It is not difficult to make a table for a circular table with your own hands, having at your disposal a hand-held power tool from Bosch or another leading manufacturer. But the presence of a table will significantly expand the capabilities of the tool. Manual models of Bosch circular saws, like their analogues, demonstrate high performance. But maneuverability, as the main advantage of a hand-held circular saw, can turn into a disadvantage if you need to process a large volume of workpieces. This is where a homemade table comes to the rescue.
- The design of the table required for a manual circular saw is quite simple, which allows you to do it yourself. A homemade platform requires a little skill and time to make;
- Drawings and diagrams are not mandatory components for successfully assembling a table with your own hands;
- The optimal material for making a table for a Bosch manual circular saw is metal;
- When choosing a metal table for a circular machine, do not forget about the massive structure and the need to be able to work with a welding machine with your own hands;
- Often the table is made by hand using wood. They are easier to assemble, which allows a beginner to make them;
- A Bosch circular saw or its analogues is installed under the table top;
- The disk should protrude above the tabletop. For this purpose, a special slot is provided on the surface of the table;
- The lumber is moved along the table surface and cut with a circular saw cutting tool;
- To increase the processing accuracy, the table can be additionally equipped with a longitudinal and angular stop;
- The tabletop will take away part of the working disk, so the sawing depth of a manual circular saw will become less exactly by the thickness of the working table. This indicates the need to choose a hand-held power tool that allows you to install large-diameter saw blades;
- It is recommended to make the desktop with an emphasis on strength and thinness. Metal or durable wood species are suitable for these purposes.
In many cases, it is better to start making a table with your own hands before purchasing the circular saw itself. This will allow you to optimally select equipment characteristics. For a manual circular saw that you want to machine on your desktop, the optimal power would be at least 1.2 kW. This will allow you to cut large quantities of materials efficiently and without overload.
Tools and materials
If you are unlikely to need drawings, it will not be superfluous to reinforce the knowledge acquired in this material with video lessons on assembling tables for circular tables.
To make a tabletop that turns a hand-held circular into a tabletop, you will need certain materials and tools. This list includes:
- Sheet of laminated plywood. Approximate thickness dimensions - 15-20 mm;
- Wooden beam. Its dimensions are 50 by 50 mm;
- High quality board;
- Switch;
- Socket;
- Electrical cable;
- Glue;
- Paints and varnishes;
- Self-tapping fasteners;
- Electric jigsaw;
- Screwdriver or electric screwdriver;
- Ruler;
- Household drill.
Determine the sizes at your discretion. But if the tabletop circular saw is too compact in size, you will not be able to cut long workpieces with the required comfort.
When choosing sizes, focus on the parameters of the most frequently processed workpieces. The dimensions of the table must be such that the product fits completely on the tabletop. This will allow you to use a Bosch tool to cut lumber efficiently and smoothly with your own hands.
Assembling the tabletop
When everything is ready, you can start working with your own hands. Let's assume that you have already chosen the Bosch power tool itself, or preferred an analogue from a trusted manufacturer, represented by Bosch.
The approximate dimensions of the tabletop, taking into account the selected materials, are 50 by 50 by 25 centimeters. You can make the size of your table larger or smaller depending on personal preference, the size of your workshop, or the characteristics of the Bosch circular saw you are using.
- Taking a laminated sheet of plywood as a basis, cut out a tabletop of the size corresponding to the selected parameters. The plywood may not be laminated, but in this case it will need to be coated with a layer of varnish. Apply markings from below so as not to spoil the appearance of the future table. Using an electric jigsaw, cut off the excess and clean the edges.
- Turn the sheet over with the bottom side up and mark it for mounting the hand-held circular saw. To do this, remove the saw blade from your circular saw and place the sole of the device against the surface of the sheet. Make marks on the sheet itself and the sole for future fastenings.
- Using a drill, drill the holes required for bolted connections. Screw the bolts from above through the table, and from below the structure will be held on by nuts. Here it is recommended to countersink the holes on the working side of the sheet and grind the bolt heads. They won't perform that way.
- If you are going to cut material on a machine with a Bosch circular saw at different angles, the hole for the saw wheel should be made in a certain shape - an inverted trapezoid. If you plan only for smooth cutting, it is enough to cut a standard type of groove.
- Do not rush to immediately cut the hole according to the markings. Take the circular saw again, attach it to the sheet, check the size matches, after which you can continue working.
- Use a pencil to mark where the stiffeners will be installed. To make them, use a wooden board. The ribs are located below, retreating from the edge of the tabletop about 8-10 centimeters.
- It is recommended to mount the tabletop legs to the stiffeners. To fix the ribs, use self-tapping screws, screwing them with a screwdriver in increments of 15-20 mm. It wouldn’t hurt to additionally glue everything with PVA glue. Self-tapping screws must be screwed through the top of the desktop, while recessing the heads of the fastening elements. Using long self-tapping screws, do not forget to connect the stiffeners together.
- Using timber or boards, cut out blanks to create the legs of your structure. The length can be 100-120 centimeters. Here you should focus on your own height, since it will be uncomfortable for a tall master to work on a low table. If the legs diverge slightly towards the bottom, this will give them more stability. Fixation is carried out according to the bolt-nut principle. It is a good idea to use washers between them. By making a screed from timber, the desktop frame will be more durable.
- You can adjust the height of the table using nuts that are screwed to the legs from below. M14 bolts are suitable for these purposes.
- Now proceed directly to fixing the circular saw. Insert the disk into the made slot and secure it with the appropriate fasteners.
- It is recommended to screw the socket on the inside of the table, connect the wiring to it and place the switch in a convenient but safe area. Press the on/off button onto the body of the circular saw and secure it.
- Using a square pipe and screws with wing nuts, a longitudinal stop is made. Cut the pipe according to the length of the table for the circular table, drill holes for screws 30 mm from the edge of the table top. Using pieces of plywood, a pair of clamps is made.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in assembling a tabletop for a circular table. A little time and the design is ready.
The household often lacks a circular saw, especially if major renovations or construction are underway. Not everyone can afford industrial products - they are too expensive. But you can make a circular saw yourself, using materials that are available in the household.
Design - main components, their purpose
A do-it-yourself stationary circular saw is created with advancement in several possible directions:
- adapting existing hand tools using the motor and circular saw for new capabilities;
- improvement of industrial products to expand functionality;
- assembly of individual parts, manufactured mainly in-house.
A stationary circular machine includes several main components: a table, a shaft, a motor and some others, the characteristics of which are not so important.
The table is used for fastening woodworking mechanisms. It can be assembled entirely from metal, which is preferable, especially for machines with a high-power engine. Wood also makes good circular tables. But it is necessary to take into account that the tabletop should be covered with a sheet of metal, otherwise the wood will soon wear out. Tables must be very rigid and stable, capable of withstanding considerable load during work. The surface is made perfectly flat; protective shields must be installed above the rotating parts.
For a homemade circular machine, a washing machine motor is quite suitable. Portable tools are less suitable: their commutator motors are designed only for short-term work. They have very high speeds, low efficiency, and are afraid of clogging. You can use a three-phase electric motor, but if the household does not have 380 V, you will need to purchase capacitors to make it work on 220 V.
The most critical component is the shaft. Use a ready-made one, if available, or machine it from round metal. The work on the lathe is performed in one setup, then the assembly with the working parts is checked for centering. Even minimal runout is unacceptable, otherwise during work it will become stronger, at which it is unacceptable to work. Seats are provided on the shaft: for a circular saw and for pulleys on the other side. You can also make grooves for planing knives.
Main parameters - calculation of power, speed, gear
The characteristics of the circular saw, the engine and the maximum thickness of lumber that can be cut are interconnected. The maximum speed for which it is designed is indicated on the purchased circular disk. The number of revolutions transmitted by the engine to the shaft should be less. The engine power affects the maximum permissible saw tooth diameter. The diameter must be at least three times the thickness of the material, otherwise sawing will be difficult. It is believed that to cut materials 100 mm thick, you need a motor of at least 1 kW of power.
The transmission is made only by a V-belt - if foreign objects get under the saw, the material jams, the belt slips on the pulleys. Injuries in such cases are practically eliminated. It is important to choose the right gear ratio. We take into account two indicators: engine speed and the maximum permissible speed of the circular saw. We calculate the required pulley diameters. A pulley with a large diameter is installed on the engine, and a smaller one on the circular shaft to increase the number of revolutions.
The revolutions of the shaft with a circular saw are as many times greater than the engine revolutions as the diameter of its pulley is smaller than the diameter of the pulley on the engine.
Woodworking machine - a capital product for the home
To work with wood in large volumes, it is better to have a machine that allows you to cut the material, plan it, and select a quarter. A fairly powerful electric motor and a rigid table are required. We present a structure made of steel angle and sheet steel. It provides a cutting depth of 60 mm; you can plan boards 200 mm wide. A three-phase motor of 1.1 kW, 2700 rpm is used. To connect to 220 V, capacitors are required.
1 – machine frame; 2 – panel; 3 – starter; 4 – device for height adjustment; 5.7 – work table of two halves; 6 – base; 8 – engine; 9 – platform; 10 – M10 studs; 11 – circular disk; 12 – shaft; 13 – stops of the lifting mechanism; 14 – driven pulley; 15 – belt; 16 – drive pulley; 17 – switch.
The work table has dimensions of 700×300 mm. In the drawing we see that the height of the entire structure is 350 mm. The height is not sufficient for comfortable work; the circular saw will have to be installed on an additional platform; it weighs only 35 kg. You can increase the length and width, increase the height up to 1200 mm. We adjust the remaining sizes to fit them, but the design features remain unchanged.
First we make the bed frame from steel corners 25x25 mm. If we are not going to increase the height, we make another similar lower frame. For a frame with a higher height, first we weld four legs from the same corners to the upper frame, and then we tie them at a height of 15–20 cm from the bottom. The lower frame has grooves for the engine platform locking bolts. Two studs are welded to the back side of the platform, which go into the holes on the back of the lower frame. By tightening the studs, we tighten the belts, then we lock the platform by tightening the nuts on the studs that go into the grooves.
To adjust the height of the table in relation to the saw, we use a simple lifting mechanism. It consists of racks, in the upper part of which we cut grooves at an angle of 45°. A total of eight racks are needed - four on each side. We weld them to the frame with grooves located in a mirror image. We attach cross members to the outer posts. We drill holes in the middle of each of them and weld nuts. Threaded shafts will move along them to regulate the lift.
Their ends rest against racks welded to frames assembled from 75x50 mm corners. We weld studs into them on the side opposite the grooves for the adjustment mechanism. The table consists of two equal halves and is attached to the frames with countersunk bolts. The adjustment mechanism works like this:
- loosen the nuts on the racks;
- we turn the screw, which presses on the stop, raising or lowering the table;
- tighten the stud nuts;
- We perform a similar adjustment for the second half of the working surface.
The design can be simplified without installing an adjusting shaft. Raise and lower the table manually. If you assemble the table not from two halves, but from one piece, you will only need four racks for the lifting mechanism.
Hand-held circular saw - turning into a stationary one
It’s easy to make a stationary one from a hand-held circular saw, expanding its capabilities. The first thing you need is a table. A convenient material is Finnish plywood, which, unlike ordinary plywood, is laminated - the workpieces glide well over the surface during processing. It is thick enough to withstand a lot of weight, moisture resistant, and easy to process. You can use ordinary 20 mm plywood, but you just need to paint it, or better yet, cover it with sheet steel or textolite.
You need to understand that the depth of cut will decrease by the thickness of the cover. You will need a large diameter disk so as not to reduce functionality compared to a portable tool. We make the dimensions of the tabletop sufficient to ensure that the workpiece fits in width. It should be added that on a wide table you can additionally strengthen an electric plane and a jigsaw, which will make the machine universal.
Using drawings and explanations, it is not difficult to make additional accessories for a circular saw that will expand its capabilities.
We mark a rectangle of the required dimensions on a sheet of plywood, cut it out, and process the edges. Using the sole, we apply a hand-held circular saw to the surface and mark the attachment points with a pencil. We make a slot for the circular saw. You can slightly deepen the attachment point using a milling cutter, but not more than 10 mm, so as not to weaken the tabletop. This manufacturing method will allow you to bring the cutting depth closer to that indicated in the circular saw’s passport.
From the boards we make a frame (tsars), which we install from below to strengthen the structure. We fasten four boards into a box, glue them to the tabletop, securing them with clamps. We screw self-tapping screws into the boards across the table. We countersink the holes for them from above so that the heads of the screws are hidden. We attach the legs to the frames of the stationary saw, preferably with bolts, washers and nuts. The table should be provided with additional rigidity, so we make spacers at the bottom of the legs.
We make a limit bar equal to the length of the working surface. In it we drill two grooves perpendicular to the disk, in which the bar will move and be fixed at a certain distance from the saw blade. It remains to make changes to the control system: we fix the control button in the on state with electrical tape. We install an outlet connected to the network on the drawer. We install a switch in the gap in the wire going to the saw.
Some aspects of the execution of homemade devices
No matter how well a circular machine is made, individual errors can lead to its performance being limited. This concerns, at first glance, seemingly trifles. Let's start with the bearings for the shaft. Installing conventional ones is justified if the machine is used from time to time. For a homemade device with permanent use, it is better to install self-aligning bearings. They consist of two rows of balls and are adjusted by tightening the clamping nut. Be sure to install a cover to protect against dust and chips.
On the working surface we apply a scale in centimeter increments. This will make woodworking much easier when determining the width of the cut. Many people neglect to install a protective shield over the disk, but in vain - treatment for chips getting into the eye or in more serious situations is more expensive.
When working with various materials, it is often necessary to adjust the speed of the circular saw. A homemade design, as a rule, does not have the ability to regulate engine speed. There is only one way out - the use of pulleys of different diameters. They are installed on the motor shaft. If you decide to order pulleys from a turner, immediately make a solid pulley with two or three different diameters.
Many people want to install a three-phase electric motor on a sawing machine, without having 380 V. They will need capacitors designed for a minimum operating voltage of 600 V of paper or oil-paper type.
We calculate the capacitance of the capacitors based on the power of the electric motor: for 1 kW - 100 µF for the working capacitor Av. We take the capacity of the starting joint twice as large. The SB trigger is a button that automatically returns to its original position. Startup is simple: turn on SQ, press SB for a couple of seconds. After starting, the button is released, as soon as the engine picks up speed, you can cut.
A circular saw is required in private households quite often, but it is not at all necessary to buy an expensive tool for this. You can make a circular saw with your own hands from available materials.
Basic materials and tools
To create a circular saw you will need the following materials:
- pipe (45 mm);
- channel;
- corner “4” and “6”;
- boards 30 mm wide;
- metal sheet up to 8 mm thick.
The nodes you will need are:
- engine;
- bearings.
The work cannot be done without tools and materials:
- jigsaw;
- turbine;
- screwdriver;
- screwdriver;
- scotch;
- hammer;
- wire cutters;
- pliers;
- tape measure and triangle ruler.
How to do it yourself?
You can make a circular electric saw for wood with your own hands from various devices. There is an important condition: you must have metal working skills.
From the Bulgarian
Making a homemade stationary circular saw at home is not difficult. First of all, you should decide on the project, draw a diagram and make a drawing. The differences between a stationary and tabletop DIY circular saw are the height of the base. Before assembling the instrument, you should think about creating a “table”. It is usually made of wood (board thickness - 3 cm) and covered with tin or aluminum sheet. Steel sheets up to 6 mm thick can also be suitable for these purposes. Cross members are made from angle iron (up to 80 mm).
The working disk protrudes beyond the table usually by 35%, that is, for a beam 120 mm thick, the diameter of the disk should be 370 mm, respectively. The power plant required will be 1000 watts (possibly more). If the workpieces are more massive, then a homemade circular saw may not “take” them. The support is created from the angle “8” - this is a fairly massive and durable structure that can withstand quite significant loads. The stop extends beyond the table by 4-5 cm. One shelf is processed on both sides, the remainder in this case should be equal to the length of the table.
A very important unit is the shaft - it is best to take it ready-made. If you have the skills to work on a lathe, then turning such a part is not very difficult. You will need to buy bearings with protection. It is better to use a V-belt pulley. A power plant from a refrigerator or washing machine can be used as an engine. Capacitors are usually made of oil and paper.
After you have managed to assemble the machine using available materials, you should test it without any loads. All elements must “get used to” each other in order to work as a single complex. During the testing process, some shortcomings may appear, they will need to be eliminated. For a homemade circular machine, a motor from a washing machine may be ideal.
Such power plants operate from a 220-volt network; they have good efficiency and an acceptable rotation coefficient. If you install a three-phase motor (it is powered by 380 volts), you will have to buy additional capacitors to reformat the unit to 220 volts. Sometimes they use units with a gasoline engine - such power plants have good efficiency and are unpretentious during operation.
The most important element in a homemade unit is the shaft. You can grind it yourself from a metal pig. It is not difficult to make such an element on a lathe. It is important to maintain the centering of the part so that there is no unnecessary vibration of the mechanism. Special grooves are machined on the shaft where the saw blade and pulleys will be attached. Sometimes recesses for attaching knives are also machined. The size of the saw blade itself is directly related to the power of the engine. The diameter should be 3.5 times the thickness of the product. There are also proven calculations: for 110 mm of material thickness, an engine power of 1 kW will be required.
Craftsmen often make a circular saw together with a jointer on the same base. In this case, both tools can work from the same engine. A jointer is capable of cleaning a wooden surface to a mirror shine; its presence in combination with a circular saw is more than appropriate.
From a hand-held circular saw
It is also easy to assemble a circular saw from a hand-held circular saw. The sliding stop can be made from angles that are mounted on both sides of the rotating element (disc with teeth). The slot width is usually up to 5 millimeters. All edges must be processed so that they are slightly rounded. All corners are made with crossbars that should bind them tightly. You can use bolts and nuts as fastenings.
A metal clamp should be attached to the body. The screw tie is mounted at the bottom of the block. The clamp (thickness up to 2 mm) in conjunction with the rear pillar is a single unit that can withstand significant loads. The stop is fixed at the rear of the unit. The washers that create the gap can be moved by adjusting the size of the slot between the disk and the sides of the stop.
It is best to do the transmission using lino belts - if a foreign object gets in, then when jammed, such pulleys will slip, which eliminates the possibility of injury. A pulley with a larger size is placed on the engine, a pulley with a smaller diameter is placed on the circular shaft - in this ratio the optimal number of revolutions is achieved.
From a chainsaw
To make a circular saw from a chainsaw, you will need a metal canopy that will be mounted to the body of the saw. The engine is already available, so making the unit will not be very difficult. You will also need two channels measuring 185x8000 mm. You will also need corners (55 x 100 mm) and two pieces of rails that turn with their soles up. Holes of 16 mm are drilled at the base of the sawmill, with a distance of one meter between them.
Ties are made from pipes (length - 255 mm). The structure is fastened with bolts. The racks are made separately; the sawmill body will be attached to them. It is important to ensure that all elements are not deformed. The distance between the posts should be no more than one meter. Then the sawmill is equipped with a movable carriage. It is made from a steel sheet 620x55 mm, corners are welded to the metal from below. Small bearings are mounted on the trolley. Two corners should also be welded at the top, and a chainsaw is attached to them. Then a holder is made that will work as a clamp for a beam or log.
You will need a pipe with a diameter of 45 mm. To work, you will need a hose that will be mounted at a given height, which should not be greater than the length of the pipe itself. This is how a sawmill is made. Such a unit can process timber or logs of any cross-section.
From a drill
The drill is a universal tool, from which the following units can be made:
- mini drilling unit;
- lathe;
- mower;
- turbine.
Mechanics at service stations even make winches out of drills to lift fairly large loads. The drill is also actively used in construction, in particular in painting work. Farmers often use a drill to install seedlings in the ground. A circular drill will be compact. To create the tool you will need the following elements:
- bases made of boards 2-3 cm thick;
- vertical supports;
- the shaft on which the disk is mounted;
- electric drive in the form of a drill.
Instead of boards, you can also use chipboard sheets with a thickness of at least 30 millimeters. On such material you should cut a rectangle measuring 310x255 mm. Also for the desktop you will need a 5 mm thick duralumin sheet. This material is good because it has an acceptable stiffness coefficient and at the same time low weight. A hole measuring 165x12 mm is cut in the place marked with a marker.
You can also make the fasteners for the drill itself yourself. The assembly for the shaft with the saw can be easily found on any construction market. During operation, a lot of dust will arise, so you should look for a bearing with protection - this will significantly extend its service life. A circular saw from a drill is assembled according to a standard algorithm:
- all main parts are attached to the base;
- then the table is mounted;
- the drill is connected, tests are done.
The equipment requires compliance with safety precautions:
- the work area should be cleared;
- the workpiece should work smoothly, without any delays;
- the machine must be equipped with a protective screen;
- garbage should not accumulate on the machine, it should be removed in a timely manner;
- You should do a preventive inspection of the unit and lubricate it.
This mechanical device makes it possible to process not only wooden products. If you install good cutters, you can work with non-ferrous metals, PVC, chipboard, and bars.
Homemade devices
Making a circular saw is not that difficult; problems may arise when fitting the components. Choosing all the elements correctly so that they work flawlessly is an important task. The shaft must have self-adjusting bearings if the unit is used daily. It is best to select the bearings themselves with two rows of balls, which will be adjusted using a clamping nut.
The working surface must have a “grid” marking. Without this coordinate system, accurate woodworking is quite difficult. The protective casing must not be neglected - during operation it reliably protects the device from mechanical damage. A circular saw operates in different modes when working with different materials, so it is advisable to have a device that controls such a process. Several grooves should be made on the shaft so that it is possible to rearrange the pulleys, thus changing the speed.
The parallel fence is a necessary device for working with large workpieces. You can make them yourself from plywood, boards or chipboard. The stop size usually does not exceed 25 mm. The stop is attached using self-tapping screws or bolts.
When you have to saw bars or make several cuts from different directions, you need a stop that has a “P” configuration. At its base lies a board 30 mm thick. Sidewalls 12 mm thick are screwed to the base. Thus, the stop is installed on a beam, the size of which from the cutting point corresponds to the size of the cutting disc. On both sides it is pressed against the beam with clamps. If the beam is too massive, then it is rearranged and another cut is made.
There is also an edge stop that is in demand. To make it requires a lot of time and good qualifications of the craftsman. Be sure to make a diagram before starting work. This stop is made of plywood (20 mm), and the stop strip is also made from this material. Manufacturing phases:
- longitudinal grooves for keys are cut;
- the keys are mounted on a thrust strip;
- Another groove is cut between the grooves made to secure the thrust strip;
- another hole is made in the base, its size corresponds to the saw blade of a circular saw;
Sidewalls-limiters are mounted, and there must be clamps in order to securely fasten them. To place the emphasis on the workpiece, the bar moves in the grooves and is fixed through the slot with clamps. It is best to immediately attach a ruler or tape measure to the frame - this makes the work much easier. The pusher is convenient for working with small workpieces - it allows you to fasten the part on both sides, which ensures precision in work. It is also important to do:
- elevator;
- riving knife;
- lifting mechanism.
If a three-phase motor (380 volts) is installed on the machine, then capacitors that can withstand a minimum voltage of 620 volts will certainly be required. These devices may be paper-based.
Capacitors are calculated according to the following scheme: per 1000 watts there are 100 µF for a working type capacitor. The capacity of the starting capacitor must be ordered twice as large. It should be remembered that the SB starting block is a device that automatically returns to its original position. This is very convenient, since literally a few seconds after the start you can begin the workflow.
- you cannot work with wood that contains metal fragments (nails, screws, etc.);
- marking the material is possible only with special clamps or substrates (this is especially true for long boards and timber);
- boards and timber from two meters in length must be processed by two people;
- when working with the disk, no sudden movements or jolts should be used, otherwise the device may jam or break;
- if the material has dimensions of 42 cm or more, it is recommended to use a special pusher;
- if the wood is heterogeneous (there are branches and knots), then it must be dissolved before work;
- You should always use gloves: both during operation and when cleaning the unit;
- Do not accumulate wood waste on the machine - this may cause a fire or short circuit.
The machine cannot be operated under the following circumstances:
- no guide bar;
- no casing;
- the gap is too wide (from 10 mm);
- there are no safety devices (raking cutter, holding fingers) that protect the worker from the workpiece falling off;
- the height of the riving knife exceeds the height of the saw blade (from 6 mm), the distance of its installation (17-110 mm).
The machine must have a chip collector. Be sure to wear safety glasses while working. When changing elements on the machine, it must be de-energized.
To learn how to make a circular saw with your own hands, see the following video.
In the household, a circular saw always comes in handy. Major repairs are a costly and troublesome task. Not everyone can afford to buy expensive tools for processing wooden materials. A DIY circular saw allows you to carry out safe work and speed up the construction process. A saw made by yourself has a number of advantages, such as reliability, efficiency and sharpening for immediate needs.
A circular saw
Purpose of a circular saw
Before you begin assembling the machine, you need to clearly define its purpose. For preparing firewood and simply cutting large pieces of wood, a firmly fixed table with a slot for a saw is sufficient. This type is common in villages and rural areas; the machines are not safe and have increased functionality.
For a more varied range of carpentry jobs, you will need a better option. The circular machine must be equipped with a coordinate table with special guides, this allows you to change the degree. The manufacture of small-sized products requires increased safety. Speed control is installed and discs can be changed.
Design features of a circular machine
Circulars of any fixed type consist of main parts.
- Table for connecting mechanisms. An assembly combined with higher power engines is preferable to a table made entirely of metal. The surface of the table must be made level with your own hands, for a higher quality product at the end.
- The engine in most cases is used from what is in stock. Electric motors designed for long-term operation from the network will be preferable to commutator drives.
- The shaft is the most critical component of the circular. Finished products are used most often; in other cases, the assembly is made on a lathe. It is important to calculate the mounting holes and eliminate runout.
A table for a DIY table saw can be used as a cutting machine. The cut cannot reach more than 8 cm, so larger jobs will require the use of a larger machine.
Stationary machine with your own hands
To perform everyday or one-time tasks, a hand-made circular saw is quite suitable. Small-volume sawing work does not imply heavy loads on the disk drive. The compact tool has small dimensions, which makes it possible to put it away after finishing work in a certain place. An experienced carpenter will need to make a large stationary type circular saw.
Making a stationary circular saw with your own hands will require precision and literacy from the master. Drawings presented in many types of literature will help in manufacturing. It is worthwhile to treat every component of the unit competently and carefully, because the circular machine is used at high speeds with a cutting tool.
Circulation table
Saw blade
The design of a DIY circular saw must contain a saw blade. The working surface of the disk is set to one third of the total diameter. For example, with a diameter of 210 mm, the disk should protrude 70 mm from the table. Parts with greater thickness will require a powerful motor, from 1 kW. A miniature circular saw will not cope with such tasks.
The splitting knife installed on some models serves to prevent short circuits and jamming during operation. It is located at the back a few millimeters from the teeth of the saw blade. The device may also be needed when making a circular saw with your own hands.
Adjustable side support
Any type of work will require a stop. The side support is made of a block of dense wood. In other cases, it is possible to make it from a metal corner. The arrangement should be slightly longer than the table structure. The stop is installed using bolts. The template is installed between the table and the cutter for precise installation and better settings.
Shaft
Homemade shaft
The most important part of the design is the shaft mounted on the circular saw. A self-made shaft for a circular saw can damage the structure and cause injury. The reason for this is runout, which cannot be avoided when making a shaft using artisanal methods. The manufacture of the shaft should be entrusted to a specialist with good turning equipment. You should remember that there is a cutter that needs a seat. The holes must be symmetrically machined and machined.
Finished shafts are sold in specialized markets. Preference should be given to parts with a self-aligning bearing. Otherwise, the conventional mechanism may soon render the circular machine unusable.
Broadcast
There are several types of gears that can be used in the design of a DIY circular saw:
- V-belt drive;
- mechanism consisting of gears.
The preferred option is to use a belt drive. Using a mechanism with gears can lead to jamming if a foreign body enters and injury to the worker. When choosing the pulley diameter, the maximum number of revolutions of the saw blade is taken into account.
Motor
In most cases, homemade machines are equipped with an engine from an old washing machine. The main features are increased service life and efficiency. The speed of such engines is not high, which makes working on a circular saw assembled with your own hands safer, longer, and has a positive effect on the result. The use of a special three-phase motor implies the presence of a 380 Volt network. If one is not available, you will have to use a starting and running capacitor, which leads to additional costs.
Circular saw from a grinder or circular saw
When working with small workpieces, it is enough to get by with a small circular saw. A circular saw is made with your own hands from available power tools; you will need a grinder or a circular saw.
There are many options for stationary use of improvised tools. It is enough to secure the device from the bottom of the table to access the material to the disk. The height is adjustable depending on the workpiece, but for safety reasons should not exceed one third of the size of the saw blade. This installation option is not available for the switch; it is necessary to modify the device for convenient operation.
A fairly common option is to use a frame on guides. The simple design allows the tool to be used to work at any angle. It consists of two parallel metal pipes or angles on which the saw is mounted.
A self-made circular saw makes the work you do faster and more economical. Such a device will be needed during major repairs and other actions related to cutting wood. The simplicity of the design, the possibility of using scrap materials, make the cost almost zero, and making it yourself allows you to add the necessary functionality for the job.
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Nowadays, homemade saws are quite common. You should know that making a circular saw with your own hands is not difficult. To build such a product you only need to have basic skills in working with metal devices. All manipulations must be performed carefully. It should be noted that such a homemade tool is a useful thing.
For full cutting work, you will need a table with a circular saw, which you can make yourself.
Drawings of a stationary and hand-held circular saw can be seen in Fig. 1 and fig. 2.
It makes sense to make a saw of this type when some of these materials are available: pieces of steel angle, a non-working engine or elements from an angle grinder. If you don’t have an electric motor, you can buy one at a hardware store.
Figure 1. Layout diagram of a stationary circular saw.
A do-it-yourself circular saw can be made when a grinder is available. To complete all the work you will need to prepare the following elements:
- aluminum corner;
- Bulgarian;
- metal pipe or rod;
- nuts;
- strip of metal.
You will also need to additionally make the following products with your own hands:
- sliding stop;
- axial handle.
How to make stops and holes?
The first step is to build a stop and prepare the necessary holes. This design is assembled from small pieces of metal corner. They will be located on two sides of the working element, which in this case will be a disk with teeth used instead of an abrasive wheel. On each side you need to make indentations of approximately 2-5 mm. Horizontal edges should be smoothed at the bottom so that they do not touch the part being cut. The corners will need to be secured with transverse ligaments at the front and back. It is recommended to use bolts and nuts as fasteners. The recess can be made by installing several washers.
Figure 2. Design of a hand-held portable circular saw.
A clamp made of a metal strip should be placed on the body of the device. The clamp tie must be placed at the bottom of the product. You will definitely need to securely fix the tin or steel strip, which folds in half. Then you need to prepare a hole for the rear fastener for a stop, due to which sliding will occur. The stop should be secured to the rear of the fixture. To do this, you need to select a strip of metal with a thickness of 1.2-1.6 mm. By moving the washers, you can get identical gaps between the toothed disk and the side stops.
In the gearbox housing of the product, you will need to drill several recesses with threads for elements for fastening small sizes. First you will need to disassemble the gearbox to determine where the holes can be placed. The recesses are needed so that the axial handle can be secured. If you plan to use an ordinary side handle of an angle grinder, then even a qualified craftsman with relevant experience will not be able to make the correct cut.
Making a handle and rod for adjustment
The axial handle can be constructed from a tube or rod in the form of a horn, which is directed upward. You can also use a narrow transverse bracket. The extreme parts with which it will be attached to the gearbox do not need to be spilled. In these parts, recesses should be prepared for fastening elements. If the ends of the fasteners spill, the handle may bend from the effort during operation.
If the handle has the shape of a horn, then its far side should be splashed in a horizontal plane and a recess should be made under the axis with a margin of 2.5-3 mm. A piece of rod or pipe sticking forward should be inserted into the recesses that are located in the gearbox. The outermost part of the element must be splashed and a recess must be made in it. There should be a distance of approximately 10 cm between the rod and the bracket.
Next you need to take a piece of 3-4 mm aluminum rod. You will need to bend one part of it into a loop, spread it a little and drill a recess for the front bolt for support. By placing washers on the front of the stop, you will need to create a uniform gap width along the entire length of the fixture. If you plan to use a 6 mm rod, you will need to prepare several washers of small thickness.
A thread must be cut on the back of the rod. The element should fit into the recess on the handle. You must first put one nut on it during the assembly process and another one at the end. You will need to loosen and tighten the nuts gradually to be able to adjust the cutting depth. At this stage the tool is ready for use.
Small table saw
You should know that you can easily convert a manual circular saw into a small desktop device with your own hands. To do this, you need to build a frame from a 16-22 mm tube or rod and attach a lever. The lower part of the table should be curved in the direction of the cut, after which the element is attached to the table with self-tapping screws. For the stability of the structure, it is recommended to provide for the installation of slopes.
It is worth noting that such a homemade tool requires a stable table. Its swinging during work can become dangerous. You can use an ordinary kitchen table made of wooden beams and metal profiles.
A T-tube rotating lever should be placed on the cross member. The transverse part of the part is cut into several fragments. When the structure is installed, the elements should be connected with clamps. Using a clamp, you will need to attach the hand tool that was made earlier to the extreme vertical part.
This device can also be used as a cutting tool. You just need to insert an ordinary cutting circle into the grinder. However, in this case, the cut thickness will be less than 75-80 mm. If you plan to process thick wood, you will need a full-fledged homemade circular saw.
How to make a stationary saw?
To build a machine of this type, drawings will be needed. The only difference between a stationary saw and a table saw is the height of the bed.
An important part of the bed is a flat and wide base with a slot for a file. It can be built from plexiglass, chipboard or iron sheet. The thickness of the cover on which the wire is secured in such a design is determined based on the loads. The bed cover must be removable so that all machine components can be easily accessed.
The first component of the structure that you will need to make yourself is the table. It should be covered with a sheet of tin or steel. Wood rubs against wood or plastic, causing a small hole to appear. Therefore, it will not be possible to make a high-quality cut. The transverse ligaments of the table will need to be made from aluminum corner 60-70 mm.
If the bar is sliding, then the table cover must have strictly parallel sides.
The slide can be made from an aluminum angle, which will allow you to slide smoothly along the edge without losing the angle.
Care must be taken that the toothed disc does not protrude more than 1/3 of the diameter above the base of the table, otherwise the tool will be dangerous. If you need to cut a 10 cm block, then the diameter of the disc should be 35 cm or more. To drive the disk you will need an electric motor with a power of at least 1 kW.
First of all, you need to compare the power of the prepared electric motor with your personal needs. For parts 15 cm or more, making a cutting tool yourself is very difficult.
If it is not possible to make a circular saw with your own hands with a high-power electric motor, then you can use a hand-held circular saw, grinder or electric drill.
A cutting round file can be attached to any of these elements. They are small in size and can be used as an electric drive for cutting boards of small thickness. It is recommended to attach such devices to the bottom of the table cover.
A high-quality adjustable stop can be made from a piece of corner 7-8 cm, and its length should be 3.5-4 cm longer than the length of the table. Next, you need to cut the shelf on both sides so that the remainder is equal to the length of the table. The back parts are curved down. In the lower shelves it will be necessary to prepare recesses for the threads of elements for fastening. After this, you should put the stop on the table and fasten it in the desired position with bolts. The stop should be set according to the template, which must first be installed between it and the working element of the device.
Particular attention must be paid to the shaft. It is best to use a ready-made part with space for installing the disk. It can be purchased at any store selling building materials and tools.
Bearings must be used. You can install them yourself. Trunnions must be equipped with covers. These elements help protect the structure from sawdust.
V-belt transmission should be provided. The electric motor can be taken, for example, from an unused washing machine. Capacitors should be paper or oil. Other parts will not be able to withstand the reactive power that will circulate in the circuit.
If you plan to trim parts, then a carriage will come in handy. This element consists of guide bars that are attached to plywood.
Building a circular saw at home is not a complicated process; you just need to prepare all the necessary elements, choose the appropriate type of structure and follow these instructions.