How To Cut Thick Wood With Circular Saw: 4 Easy To Follow Steps

Circular saws are very handy, you can do a lot of things while using one, whether it is a straight or angled line a circular saw will do the job.

Having that in mind it’s no surprise that the circular saw is among the favorites to purchase, especially for woodworking projects, a big plus for the circular saw is also the handiness of it. It’s easy to carry around because it is a portable device.

If you are a beginner and just starting on your home decoration, try to have at least a little practice before using it. You have to be careful especially while trying to cut wood because it has an exposed blade that could harm you.

You have to be careful also when trying to cut thick wood and the blade is shorter than the wood. If you happen to be among the people that have this particular problem try to use these steps as guidance.

Related Read— Review of Corded Circular Saws

How To Cut Thick Wood With Circular Saw

Measuring the materials and the Blade itself

This is a simple yet important step when it comes to woodworking. What you have to do is measure the blade’s exposed part and also measure the thickness of the wood, if you are wondering why? The answer is simple because if the thickness of the wood is double the size of the blades exposed part of the saw then you won’t be able to cut it.

For example, if the exposed blade is about 3 inches and the thickness of the wood is about 5.5 inches than the saw can’t cut the wood.

So, in order to do that, other equipment is also needed. Thankfully nowadays you can get just about anything on the market including different kinds of circular saws and also just the blade in different sizes.

Related Read — Cutting 2×4 With a Circular Saw

Prepare The Wood Into The Stand

So after you completed the first step in fitting the wood with the blade now it’s time to do the second one, which is putting the wood onto the stand.

Even in this step, you need to make sure to adjust the dimensions in the stand for the size of the wood or whatever material you are cutting. The end of the stand would be the right position for cutting the wood. Click here to see our small circular saw reviews

Mark The Wood

After you completed the first two steps now it’s time to do the third one. When you decide the area where you want to cut, mark the thick wood with a straight line, to do that use a square and a pencil.

A very important tip, you need to do the straight lines all around the wood and also make sure that the lines are precise and aligned.

After doing that go back and re-check the lines and measurements. You can’t start until each line is the same. 

The Cutting Process

After you did the lines perfectly now its time for the cutting process, always start from one side of the line and try not to force the circular saw forward, you need to hold the wood with one hand and cut through as deep as you can with it.

The next step is turning the wood in 180 degrees and start cutting the other marked line, repeat this step until you cut all the marked lines. So basically what you need to do is 1. Cut,2. Flip,3. Cut again.

Just be careful with your hands since they will be close, so try to keep them as away as possible from the blade. And another safety precaution is unplugging the device as soon as you are done using it. Try wearing goggles and masks to protect yourself from the dust that usually is a problem while working with wood.

Related Read— How to Sharpen a Circular Saw?

Keep the Saw and Blade in a Good Condition

If you want your saw to have a long life and also work perfectly don’t underestimate the cleaning process. After unplugging your device you need to carefully take the blade out and remove the lingering dust in both the saw and blade separately while using a wet towel.

Try to do it carefully and check if there are any debriefs left on the blade as well, be careful of the sharpness of it, try not to hurt yourself in the process after you are done cleaning the blade wipe it thoroughly, and put it back on the saw.

Repeat this process every time you use the circular saw and don’t forget to store it somewhere safe.

Final Words

A circular saw is an amazing tool if you know how to use it properly, it has big power and sometimes beginners tend to underestimate it, in this case, it might generate damages to the user more than most saws, because the blade is more exposed, but don’t worry there are a lot of tips on how to use it and if you follow them you will do a great job.