Saws for DIY Dummies

Some common electric saw types

You can almost always tell when a self-appointed freelancer is talking through his or her hat (and old-fashioned way to say "bullshitting you"). Some of the giveaways are

• over-emphasis on trivia while omitting important details
• mistakes in stating basics
• lack of familiarity with common knowledge

While we know several women who are quite knowledgeable about woodworking and tools, we have noticed that none of them seem to express their creativity through freelance writing. No, it appears that when you find a woman's byline on a content-farm article about tools, it's often one of "them." Take, for instance, eHow.com contributor Josie Myers, who we found pretending to know her way around "Types of Electric Saws."¹

Josie's dumbassery starts with her (eHow-mandated 75-100 word) introduction:

"There are numerous types of electrical saws, each created for a particular purpose. Some are intended for heavy labor work such as cutting down trees or sawing cabinetry materials. Others are for precision work such as cutting exact angles or creating intricate artistic pieces. Certain saws are made with blades intended for use with particular materials."

Ummm, yeah: sawing cabinetry materials is "heavy labor work"... but we just put that there to demonstrate Josie's mastery of writing. Let's see what she says about the various types of saws:

"The largest and most powerful saws, and arguable [sic] the most recognizable, are created for heavy labor. The chainsaw is a hand-held saw with a long, oblong blade with chains that are motored around the perimeter of the saw. It is a very powerful saw and used most often for cutting down trees."  Wait, "chains that are motored"? They let you say crap like that at eHow? Besides, only a complete amateur would ever have an electric chainsaw. Even a sixteen-inch gas-powered saw is considered beneath the dignity of someone who uses chain saws professionally. By the way, what else do you use your chain saw to cut besides trees and firewood? Inquiring minds want to know, Ms Myers...

"A circular saw is another powerful tool that is used for cutting medium-width materials. It is also hand-held, but with a toothed round blade that spins below a cover that protects the user's hand." We just have to ask: WTF would "medium-width materials" be, Josie? We know that we use a circular saw to crosscut dimensional lumber and for cutting sheet goods like plywood, OSB, and MDF (for people like Josie, that's "oriented strand board" and "medium-density fiberboard") -- what do you use them for? We think it might be helpful to describe the saw -- you know, a flat base and a side- or rear-mounted motor (depending on whether it's a direct- or worm-drive model).

"Construction work is perhaps the industry that gets the most use out of saws, with table-mounted saws the most popular. A standard table saw has a stationary blade that comes through a hole in the table. You pull the object to be cut along the saw."  You occasionally see table saws in use at construction sites, most often when a worker is ripping dimensional lumber (note to Josie, who probably needs this: "ripping" means cutting lengthwise, along the grain of a board). Construction workers get far more use out of chop saws, also known as power miter boxes. Oh, and for what it's worth? You don't pull "the object to be cut" with a table saw, you push it. Idiot.

"A radial arm saw uses the same concept in reverse. The item to be cut is held stationary on the table while you pull the blade along a guide. A rotary saw is a high-speed hand-held saw that is useful for cutting thin materials like wallboard, cement board or plywood. It does not require the use of a pilot hole, which saves time."

We like radial arm saws, but they're pretty much a thing of the past. We're not even sure what you're talking about with "rotary saws," but we're pretty sure the manufacturers of cement board advise you to use power shears on it instead of bladed saws...

"A chop saw, also called miter saw, is used for cutting precise angles. The item to be cut sits below the blade and is held in place. The saw blade is set on the desired angle and you bring it down over the item, making the distinctive chopping motion. It is most often used for cutting trims like baseboard and crown molding." Clearly, Josie has never used a power miter saw: miter saws only approximate angles, not cut "precise angles." If you want true precision, you use a table saw and a miter gauge. And dear Lord, please let Josie know that chop saws are more often used to cut right angles and to cut all manner of dimensional lumber to length; not just miter cuts on crown molding and baseboards! We repeat, what an idiot!

"A jigsaw is a type of hand-held, reciprocating, straight blade saw that is best for cutting close angles and odd shapes." When you get some time, Josie, would you kindly inform us, WTF is a "close angle"? OK, we'll buy the "odd shapes" business, but wouldn't it have been more informative to explain that jig saws are widely used to cut curves? And while you're at it, can you explain the difference between a jig saw and a reciprocating saw? Sure, we could -- but you're the one who got paid for this, so it's on you...

"For materials such as concrete, standard saw blades would bend or warp, while softer materials would split or be shattered by speed and weight of the blade. To avoid this problem, specialty saws or blades are made for use with materials such as concrete, masonry, stone, tile and foam."

Which is it, Josie? specialty saws or specialty blades?

We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that you omitted several types of electrical saws (not to mention that you didn't discuss cordless vs. corded, even in passing). We'd have definitely added bandsaws and tile saws, probably even the little rotary tools called "Dremels" -- but that would have probably put you over the 500-word maximum at the mother site of dumbassery. No matter, you still win the booby prize: the Dumbass of the Day award!

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/about_5073013_types-electric-saws.html

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