Circular Saw Blade Direction & Installation Guide

Are you scared of ending up with an occupational hazard while working with a circular saw blade? Do you want to know your circular saw blade direction? Well if this is your problem then you don’t have to worry so many people are facing the same problem or at least the same fear.

One of the biggest risks in the job of carpentry is cutting through wood with exotic machines. Without a good knowledge of these machines, you could end up prematurely amputating yourself. To avoid any such issues, you will need to find out more about the tools you are using. In this article, we will be looking at the circular saw blade direction. This will help you stay safe.

What is a circular saw blade?

A Circular saw’s blade is a heavy-duty machine that is used for cutting through wood, especially big ones. The machine consists of teeth which role in a particular direction with terrible speed. This speed is what gives it the force to cut through any wood with the sharp teeth.

Mishandling a circular saw blade could lead to an occupational hazard which you must try to avoid. One thing that you must try to always be aware of before you use your circular saw blade is to note if the blades are moving in the right direction.

What is the Circular Saw Blade Direction of Rotation?

As mentioned earlier, this is the most important thing you need to check before you use your circular saw blade. If you trust a circular saw blade may be because you recently just finished using it, then endeavor to check it after you’ve taken it out for repairs.

A normal circular saw blade is supposed to rotate by default. What this means is that, if you recently just purchased yours, you don’t need to worry about the direction of rotation, it will automatically rotate in the right direction.

However, if you just took yours to the repairer and you’re not sure if it is still running in the same direction, then you should try to see if it is running in an anti-clockwise direction. This is the natural and original direction every circular saw blade should be facing.

To ensure that you’re not making a mistake when you collect it from your repairer, don’t start work with it immediately. First of all plug it in, watch it roll. If it is rolling towards the left, then it is ok. If, however, it is rolling towards the right, you might need to turn it off and stay far away from it.

For an extra tip, before you begin to use it after repairs, make sure that you stay far away from it, don’t try to cut any wood with it just yet. If it goes in the opposite direction the blade could run off and that is going to cause some really serious hazard.

Factors that Affect the sharpness of the circular saw blade:

There is a chance that after a few months or years, depending on how often you use your circular saw blade, it would get blunt or it could even get rusty. During this period, you will need to change it so that you can become more productive and effective when you work.

The question becomes, how do you change a circular saw blade? But before we get into the process of changing your circular saw blade, what do you think are the factors that affect the sharpness of your circular saw blade?

a) Frequency of use:

The more frequently you use your circular saw blade, the more it gets blunt. For some people, they use it just once or twice a month. For others, they use it every day for all the 30 days in the month.

Now you can’t expect your circular saw blade to stay as sharp as the one that gets used only once in a while when actually you use yours every day. That is going to affect the sharpness of the circular saw blade. You will need to frequently sharpen it to make it more effective for use. She cannot go through the process of sharpening it, then you can at least clean it up using the cleaning chemical.

b) The material you cut with it:

just like with the frequency of use, some people use their circular saw blade every day but only for cutting slim pieces of wood. When you compare this to the person who cuts heavy wood, you will see that 1 circular saw blade is working far harder than the other. The thicker the wood the blunter it makes your circular saw blade.

This is not to say that if you stop cutting your heavy wood with the circular saw blade, it is just a reminder that cutting heavy wood could greatly affect the sharpness of your circular saw blade

c) The quality of your blade:

if you’re using a circular saw blade and the blade in the machine isn’t strong enough to stand hard work like cutting through a thick wood, then you might need to get a new one.

Usually, most of the circular saw blades come with quality blades. The problem comes when you change the blade that came with it probably because it has become old. You should ask your repairer to get you a blade that won’t make you stress with your work.

How do you know if your blade needs changing?

Now how do you know that your circular saw blades need to be changed? Usually, you will see some of your signs:

Difficulty cutting through hardwood: The moment your circular saw blade begins to get hooked for stuck in your wood, you should know that it is time to change it. To continue working with it like that means to continuously have to delay the work progress.

a) It cuts off extra wood:

if you’re using a circular saw blade and your intention is to cut neatly through a wood, a blunt or weak blade would cut extra and excess wood. This is going to make your work really rough and look shabby.

b) The machine begins to make too much noise:

sometimes this might happen due to other reasons but majorly it is because the machine has begun to work too much. One of the most telling reasons for this is because the blades aren’t making the job easy.

c) You will find it difficult to maintain a straight line:

if you’re trying to cut through a wood in a straight line using a blunt blade, you would end up with dirty and shabby work. This is going to make your work a lot more difficult, stressful, and discouraging.

How to Change a Circular Saw Blade:

The following steps will help you easily change a circular saw blade. Before we get onto this, you should know that you could check the solution to this problem in the manual that came with your circular saw blade. If, however, you don’t have your circular saw blade manual anymore, then you can follow these simple steps.

a) Unplug your circular saw blade from electricity:

you don’t want to start doing the job and including an occupational hazard to it. You should, first of all, make sure that you are safe and nothing can trigger the circular saw blade to action. If your circular saw blade does not need electricity then you have to remove the batteries.

b) Engage the locking mechanism:

This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It only takes the push of one button, the arbor-lock button. When you have pressed this button, you have to rotate the blades to engage the locking mechanism.

c) Remove the Nut Anti-clockwise

The next step is to remove the nut that holds the blade in place. Turn it in the direction that the blade cuts. This is usually anti-clockwise

d) Remove the old blade and insert the new one

when you do this, you must make sure that the blade cuts are facing the direction in which the blade rotates. If you don’t get it right you may have to start the process all over again because your blade would be cutting in the wrong direction.

e) Tighten the arbor-nut back

Tighten the arbor-nut back and make sure that it is strong enough to not come off when you begin to work.

That is basically all you need to know about how to change a circular saw blade.

Extra Tip:

As an extra tip, do you know you may not actually need to change the blades all the time? Yes, sometimes, all that your circular saw blade needs is cleaning and sharpening.

You can repeat the steps above to change your circular saw blade but this time, what you will be doing is cleaning the blades. Before you carry out this task make sure that you are wearing a chemical-resistant glove. The chemicals required to clean up your blade are harsh. You should make sure that your skin is well protected. Stay safe while you work, were all these Circular saw blade direction tips helpful? Please let us know by making a comment in the comment box. Thank you.

Last Updated on November 17, 2020 by Rogers Weber

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