but after ruining an interior door because of the shoe was off on my Black and Darker I learned the importance of that! And never bought another cheap tool after that! Well except something I use once a year.

Don' know if they still offer that on the newer ones. But other than the weight, I have no complaints with mine. It has been a really good saw. Even if it is newer. ;)


Jeff
 
Jeff,

Would you happen to have a model number?

Thanks to all as usual. I will try some shims to adjust for the 1/32" over 4" tht my saw is out of parallel. I'll post the results.
 
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