@ doodzie, for cutting boards (plywood, plyboard, particle board, MDF, etc), 7" circular saw would do ... you can even use an angle grinder with the right blade and a good straight line guide jig for the job 🙂 ... what you need to understand is using the right blade for the type of wood that you will be cutting to minimize chipping when you cut the board ... just google it for the info ... cheers

Boo!

agree Sir Boo...mine is 48 teeth/ 7 " Blade....cut very smooth in 3/4 marine plywood .

un kasamang blade sa circular saw.. inde ba maganda pang cut sa wood un .. plano ko gamitin materials is 3/4 plywood

@ doodzie, the blade that normally comes with a new circular saw is a cross-cut blade. it's a general purpose blade (konti lang ang nigpin niya kaya mabilis ang pag cut sa kahoy, ideal for construction work) which is good for cutting lumber (e.g. 1x1, 2x2, etc). it can also be use for cutting boards (e.g. plywood for construction in making formworks), but the problem, after the cut, the edge and corners of the board has a lot of chipping (especially sa corner, the first time the blade touches the board when cutting) due to the speed of the cut and the large teeth of the blade. for construction work, ok lang yun may chipping.

in making cabinets, you don't want to have chipping at the side/corner of the board - kasi, hindi maganda ang lapat ng board with the other board when you assemble the cabinet. if your using just a plain 3/4" plywood, you can sort of remedy the chipping thru sanding in assemblying the cabinet and using putty sa finishing to cover the chipping (additional work). but if you'll be using melamine (yun thin white pastic coating on 1 face of the board ) coated board, you cannot correct the chipping and you'll see sa edges (yun white side) ng cabinet after assembly, hindi malinis ang pag cut ng board.

that's why it's better (my advice) to use the correct blade for the type of wood that you will be cutting.

if you still want to use the cross-cut blade to cut a normal 3/4" plywood for your entertainment center project, then cut the plywood slowly with the circular saw, don't push the saw too hard, alalay lang, let the saw cut the board on it's normal pace - this will minimize the chipping. you need to practice on this, especially at the start/end of the cutting process when the blade touches the board for the first time and when it exits the board at the end ... cheers

Boo!

got a black and decker circula saw ung naka sale ngaun sa ace hardware. nag test ako mag cut ng 3/4 plywood.. oo nga me chipping .. ano ba dapat na blade para sa fine cut.. pa suggest naman .. saka magkano blade ngaun ..

@ doodzie, as a rule, the more teeth the blade has, the smoother the cut, normally you'll see the word "finishing" on the blade ... the one that bakman mentioned is quite good already ... 48 teeth/ 7 " Blade (48T) ... this are the tungsten carbide tip (matagal bago pumurol) models whose teeth ranges from 40T-60T ... non-carbide finishing blades has around 140T teeths. the teeth is similar to the teeth of a normal saw, mas maliit lang. they easilly get dulled compared to carbide teeth but are less expensive than carbide teeth ... if you will not be cutting a lot of plywoods, then it should also be ok to get this.

TIP: ... before buying a blade, check in your area for a "manghahasa", kahit yun naka puesto lang sa sidewalk na may bench grinder. ask him if he had sharpen a circular saw blade (non carbide tip) before 🙂 ... kasi, last Dec, while having some of my tools sharpen here in Tampakan, i got to talk to the old guy while he was sharpening my tools, and he mentioned to me that he can sharpen any type of blade, "kahit bilog". i told the guy, i'll take note of it 🙂 he he he ... it makes sense that he can do it, with the proper skills, because it's just like an ordinary saw blade with a different angle set so that the circular saw blade does not stick to the kerf while cutting ... bilib na talaga ako sa abilidad ng pinoy 🙂

i'm not familiar with the prices right now, but in SG before, the price of a tungsten carbide tip is around 20-30 SGD depending on the brand, so the price here should be around <= 1K ... cheers

Boo!

got a black and decker circula saw ung naka sale ngaun sa ace hardware. nag test ako mag cut ng 3/4 plywood.. oo nga me chipping .. ano ba dapat na blade para sa fine cut.. pa suggest naman .. saka magkano blade ngaun ..

Try this first.

Put masking tape along the path of the cut. That should minimize tear out.

From what i have learned, there are generally three types of blades, depends on what you're going to do. If you're going to make a rip cut, or a cut that goes along the woodgrain, a rip blade is best for this. If you're going for a cross-cut, or against the grain, then a cross-cut blade is okay. But the third type of blade is the combination blade which is a hybrid of the rip and cross-cut. This blade is a compromise as it delivers an average and acceptable cut both in rip and cross-cut applications. It is more convenient as you don't need to change the blade if you do both cuts interchangeably. Anyway, the teeth count for rip blades are normally 24 and has the deepest gullet compared to the other two blades. In a crosscut blade, the teeth alternatively faces left and right and has about 60 teeth. The combination (general purpose blade) has certain portions of the blade with a deep gullet, and alternate teeth configurations (combining flat top and alternate bevel teeth). It's interesting to learn about blades as we also use materials aside from plywood or plyboard. Melamine or MDF boards, as well as metal, require other types of blades to produce a good cut.

going back to the original thread question...
small circular saws will handle sheet goods e.g. 3/4" plywood and if you intend to split lumber (2 inch thick), get at least a 6 incher...the 7 1/4" is a real pain in the wrist...i know you have heard of repetitive injuries.

you cant go wrong with Bosch (and Skil), Makita (and Maktec), AEG, Metabo to name a few trusted brand.

to level up...search about Festool Plunge Saws and read on about riving knives

hth

btw, i used the stock blade of my Makita 5806B to cut sheet goods as well as split 2x lumber with no fuzz. clean cut with minimal tear out if at all.

to level up...search about Freud blades