Power Saws & Their Uses

Power Saws & Their Uses

    Power saws are extremely useful machine tools, but they are also very confusing. There are so many types of saw in different categories and sub-categories of power saw, that it becomes difficult to remember what each kind of saw does. That is the purpose of this article, to act as a sort of “comprehensive guide” to explain the world of various types of power saws.

    Generally, there are three varieties of power saws namely power saws with rotating blades, with reciprocating blade and circulating blade, including electric wood cutting saw.

    If you have ever played the word game CodyCross then you probably have across the puzzle: Power tool with rotating blade. The answer is BUZZSAW.

    But what is a buzzsaw? It is nothing but a circular saw. Most of the electric saws fall under this classification.

    In this guide, I’m going to give you a very brief explanation as to what each kind of power saw does, what it is good for, etc. My hope is that this saw guide will be useful for both beginners, who know nothing about power saws and professionals who are familiar with power saws, but who are also looking to expand their knowledge.

    Table saws are one of the workhorses of any workshop or garage. Everyone from professionals to home DIYers use this tool often. In my experience, it is hard to think of a woodworking or carpentry job that does not require you to use a table saw at least once. Table saws are very simple, a circular saw blade is spun at high speeds at a stationary position and the operator pushes the wood into the blade. There is some room for customization, especially with regards to the blade, which can be changed to accommodate different kinds of jobs. However, ultimately the table saw is a simple, but effective tool.

    Working Principle: The circular table saw blade fixed on an arbor revolves at a very high speed. The work-piece is fed against the rotating blade to make the cut.

    Circular saws, much like table saws, are a very common workhorse in both professional and DIY workshops. A circular saw is a versatile tool that offers high portability. The main purpose of a circular saw is to cut wood and other soft materials; in this sense, they are essentially portable table saws. You can also this saw to cut tough materials like metal with the appropriate circular saw blade. The working principle of a circular saw is opposite of a table saw.

    How Circular Saw works: A circular saw it a handheld power tool with a rotating blade that is pushed across the workpiece to cut through it. That means the work needs to be stationary and the rotating circular saw blade moves to make the cut.

    Jigsaws work similarly to reciprocating saws, except with two key differences. Firstly, unlike with regular reciprocating saws, the blade on a jigsaw aims downward, instead of jutting out from the nose of the saw. Secondly, jigsaws are designed specifically to make curved or otherwise non-straight cuts.

    A jigsaw, when compared to a reciprocating saw, is a much more precise tool. Also, it is the only handheld power saw with which you can produce curved cuts.

    Uses of Jigsaw:

    The jigsaw is a very versatile tool that can be used to cut straight and curved cuts on different materials including wood, plastic, metal, granite, tiles, and metal. One of the most common applications of a jigsaw in a household is to install countertops.

    Another advantage of a jig saw is that you can use it to cut internal profiles. All you need to do is drill a start hole for the blade to enter and you are ready to cut straight, angled and curved shapes.

    Introduction of Grinding Machines

    Grinding machines produce flat, cylindrical, and other surfaces through high-speed rotating abrasive wheels. Grinding is a means of giving a more accurate finish to a part already machined but is also a machining process in its own right. The main types of machine are the ‘surface grinding machine’ for flat surfaces; and the ‘cylindrical grinding machine’ for cylindrical surfaces. More complex shapes are produced by shaped wheels called ‘contour grinding wheels’. ‘Bench’ and ‘pedestal’ grinders are used for tool sharpening, etc.

    A grinding machine, often shortened to grinder, is one of the power tools or machine tools used for grinding, it is a type of machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear deformation.

    Grinding is used to finish workpieces that must show high surface quality (e.g., low surface roughness) and high accuracy of shape and dimension. As the accuracy in dimensions in grinding is of the order of 0.000025 mm, in most applications, it tends to be a finishing operation and removes comparatively little metal, about 0.25 to 0.50 mm depth. However, there are some roughing applications in which grinding removes high volumes of metal quite rapidly. Thus, grinding is a diverse field. There are also drill machines.