Should you get a 7 inch circular saw?

That’s a very good question. On the one hand, the 7 inch is an all around great tool. If you work with drywall or flooring it is almost indispensable. But if you are just an amateur woodworker, a do it yourself kind of person who doesn’t really have a need for a 7 inch, you might be able to do with a smaller 3 3/8″ circular saw.

In terms of thickness capacity, the 3 3/8″ can go up to 1 1/8″, which is more than enough for most home woodworking projects. When you are talking about cabinets or coffee tables you hardly ever go beyond 1″. On birdhouses, jewel boxes and smaller projects thicknesses are even smaller. And even when working on doors, decks or other applications, you can use the great laser guiding system to make cuts on both sides. If you have one, you can use a jointer to enhance the edge to a great quality (if you don’t have one, check this one out).

Now more traditional folks will claim that the 7 inch is the better tool, because they’ve been using it for so long. That may be so for flooring, but for basic woodwork I would disagree and say that nothing beats the well made Rockwell circular saw. So far it has been able to handle everything that I threw at it with no problem. It is low maintenance, high precision, has a great laser sight and is one of the quietest tools I have. I am completely satisfied with it, and it fulfill whatever need I have of it. If you are a professional though, or old fashioned and feel like the 7 inch is the one for you, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Whichever one you buy, it goes very well with a jointer. As always you have to remember that either one of these are dangerous enough to claim a few of your fingers if you play around with it. So be careful at all times.