Appreciate this guy. Since my dad passed away I no longer have anybody to ask advice. I spent too much time in the art world and so it's nice to be in the world of men chatting about blades, shanks and woodworking in general.

This helped me use a circular saw for the very first time...successfully and safely! First thing I cut? A full sheet of plywood! The "sacrificial" wood supports advice was priceless. Thanks much!

Thanks Colin. I've been using a circular saw for years, but have never used a sacrificial piece as support. I've struggled with kick back, binding, and damaging larger piece when they fall. I was blown away when you showed us to use a sacrificial piece to support the material. it makes so much sense! I can't believe doing that never occurred to me. thanks!

I just did a few test cuts with my first new circular saw, kind of fun but also terrifying so I went to watch more tutorials and glad I found this one great tips.

I just bought one and this was the first video I came across. I’m glad I did. This was a great primer. Short and chock full of very important information 👍

Thanks from a girl who has the desire to do woodworking, but no one around to show me. I feel safe doing my first cuts.. Cheers.

A great teaching. I am new to woodworking so this has been very handy, thank you.

Of all the "how to use..." this is the only one that showed which way the blade rotates. The part about eye/ear protection leading to better quality.. wood sagging affecting the quality.. that was new to me.

My favorite part of this video is how you never even turn on the drill until 8:26 seconds. Like how a real safety video should be. My wife and children thank you.

Excellent video! Practical with many helpful, wise details. Sensitive, caring instructor. Appreciate your effort in putting this together for us!!

Thank you for the detailed explanation of 'why' these things are important.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, it helped me use my circular saw safety for the first time.

Thank you! I was scared of my circular saw... until I got a table saw...

Ordered my very 1st circular saw and this video helps me a lot. Thanks you very much for informative and good narrated video.

Nice video I just showed it to my class I Am vocation instructor Thank you.

many yrs making a living with carpentry, but this was a nice reminder to be safe. can't see without specs so that's kinda covered..subscribed!

Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

What s relief and reassurance you begin with safety improvement ! Thank you ! Wonderful you are explaining the rationale for clear understahding , much appreciated 👍🏼

Thank you! I am about to cut a few pieces and I have only ever watched others use one, and I appreciate the safety tips. understanding blade direction and supporting things well seems really useful tips.

thanks so much, very informative.

Great video. I like to always have a little fear when using my circular saw.

I've just ordered my first circular saw and this video is the best one I've found on using a circular saw Colin is always so knowledgeable and clear and easy 2 understand I always learn new things with every video he makes thank you

Thanks for posting video, a short pencil is better than a long memory, thanks for the safety tips

Great information. Appreciate the sacrificial board tip. Saves the saw horse.

Excellent video and excellent teacher

Thank you. I just bought a circular saw today and really needed your tutorial!

Wow what a great video. Thank you so much for this and that sacrificial wood tip !

Good video on probably the most brilliant piece of equipment ever made.

Thank you for a very informative video I just purchase a circular saw for the first time so this will really help me a lot.

Thank you for making this video very informative

Excellent summary of using a circular saw safely. Thanks.

Thank you so much for the teaching.

Excellent video. Thank you!

My tips, and stupid narrow misses, for cutting firewood with a circular saw are a) I chop the top off the little round lock button. I don't find the usual trigger push button difficult to push and I find it really scary when the saw locks on. Once I did not realise that the saw was locked on and plugged it in when the guard was off and the saw chased me around! I exaggerate. But even if you are not as stupid as me, chopping off the lock button is something that you may wish to consider. "Kickback" is the biggest issue when chopping firewood. 1) It is important to me to ensure I not standing behind the saw but rather sawing with my right hand at about the position it would be when on the arms of a chair so if the saw kicks back it will not do so towards your body. If you are doing a low of sawing (of firewood) I would recommend using a saw that is light enough to handle in this way. If you need to use both hands (as may be recommended when doing carpentry) then you are more likely to put that saw in front of you. I see that many recommend that one always have two hands on the saw. I do not. 2) But when there is kickback, it is nice to know that as soon as you take your finger off the button the saw is going to stop, hence my disabling the lock button. 3) Supporting the wood. This gentleman puts his wood on top of sacrificial wood and readjusts the depth every time he cuts. That would be quite time consuming if cutting all sorts of thickness of scrap wood for firewood. So I use a saw bench with a lot of supports parallel to the cut. The thing that causes kickback the most is when the wood is not supported by at least two supports on both sides of the blade so that as one cuts the wood collapses into a slight V shape, which impinges on the blade, causing it to kickback out of the cut. This is the thing to avoid. Always support your wood well. It does not have to be supported with a sacrificial piece all along its length but it does have to be supported so that both sides of the cut do not sag once the cut is made. 4) Take good care of where your wire is. I have seen many second hand saws with repaired wire. I have sawn through a wire once myself. This caused a big spark, and made me jump as it were, which could have encouraged me to injure myself. Make sure that the wire is going to impede movement of the saw nor behind you such that it impedes your movement. 5) Saw with more blades are less likely to kick back, I think. 6) Protect your nose and eyes from air born dust by working in a well ventilated environment and or using a mask. My wife got a sinus condition from sawing firewood. 7) Watch out for nails and screws that can also cause kickback and panic as sparks fly and the blade is blunted. Nails and screws could break a chain saw chain, with dangerous results, so circular saws are still better are dealing with them but after improper wood support I think that bits of metal are the biggest cause of kickback, perhaps (I check and have not hit any recently). 8) Take a rest when your arm gets tired. When you are fresh you can keep that saw away from you but after 30 minutes of cutting wood ones arm can become a bit wobbly. 9) I will probably think of some more.

Very helpful and easy to follow!!Thanks!!!

Very helpful. Thank you so much!

Thank u sir! God bless

Nice tips... thanks

Excellent video. Very instructive. thanks

Very useful advice. Thanks.

Yes good refresher information on the circular saw. Your right you do take the circular saw for granted. Good tip on supporting long boards and sheets of plywood to be cut. Learn something everyday. Thanks for the posting Colin.

Very good teacher. Thanks

Great tips, thank you very much, Sir!

Wow this is the best tutorial

Great video! Thanks!

Very helpful. Thanks.

Excelente explicación! Muchas gracias por la enseñanza. Saludos desde Xalapa Veracruz México.

this is why I prefer jigsaws, they may be a bit slow but waaaay safer

Thanks so much for this video. I feel a lot more confident now

Best video I've seen for beginners. Thanks!

Thank you sir.

Thank you for your sharing and advising, it may have saved a lot of fingers, and will do down the road for me.

Enjoyed that... thanks

Thank you for the instruction it is most helpful. I have used a circular saw table but never a free hand circular saw partly because I was always a little afraid of kickback so most things I have sawn by hand if necessary or used a jigsaw but now I am older it is simply too strenuous to do hand sawing especially several 2" x4"s. Your tutorial has given me the necessary safety tips as I have only just re-bought most of my power tools due to moving countries with different power supplies. So could not bring any of my English tools to Canada. which is a pain, when it took me years to gather all my English electrical tools. I have finally with birthdays etc. gained a circular saw, jigsaw, power planer, drill, electric screw driver and sander which I recommend to anyone. So back to having most of my tools again with extras except a table circular saw but I am not going to bother with that, hence having to watch this video for safety.

Very good thank you.

Nice job. I enjoyed your tips.

Good advice Colin. Safety is critical. Ear muffs also makes a person focus on sawing since there are no distractions. Also, it's critical to cut wood that has the bow down otherwise the wood will pinch when cut. For really clean cuts on plywood attach a 1/4" piece of plywood to the bottom of the saw plate with double-faced carpet tape to make a zero clearance plate. It virtually eliminates tearout.

Thanks sir for safety tips.

Thanks for this! I wasn't quite clear on the proper usage of sawhorses, this helped a lot!

So helpful, thank you

Great video! great video series! Thanks!

Very helpful

Excellent video. Easy to follow, good information. It is nice to see explanations why you should do a thing. Thanks!

@ the 3:15 mark, your close up shows the cord plug sitting right there, UNPLUGGED. Great job showing a very important step when changing out the blade or cleaning it. Thanks for another great video Collin.

These tips are really great.

Very Informative

good job Colin great advice

muchas gracias

Great video!

Thanks for a very informative video.

great video

Thanks for the video, just getting into basic carpentry and need some safety input.

Thank you! 🙏

Very good made video, thank you.

'sacrificial wood'.. damn why i never thought of this, thanks!!

Its great awarenes about c.shaw.very useful to beginners.

That was really great, thank you for making such a great effort:)

Thanks- I had no idea how to be safe or even how to operate, I feel much more comfortable

thanks for sharing! I had always thought the blade run clockwise and wondered if I had purchased a wrong tool( because the arrow indicates it runs counterclockwise) until I watched your video.

thanks for all the information!...

7:50 Wow --- great advice about supporting lumber with another beam underneath it! I'd never heard of that technique before --- yours is the first how-to video I've ever seen that demonstrated doing that. :D

Nice help tips on using circular saw. Thanks man.

Excellent Demonstration, very informative. Thank you. You have a new Fan and Subscriber.

I have been figuring out how to make a straight cut using circular saw. Commercial saw guides are too expensive for me. Thais one looks very promising. Thank you. I am going to try/

An excellent review. I try to watch these safety videos often. I don't want to end up like my old woodworking teacher. He had toes for fingers.

wow! thanks man...

Very good, Colin! Wonderful addition to the collection. Always appreciated.

that's helpful

Clamp the material down and use two hands on the saw, that's why there are two handles. Better control and better safety.

Great video! I had a terrible kickback the first time I tried using a circular saw, of course doing all of the things wrong with 0% knowledge and experience. I'm too afraid for a second attempt, so I'll probably get someone to trim the deck boards for me! I wish I had seen this video before my first attempt. Thank you!

Thank you

Great tips! Thanks

Thank you. I am very reluctant to get one safety reasons, but I know that not having one is holding some of my projects back.

Thank you for doing a safe vid. Good protocols. Correctly teach them from the first.

Colin - that brought back some issues I had with a fiber blade cutting 1 x 1 bar stock. My circular saw at the time had a plastic housing and blade guard (Craftsman). The sparks from the cut started to melt the blade guard where they impinged on the guard. I have relegated that saw to an inexpensive home-made table saw configuration now!

This was great. Thx! Grew up learning this tool as a skil saw. Wasn't til I was in my early 20's that I realized that it is a circular saw. Haha.

You are a great teacher and always enjoy your videos.

Colin your saw horses have a lot of nice "patina"!! Good tips on the saw use, thanks.

I love your video. I'm a women and I learn so much with you about manipulating all these machine the safety way that now I'm confident using it with no fear. Thank you so much.

Great video! A small note - at 2:32 it is mentioned the arbor size if suggested as being 3/8" inch. Most circular saws have a 5/8" arbor hole.