If you have a circular saw, you probably want to know how deep of a cut it can perform. In today’s article, I will walk you through how I tested how deep a 7 1/4 inch circular saw can cut.
How Deep Can a 7 1/4 Inch Circular Saw Cut?
A 7 1/4 inch circular saw can cut a depth of 2 3/8 inches. However, to reach this depth the shoe of the saw must be all the way up.
Below I will walk you through how I conducted this experiment.
Testing the cut depth of a 7 1/4 inch circular saw
For starters, I put a 2 x 4 on my work table and clamped it down. Next, I adjusted the shoe of the circular saw so that it was as high as possible.
This allows the saw to cut at it’s deepest point.
Next, I turned on the saw and made the cut into the 2×4. I made sure to make the cut slow so that the cut was smooth and uniform.
After I made the cut, I brought out the tape measurer to measure the depth of the cut.
As you can see from the photo above, the 7 1/4 inch circular saw was able to cut a depth of 2 3/8 inches.
It is important to note that this is for a straight cut at 90 degrees. If you have to make an angled cut, you will not be able to get as much depth.
If you have a corded circular saw, you should check out my guide on the best extension cords for circular saws.
If you need to make a cut that is deeper than 2 3/8 inches, there are a couple options.
How to make a deep cut with a circular saw?
The simplest way to make a deeper cut with a circular saw is to make one cut and then flip the board over. You should be able to then cut up to another 2 3/8 inches. Therefore, with this method you are able to make cuts of up to 4 3/4 inches.
If your cut doesn’t have to be very smooth, you can also finish your cut with a hand saw.
You can also make deep cuts with a circular saw by rotating the board over 90 degrees. This is the technique that people use to cut boards such as a 6 x 6 with a circular saw. To do this, it is important that you make straight clear lines on each side of the board to mark your cutting point.
Also make sure that you start you turn the saw on when it is at least a half an inch away from the board. This will prevent the blade from catching the wood. You can learn more in the video below on how to cut a 6 x 6 with a circular saw.
If you still can’t manage to complete the cut, you might have to use a different saw. Some good alternative saws that are great at making deep cuts include miter saws and hybrid table saws.
You might also just need to get a bigger circular saw that can accommodate larger blades.
