Best circular saw accessories according to redditors
We found 26 Reddit comments discussing the best circular saw accessories. We ranked the 10 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 26 Reddit comments discussing the best circular saw accessories. We ranked the 10 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Beyond using scrap wood or 1x2s screwed/clamped down as a guide, you can also buy something like this that's a bit more reusable. This Old House also has a nice method for making your own guide that has proper offsets for both sides of the circular saw base.
Don't do this. Please do not do this.
You would get better results with some guides (like this or this) and a couple of sawhorses for the larger cuts. For smaller cuts I would use a miter box or a bench hook and a hand saw.
Designing and building a fence system that would stay parallel to the blade would take too long. If it is not perfectly parallel, or moves while cutting you are going to pinch the wood you are ripping. This is going to result in a board being rammed into your stomach, or a circular saw breaking free of its mount and flying around with a spinning blade. Either way, you are going to have a bad day.
https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2685-Circular-Saw-Guide/dp/B073PFYN4T/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1550075452&sr=8-3&keywords=kreg+circular+saw+jig
Highly effective at cutting straight lines with a circular saw, also affirm the insulation backer idea, place the plywood on it and cut away.
Not OP, but I installed just shy of 1000 sq ft of hardwood flooring with just a boring circular saw and an edge guide. Your going to hide any cut edges (except for doorways) under neath base-molding/quarter-round anyway so it's not really precision work. A jig saw or a coping saw may or may not be needed depending on the shape of the room.
​
Ironically, (at the time) I owned both a proper big table saw and radial arm saw, but they were big and immovable.
​
Today, I almost always use a really cheap mitre-saw, a track saw, and a jig saw.
The single best thing I ever did in my shop was build a proper outfeed table for my table saw. It doubles as a work space, a catch all and a decent finishing table if I throw something on top of it not to mess it up.
Its not fancy by any means but it works. Its MDF and 2x4's but it works flawlessly.
I technically have the room for sheet goods in my shop (its 10x21) but it would be a pain in the ass moving sheet goods in and out of a 36" door. Instead consider ripping them down with a circular saw with one of these. Its very very accurate and makes short work of long cuts. I put my sheet goods on a set of saw horses and can break it down into easier to manage pieces with ease. I was even able to completely redo my closet ripping down 3/4" MDF with that rip guide.
Don't take chances with your health brother. Its just not worth it.
The table looks amazing! Going off the one picture where you were using a straight edge as a guide for your circular saw, which looked like it would've done an excellent job, but here's the regular tool for future projects where that setup may not fit.
Something like this.
If you're into that kind of thing, Makita makes an adapter that lets them fit tracks (like festool, makita, and select others).
https://www.amazon.com/Makita-196953-0-Guide-Rail-Adapter/dp/B01GCGUTFG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502918282&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=makita+track+saw+adapter
Helps make a damn straight cut every time.
Though if you really care about chips, you might want a slightly nicer saw.
One of these or these.
Perhaps this will get me flamed here for doing things the wrong way but it's working for me on my table-less setup (currently making a router table and saving up for a table saw so I can avoid relying so heavily on these techniques in the future).
A table saw is probably what you need to do this properly but this is sort of a "poor mans fence".
My current workaround is to draw my cut line, and then clamp a straight edge ruler (or other material that's perfectly straight) 1" to the side. When I make my cut I know it will be perfectly straight if I keep the metal guide flush to the clamped piece the entire time.
This is also how I'm using my router with straight bits to make dado cuts (measure up 2 3/4" from the center line for my router guide)...I know there are probably better ways to do this but again, no table saw so I'm making due with what I know and what I've got.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007K5HIFS/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JCIMEA/
Those are both probably tools/adapters which are not going to be better than a table saw or drill press but they're also appealing for those with limited budget or limited work space.
Decent circular saw & a track saw kit like this https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2700-Circular-Saw-Track/dp/B073PGP96S
​
It'll allow you the versatility of the circular saw & still have the ability to make long straight cuts like a table saw with much less space used for storage. When working alone its also much easier to move your saw over full sheets to rip them down then it is to move a full sheet across a table saw when you dont have a proper outfeed table.
​
Edit: you can also check youtube for how too's on building your own circular saw rip fence pretty easy & cheaply to achieve nearly perfect long straight cuts as well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073PFYN4T/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1521496509&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=kreg+tools&dpPl=1&dpID=41iOsl1wvZL&ref=plSrch or this
A scrap board and 2 clamps will make you a fence. Just make sure you clamp it square.
Or you can do as I did and spend $40 on one of these which should give you a nice straight cut on larger stock. (Can't vouch for the use personally - just got mine for Christmas and haven't had a chance to play with it yet. Theory is sound, though.)
do it. It saved us a lot of money and weight. This tool saved us so much time: https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2675-Rip-Cut/dp/B007K5HIFS
Oh here's a video of the plywood ripping in action -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nXsiJ3pFQXt10Fs65_MdHMJMFly2gAld/view?usp=sharing
I bought this for such a cutting problem. Works great.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007K5HIFS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I used a circular saw with a straightedge jig at first but then I purchased the Kreg Rip-Cut. I didn't use it much before I got my $150 craftsman 113 belt drive-cast iron wings-table saw, and I think I might have used it (the kreg) once since then. If you make that straight edge guide, make sure the fence part is wide enough to place clamps on, and clear the saw motor while remaining clamped.
If your cutting wood more narrow than the jig, I screwed a stop block/riser, the same thickness as the piece being cut, from underneath and clamped the whole thing to a table, sandwiching the piece to be cut in between.
And whats wrong with clamping a piece of wood down? Or yo could use this and your existing saw and save yourself $400. https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2675-Rip-Cut/dp/B007K5HIFS/ref=sr_1_14?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1473784486&sr=1-14&keywords=kreg+jig
I see a lot of people saying another drill, but I'd rather have a saw and a crappy drill than two drills. If he works with a lot of flat boards, I'd say a circular saw and something like this. If he works more with dimensional lumber, a miter saw would be better.
Check this thing out. I haven't tried mine yet but the videos and reviews seem to suggest it works well.
Kreg KMA2685 Circular Saw Guide https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B073PFYN4T/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_h3vY29zonHEnm
But how do you cut the pieces for your fence straight without a fence? This is the same problem I ran into building my first workbench!
But seriously, in addition to your good recommendation, OP might also want to consider a circular saw guide like this Kreg one that will allow them to cut perfectly parallel to an existing edge (i.e. ripping), or a simple clamp-on saw guide for crosscuts or anything else <48".
I use a Kreg Rip-Cut Guide. The nice thing about it is if you have to make a bunch of cuts of the same width, you just have to measure for the first one, clamp it down and you can quickly do all the rest of your cuts.
This is awesome; especially if you can figure out how to take things down in 24" wide sections.
http://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2675-Rip-Cut/dp/B007K5HIFS
It doesn't replace a table saw, but for sheet goods, you won't regret it. I've had one for several months now and I love it. The upside is that you won't need an out-feed table or a second pair of hands to cut sheet goods. Just make one of these and you're good to go. The one I made comes apart for storage and transport. Makita also makes an attachment for their routers that can use the tracks for dados. I have this one. Here's the adapter that allows the router to use the track.
Circular saw all the way. You can get a good Makita for ~100 bucks and it should last you at least a decade. It really is BIFL quality if you're not a pro. You don't need the magnesium or worm-drive if you're just starting out. I highly recommend getting a plug-in saw, as even with powerful batteries I've had bogging issues with battery-powered circular saws.
From a circular saw you can cut your planks, square edges, make rip and cross cuts, etc. Even having a table saw and jig saw, I still use my circular saw quite frequently. Especially with something like a speed square or This little guy from BenchDog you can get pretty darn great cuts with the circular saw.
When you get to the point of needing curves or whatever, then you can add a jigsaw. But truth be told, I almost never use mine. The table saw and a hand saw are the only other two saws I use as much as my circular, with my bandsaw coming in a distant 4th. Most places I'd use a jijgsaw, I instead use a bandsaw to hog off most of the waste, then take it to a stationary belt/disc sander to sneak up to the lines.