We got down to -13 Saturday morning, and it was -20 when I called my dad to check in on him in central Maine. It was -5 Friday night when I had to pick my daughter up from a school activity trip at 10:30. It was so windy that it felt worse than Saturday morning. We had lots of trees down around town with power outages. Luckily, our power never flickered. Thankfully, I didn't need to use the 455 for anything. I bet it would have been grumpy after spending the night below zero. It got up to the mid 40's yesterday and we set records for the biggest temp swing in a 30 hour period.
Mike, not all circular saws are created equal. The more powerful ones do quite well ripping. I watched a skilled carpenter snap a chalk line and rip an 8' 2x8 years ago. He made that cut nicer than I could with a table saw. The key seemed to be smooth, consistent forward motion, while keeping the blade headed straight. Any side to side wiggles and the blade will want to bind in the cut (I know this from personal experience). It is much easier to describe than it is to execute! Just like laying a nice weld bead, practice makes a huge difference.
I‘ve seen videos of guys in shorts, bare foot, in the jungle, standing on a log, milling boards to build a house, with a Stihl 090. Of course they made it look easy, so, I had to try it. I did have my New Balance walking shoes on, shorts, and ear muffs. Like all things there is a trick. Keeping the bar at an angle so a lot of it is in the cut, it holds it straight. I would not recommend Harry H-O to do it with his probably dull Wild Thang, to get a little practice in.
I’ve ripped 1” strips off of 2x6,8,10’s. I had a carpenter show me how he did it. He set the blade so it just came through the wood. That way the maximum number of teeth are in the wood, for the fastest cut. If the blade is set all the way down only one or two teeth are in the wood. Make sure there is Zero wobbling in the cut. If the lead edge gets out of the grove it will cut an arc on one side and work like a set of stars and climb out of the cut in half a heart beat. Kick back. I think I just figured out one reason I really like my DeWalt battery circular saw. With a good blade it cuts fast. But, if I’m reaching over a sheet of plywood and get crooked in the cut, it doesn’t have the power to kick back hard. It just binds, I let off the trigger, and start over.
