Reciprocating Saw vs Circular Saw

The reciprocating and circular saws are perfect power tools for cutting materials, and each tool is efficient in its way. When you have to choose between the two saws, you may end up getting confused depending on your immediate need. The confusion seems to be growing when you have essential carpentry experience.

Several online research websites and blogs will lead you in different directions whereby if by any chance you have to make a comparison between two saws it becomes more complicated. We all know that every job or tool will work well in particular situations and not others.

Read this article, understand the main use of the reciprocal and the circular saw, and get to know particular circumstances that each is best applied.

Circular Saw

This saw falls in the category of a power saw that uses a circular blade for cutting. The diameter ranges between 7-1/4 and 10-inches. The primary uses are for ploughing into the wood, crosscutting boards, and ripping boards to the right measurements. This means that a circular saw, it is versatile, portable, and easy to control.

The blade can be swapped for an appropriate one when faced with the challenge of working on masonry, metal, or plastic projects. Circular operate on electrical power or gas power. The saw running on gas have more power and have deep cutting capabilities compared to the electric ones.

The cordless ones but with weaker motors are good for powering small blades that produce shallow cuts. The circular saw has many endless uses. For example, some creative carpenters use the saw as a table saw by mounting them upside down under a table. Worry about circular saw blade sharpening? Follow this link.

Where to Use a Circular Saw

The size and shape of a circular saw mean that it applies in most carpentry jobs. The fact that it does not need mounting means that you can move with to various sites.

A saw is a favorite tool for building furniture. Because of its design, this saw can be used to dimension boards of virtually any size as long as you have the right support tools for that particular task.

The saw has a beveling blade with the ability to cut on two different planes when handling difficult jobs.

The saw is supposed to give straight cuts, unlike the reciprocating saw. The best application for a circular saw is for carpentry and not rough dimensioning.

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Reciprocating Saw

The reciprocating is also a machine-powered tool that is supposed to cut through materials through a push and pull motion. Unlike the circular saw, it does not have a circular blade but a knife-shaped blade with serrated teeth along its edge.

This saw does not have any mechanism for making angled cuts; it all depends on your ability to tilt the tool to the right and left. This explains why the machine is not made for clean carpentry jobs.

Because of the nature of the push and pull working mechanism, the cuts do not come out clean. The hacking of the blade creates vibrations that may produce unpredictable results. Use both hands when handling the saw to maintain its stability.

The blade of the jigsaw is designed to work on most materials, and that includes plastic, wood, and metal. Reciprocating saw is good if finesse in your work is what you are looking for.

Where to Use the Reciprocating Saw

The common reason given by those who purchase this kind of saw is to use it for yard work like trimming hedges, cutting wayward brushes, and pruning trees.

Resorcinol saw handle demolition tasks by taking down wooden beams and demolishing old furniture.

The saw can also make flush cuts if you can maintain a steady hand and have a surface to use as a guide.

Final Words

These two types of saws are different tools you can use for different purposes. We can conclude that a circular saw works well in building as the reciprocal saw is used in renovations.

The reciprocal lack of blade guard offers an opportunity for the user to have a wide visible angle when cutting through. Despite their closely associated resemblance in terms of what they do but you cannot substitute one for the other.