Best Circular Saws of 2022

1. Plunge vs. traditional circular saw

Contractors and amateurs looking for a circular saw can choose the most appropriate tool for their needs between plunge saws and traditional circular saws.

• Traditional circular saws: Have a basic design consisting of a retractable blade guard mounted over the blade. When operating the saw, the blade guard retracts, allowing the blade to slice through the material. However, you will always have to start the cut from an end of the material you are cutting, while the side fence installed on the tool is usually hard to use to achieve accurate cuts.
• Plunge circular saws: Have the blade enclosed within the machine, and therefore they have no retractable blade guard. This difference in the design allows plunging the blade into the material you are cutting at any point, and you’ll not have to start the cut at one end of the workpiece. The design difference also allows the blade to run along a guide rail designed to ensure the accuracy of the cut. With this type of circular saw, you’ll be able to achieve smooth, accurate cuts.

Which one do you need?

Plunge circular saws may provide smoother cuts than the conventional models, but they are also much more expensive. Both machines can be employed for the same applications, but if you’re mainly buying the tool for general household repairs or rough jobs, a conventional model could be a more convenient choice.

2. What to use a circular saw for?

In general, you can use both a circular and a plunge saw for:

• Woodworking, including cutting plywood and framing materials;
• Cutting plastic and metals;
• Cutting tiles and masonry materials.

Circular saws are typically used for smaller-scale applications. Large projects may require the use of a more powerful machine, such as a table saw or cabinet table saw. Also, keep in mind that all circular saws, plunge or conventional, are designed for rip cutting. For accurate crosscuts, you’ll need either a miter saw or a chop saw, depending on the material. 

3. Types of traditional circular saws

There are three types of conventional saws, sidewinder, worm drive, and hypoid.

• Sidewinder saws: Are the most popular and owe their name to the fact that the motor is placed on the side of the saw. These models can reach high speeds and are the most compact, portable, and easier to maneuver, but they are typically not powerful enough to make very deep cuts.
• Worm drive saws: Have the motor mounted at the back of the tool, a design feature that makes this type of saw longer and narrower than the sidewinder. This design increases the power but compromises on speed, while the motor also needs constant maintenance. However, this type of circular saw can be used to make plunge cuts.
• Hypoid saws: Are similar in design with the worm drive but use a different transmission and a spiral bevel gear which improves the tool’s efficiency and power while reducing the size of the motor. These saws are typically used for cutting long wood pieces or damp wood.

4. Circular saw power

Like most woodworking power tools, circular saws are powered either by alternating current drawn from a wall outlet or power generator, or by a battery.

• Corded circular saws: Are powered by motors between 12 and 15 amperes and run on 120V AC. Higher amperage means a higher output power, which ultimately means the tool is capable of producing a higher torque.
• Cordless circular saws: Are typically powered by lithium-ion batteries. The best circular saws in this class come with interchangeable 20V batteries which are compatible with other power tools in the system, including miter saws, impact drivers, cordless drills, hammer drills, or reciprocating saws.

5. Cutting capacity and speed

The cutting capacity of a circular saw is determined by the size of the blade. Most cordless circular saws come with 6-1/2 inches (16.5 cm) blades, whereas most corded circular saws come with 7-1/4 inches (18.4 cm) blades, although there are some exceptions.

All blades with a diameter over 6 inches (15.25 cm) can cut through 2-inch (5 cm) dimensional lumber in a single pass.

Circular saw speed

Most circular saws have maximum cutting speeds between 5,000 and 5,500 revolutions per minute (RPM), and some of the best circular saws come with variable speed control dials which allows you to match the speed to the application for optimized tool control.

6. Best circular saw blades

The most important thing when choosing the blade is to check whether the maximum supported speed matches the speed of your tool, especially if your circular saw works at one speed.

The blades have this information printed on them, and you must never use a blade rated as safe at a lower speed on a machine spinning faster. This could cause the blade to break or lose its teeth, resulting in an injury or even potentially life-threatening hazard.

Circular saw blade types

Like most saws, circular saws are compatible with a variety of blades designed to rip through various materials. The most popular options include:

• High-speed steel (HSS) blades: Are the most common blades used on circular saws. They are more durable than the conventional steel blades and comprise a variety of models of rip cutting, crosscutting, and combination blades for wood, metal, and plastics.
• Carbide-tipped blades: Are similar to the HSS, but their teeth are tipped with tungsten or titanium carbide, a strong material which stays sharp for longer. The carbide-tipped blades also come in a variety of all-purpose or specific models but are more expensive than the high-speed steel or steel blades.
• Diamond-coated blades: Are the toughest blades designed to rip through hard materials including tiles and masonry. Although many dry diamond-coated blades can be used with circular saws for tile cutting, we recommend using a specific tile saw or tile cutter for this purpose, because a wet saw cuts ceramic tiles more accurately.

7. Other features to consider

The best circular saws also come with a few additional features designed to make the operation safer or easier.

• Spindle lock: Allows you to change the blade easier by immobilizing the tool’s shaft.
• Electric brake: A safety feature designed to stop the blade almost instantly when the trigger is released. To do this, the brake reverses the current inside the circuit, stopping the blade’s momentum.
• Overload protection: Stops the machine in case of overload, prolonging the motor’s lifespan and reducing the associated hazards.
• Laser guide: Helps you track the path of the blade to achieve more accurate cuts.
• Safety switch: A safety switch on the trigger prevents the blade from spinning if the trigger is pressed accidentally.
• Bevel capacity: Most circular saws have bevel cut capacity. Look for a tool with positive stops at the desired degrees (typically 22.5 and 45°) to improve the accuracy.