The circular saw is undoubtedly one of the most popular power tools that any home or commercial workshop has. When you start building your own workshop, the first tool that you need to think about is, of course, the circular saw. In order to choose one, there are a lot of things that you need to choose from including the type of the circular saw or the blade size, to name just a few.

I have seen many people being confused about worm drive vs. circular saw while in fact; the worm drive saw is just a type of circular saw.  Let’s learn more about the worm drive and the other type of handheld circular saw as well as the most important features you need to consider when choosing a circular saw.

The Difference between the Sidewinder and the Worm Drive Circular Saw

As I mentioned above, there are 2 main types of handheld circular saws which are the sidewinder and the worm drive type. They are mainly different in the mechanism and the design of the motor.

With the information about the design of the motor in mind, we will discuss in more details about other differences between the sidewinder and the worm drive circular saw.

1. Weight and design:

​With the motor which is placed behind the blade, the worm drive saw is typically heavier than the sidewinder saw. The sidewinder saw is generally lighter and generally more compact in size. However, such worm drive saw would be narrower in size when compared with other sidewinder saws.

2. The speed of the blade: 

Normally, the worm drive saw can spin at about 4000 to 4400 rpm. The sidewinder saw will spin at about 6000 to 6200 rpm, slightly faster than the worm drive saw. This is because the motor of the sidewinder circular saw is in line with the spinning blade. With the faster speed, you would have less torque for tougher cuts.

3. Right Hand Or Left Hand Option: 

The worm drive saw only has 1 single choice of design while the sidewinder circular saw has 2 options- with the motor on the left and the motor on the right. Hence, if you are a left-handed carpenter, you might find the sidewinder circular saw with the motor on either side of the blade much easier to use and control. It is also worth noting that for many carpenters, the motor which is located on either side of the blade of the circular saw will make it much harder to see the line that you want to cut. Hence, if your dominant hand is the right hand, you will want to buy a sidewinder circular saw with the motor situated on the left hand side of the blade. On the other hand, if your dominant hand is the left hand, it would be easier for you to use the sidewinder circular saw with the motor situated on the right hand of the blade.

4. Safety: 

There are many factors that contribute to the safety of a type of circular saw. First of all is the weight of the tool itself. A lighter and more compact tool would make it easier for you to control, hence, would make it safer for you to use. In this case, the sidewinder circular saw would be considered safer, especially when you need to work overhead. Second of all, you need to ensure that your hands are kept at the safe distance when you operate the tool. With this in mind, when you handle the sidewinder circular saw, you would be able to keep your hands far away from the motor and the blade, making it also safer for you to use this type of power saw.

Other Factors That You Need to Consider When Choosing a Circular Saw

1.The Bade Size:

​The size of the blade of a circular saw refers to the diameter of the blade. If you are looking for a versatile circular saw that can cut through most of the materials, go for the blade with the size of 7 inches and more. Not to mention that with the average size of 7 to 7.25 inches, you would be able to find many types of blades as well.

2. The Types Of The Blade:

​ Besides the size of the blade, you also need to consider the design of the blade as well. One of the most common designs is the one with the carbide tipped teeth. That design makes the blade very versatile and functional of cutting many types of materials. On the other hand, if you know exactly what types of materials that you often work with, including wood, metal, or title, you can buy the one which is made specifically for cutting these types of materials. The number of the teeth is also one thing that you need to consider as well. Basically, the more teeth a blade of a circular saw has, the cleaner the cuts you would have. You can plan on buying a few blades as changing them for your own needs and requirements will not take you a lot of time.

3. The Power:

​You would know how powerful a circular is by looking at the amperage specification of this tool. For the handheld circular saw, including the sidewinder and the worm drive type, the most common amperage is from 10 to 15. The more powerful the circular saw is, the better it is to work with different types of materials and the more efficient it is when you need to cut a lot of materials.

4. The Corded Or Cordless Option:

​Last but not least, you should also consider if you want to buy a cordless circular saw or a corded one.  They have their own pros and cons for your consideration. For a cordless circular saw, you don’t have to worry about finding a power source to make the tool work. You can bring it around to anywhere you want to. However, a cordless circular saw is quite expensive. If you have a workshop and work mostly inside it, you don’t have to spend extra bucks of money for a cordless circular saw. Some corded circular saws come with very long cords as well for your convenience. However, they will never be as convenient and portable as the cordless circular saws. Another thing to consider is the power of the cordless or corded circular saw. Cordless circular saws might have limited power due to the limited batteries. Hence, you should use the cordless circular saws if you want to cut wood only.

5. Price:

​ If you have little experience in choosing any power tool in general, not to say the circular saw, maybe one of the most reliable factors you can use to choose a circular saw on the market is the price of the model that you want to buy. In general, the price of a sidewinder circular saw with a decent quality could range from around 100 dollars to 150 dollars. A sidewinder circular saw which is less than 100 dollars could be not so durable or powerful enough. On the other hand, the worm drive circular saw will be more expensive in general. You should expect to pay at least 200 dollars for a high quality worn drive circular saw.

6. Safety Features: 

Furthermore, you need to ensure that the circular saw that you are going to buy has a safety switch and the blade guard.

7. Other Things: 

Different types of circular saws on the market come with different weights and sizes. It is the best that you can experience each of the tools yourself. Check if the handles of these tools are comfortable in your hand. You also need to check if you are comfortable with the weight and the way the circular saw balance itself. A tool is suitable for you only when you feel comfortable handling it.

Conclusion

​So as you can see, the sidewinder circular saw is lighter and capable of spinning faster than the sidewinder circular saw. In addition, it is also cheaper. Hence, if you are thinking about buying a circular saw for your workshop at home, you should consider a sidewinder circular saw first. Also, if most of your work requires working overhead, you can consider buying a sidewinder circular saw.

Here are just a few basic things that you need to know about the sidewinder and the worm drive circular saw. I hope that with all of the information above, you would be able to understand a bit more about the circular saw as well as the most important factors that you need to consider including the blade size and the power of the circular saw. With such information in mind and careful consideration, I am sure that you would be able to find the most suitable circular saw for all of your own needs and requirements.

Professional and seasoned woodworkers find a router indispensable for completing a range of cabinetry and woodwork jobs.

Carpenters and woodworkers use both plunge-base and fixed-base routers for chipping out accurate ruts and grooves on hardwood and softwood surfaces. Nevertheless, most carpenters struggle to take good advantage of a router, especially when working without a template.

This is where a router lift can come to the aid of the woodworker, making the entire task considerably easier. A router lift is installed on the router table and helps in stably locking the router below the table, thereby minimizing the chances of error associated with freehand operation.

Experienced woodworkers are aware of the multiple benefits of working with a router when the woodworking tool is strapped to a router lift.

A Computer Numerical Control Router, popularly known as a CNC router is one of the most versatile power tools that woodworkers and cabinetmakers find incredibly handy. The CNC router, a computer-controlled woodworking tool, is chiefly used for systematically cutting a wide variety of materials like wood, laminate, plastic, and glass. The best CNC routers enable carpenters and woodworkers to produce beautiful furniture, cabinets, cupboards, and numerous other bespoke and DIY products from the above materials.

When it comes to producing factory-grade woodwork or customized metal engravings, then the best CNC router is indispensable. Before the advent of the CNC router, plunge router, and fixed-base router, woodworkers did all the cutting, incising, and engraving by hand. However, with the arrival of CNC routers, carpenters and woodmen were able to take full advantage of their craftsmanship.

The best CNC routers were able to do all the tasks that the woodworker did manually but with enhanced quality and precision. A CNC router can make the same cuts and engravings that humans do, albeit with greater accuracy because the machine is computer-controlled.  

There is nothing satisfactorily than maintaining the natural beauty of your tile, especially when they're left untouched. However, you may decide to have a towel rack fix in your house porcelain tile or the need to replace a broken tile in your tile set may arise.

Although porcelain tiles are hard, still, they are prone to break easily when handled by an inexperienced or non-patient person. But, enthusiast and hobbyist find it easy to fix, only when they've the perfect tool within their reach.

The drill bit, if the best and exact one that matches the job to be done is purchased, can make the cutting and fixing of the porcelain tile easy.

Both seasoned woodworkers and carpenters who still have a long way to go on the learning curve will find a trim router extremely handy. The USP of the best trim routers is their ergonomic and lightweight profile, enabling them to be handled with one hand. The best trim router comes in perfectly handy for a professional woodworker, allowing him to complete the most complicated of woodworks with a flourish.

A high-quality trim router can be used to trim not only laminated wood panels but also accomplish various other tasks. Some of these woodworking jobs include drilling holes, duplicating, sign engraving, chiseling full hinge mortise, and profiling edges. The best trim routers go a long way in altering every day and low-profile woodwork projects into elegant ones.

Topnotch trim routers can be powerful and versatile enough to help you achieve even highly elaborate jobs, their small size notwithstanding. At the same time, trim routers need minimal storage space, thanks to their waist being lower than plunge or fixed-base routers. This guide reviews five best trim routers available in the market along with a buying guide, which will make it easier to choose the product you’re looking for.   

The handmade goodies that can be created with a drill is beyond imagination. The drill for a DIYer, enthusiast or a professional, is a handy tool they can't afford not to have in their toolkit.A drill without an appropriate drill bit is just a disaster waiting to happen and a misuse of this creative machine.

Drill bits are of different types and sizes depending on the materials to be worked on. Majority of DIYers and enthusiasts make use of the regular drill bits with tapered points to work on woods, plastic and metal sheets.

However, cutting through thick metals is another thing entirely.It requires some level of expertise and exposure as well as picking up the right drill bits. Without doubt, hardened steel and stainless steel are two of the most thickest metals out there.

Drill bits that are needed to cut through hardened steel have some special characteristics and properties. It is dangerous practice to pick up a regular drill bit to cut through hardened steel or any other tough metal.

Having the best set of tools to carry out a job and knowing where to find it is what all professionals and enthusiasts crave for. For professional and enthusiast woodworkers, the limitations of a miter saw causes waste of time and restricts your creativity. With the invention of sliding compound miter saw comes the flexibility and versatility you have always wanted.

For a novice, a miter saw is a woodworking tool that is used to make neat and accurate cuts on a wood. But this tool is very restricted as it can only make miter cuts and can work in only 90 degrees. This brought about the need for a compound miter saw whose only difference from a miter saw is that, it can make bevel cuts i.e to make cuts at an angle above 90 degrees.

There were still limitations to the compound miter saw, as it can only cut woods within the range of 6 to 8 inches.Cutting thicker materials was difficult to near impossible. This brought about the need for a sliding compound miter saw.

A sliding compound miter is more or less like a compound miter saw with an additional guiderails which allows the head of the saw to move back and forth. This allows you to make lengthier cuts. So in essence, this saw combines all the attributes of the previous two editions of miter saws with an additional guide rail, which means that it can make a miter, bevel, lengthier and thicker cuts.

Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned woodworker or just starting as a carpenter, you’ll find a router bit indispensable for your woodwork projects.

Veteran woodworkers are fully aware of the significance of quality router bits i.e., how the tools can enable them to complete their woodwork jobs. Router bits are must-haves when it comes to designing and creating cabinets and furniture and a variety of other sculptures from wood.

A router is one of the most versatile tools that a carpenter or woodworker can have in his workshop. After you have chosen a router that best serves your needs, the next thing you need to select is router bits.

No matter whatever brand of plunge, fixed-based or D-handle router you use, the tool will be useless without router bits.

Though you will come across different types of router bits in various sizes and shapes, you may need only a few specific kinds for dealing with your woodworking.

For instance, you’ll need an edge beading bit for trimming and shaping rims of bookshelves, chair arms, and tabletops. So, the task of choosing appropriate router bits can become challenging and hectic if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

When it comes to chipping off precise pieces on wood surfaces, plunge routers come in perfectly handy. A plunge router is an indispensable tool that lets you preset a standardized notching or engraving depth, thereby relieving you from the hassle of taking measurements time and again.

Working with a plunge router can offer you excellent results that will be best mirrored in your artistic creations, such as a photo frame or bookcase.

Not only are plunge routers extremely resourceful, but they are also available in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Plunge routers find extensive applications in workshops and are a must-have for carpenters.

You’ll find a plunge router very useful for making customized cuts in a very convenient manner about your woodwork projects.

For getting the best results from a plunge router, you’ll need to plunge the tool bang in the middle of the working surface with precision. When you research on the net or visit a local tool shop for choosing a quality plunge router, make sure you’re aware of the tool’s essential attributes.  

We all know that cutting and falling of trees, making firewood, and many more isn’t an easy task. Especially, when you’re a newbie with thedesireto get a professional cut that’s accurate and neat. These tasks can, however, be simplified using the best chainsaw.

The chainsaw if properly used serves different purposes aside from the conventional functions. They also help to mitigate common accidents like laceration, amputation, kick-back and others associated with wood cutting.

Especially, if proper prescribed measures including the use of protective are observed.