Circular saw recommendations for long accurate bevel and miter cuts

[griffindodd]

Hi all,

The season of giving and receiving power tools is almost upon us and I have the joyous opportunity to pick out what I want my wifey to buy me for Xmas.

The main hole in my toolbox arsenal is the ability to cut long panels accurately and also make tight sharp bevels and miters on larger stock. As our cabinets tend to be large and our budgets not so large I was thinking about getting a decent circular saw rather than table saw as I only have about $250 to spend.

I'd think I'd really like a plunge circular that can run on rail guides, those things seem awesome!!

I've had great experiences with Bosch tools, so that would be my first choice, and i don't mind buying lightly used as they last really well, so if you had $250 to spend on a used premium brand to make long, accurate rips, bevels and miters what would you recommend?

[griffindodd]

The Dewalt DC390B seems to get good reviews and hold it's own well for a cordless, I do like the idea of being cord free on longer cuts. I could combine this with the Wolfcraft FKS-115 guide rail system and have a decent little setup, it's not plunge but it would certainly seem to do a decent job.

[EvilNuff]

Track saws will be outside your budget so as nice as they are might as well skip them.  A good table saw with riving knife is also outside your budget, the cheapest ones that I would consider are $400-450.  I would personally avoid any cordless saws like the plague, they tend to cut worse while getting low on juice.  What I would do is get any name brand corded circle saw which should be cheap and spend some extra on a good quality blade.  Make yourself a couple saw boards and you should be good to go.

[griffindodd]

Thanks, I looked up the tutorial on making simple sawboards and that will work just great, so I just need to pick out my weapon of choice and some nice freud blades. I figured the cordless option would have those drawbacks, so yeah maybe I should just stick to old faithfull plugs and wires.

[griffindodd]

I think I'll opt for a Makita 5007MG, seems to get great reviews.

[Unstupid]

The main hole in my toolbox arsenal is the ability to cut long panels accurately and also make tight sharp bevels and miters on larger stock.

Get a table saw

[griffindodd]

Got one it sucks and I can't afford a decent one

[kahlid74]

Track saws will be outside your budget so as nice as they are might as well skip them.  A good table saw with riving knife is also outside your budget, the cheapest ones that I would consider are $400-450.  I would personally avoid any cordless saws like the plague, they tend to cut worse while getting low on juice.  What I would do is get any name brand corded circle saw which should be cheap and spend some extra on a good quality blade.  Make yourself a couple saw boards and you should be good to go.

This.  Circular saw and saw board will do what you need to do.  The other option would be a Jig saw/Router flush trim bit combo but that's a bit more complicated/time consuming.

[yotsuya]

I bought a Makita over a decade ago, and it still has held up. Good choice! 

[griffindodd]

In the end I picked up a 4 month old Hilti WSC 7.25-S complete with a canvas carry bag and 6 spare unopened blades covering wood to stone cutting, all for $80 off Craigs List.