Type of saw

[glennt]

Hey, I'm looking to cut lots of treated pine sleepers down to size for a variety of edging around the garden/small retaining walls but I'm unsure the best way to cut them.

I tried cutting 75mm with the 18v AEG 165mm circular saw and it cut out half way through a cut (and the wood smelt like it was burning). Would a bigger circular saw do the trick or is it the wrong kind of saw all together?

The sleepers might have been a bit damp perhaps contributing?

Cheers!

[Noyade]

Thanks Mitchell.

Is there any way of comparing this battery power to corded watts?

How would Glenn's saw above compare to a 165 mm corded saw, say 1000 watts? Can a comparison of power be made?

[MitchellMc]

@Noyade,

I've not seen any comparison table between 240volt equipment and battery-powered. As every 240volt tool has a different power defined by the watts of the motor, every battery tool has a different power as their motors differ in size also. This makes it very difficult to compare the units in any type of graph.

Direct comparison generally comes down to using the tools. From experience, I know my 240volt circular saw is not only stronger than my 18volt saw but it is consistent in that power delivery. In answer to your question, I believe the 165mm corded saw of 1000watts would be more powerful than the battery-powered units.

I'm not sure where I picked up the terminology, but I generally refer to battery-powered circular saws as trim saws. They are great for trimming up areas, cutting plywood, a few studs here are there. If you are consistently docking 45mm thick timber I would suggest a 240volt unit. This becomes particularly evident if you try and rip down a 2.4m length of 45mm timber. By the time you finish cutting the 2.4m length, you will have likely drained a 4AH battery.

Mitchell

[Noyade]

Thanks for the explanation Mitchell. Makes sense. I'll keep all my corded machines then

I bought this in the late 90's and at the time thought it would be ridiculously under powered at 500 watts (120 mm blade) - but nothing seems to stop it...

Small but Mighty

[JDE]

Ah is a measure of the energy stored in the battery think fuel in a car. A 18v 4Ah battery should maintain a supply of 4 amps at 18 volts for 4 hours or about 260,000 j of energy.  Watts as used on corded tools is a measure of power ( how quick the energy is used think how powerful the car motor is)  The more watts the more powerful and the quicker you use up your energy Ahs. If a cordless saw had a 1000watt motor and you used a 4Ah battery in perfect condition it would only run for about 4 min. Hence cordless motors tend to be less powerful so they go for longer. I did read an article where metabo were claiming with their latest battery they could get 1200 watts plus. In real life use motor power is not the only factor as diameter of blade has a huge impact on the force on the cutting teeth for the same power. Bigger blade diameter smaller force. JDE