Different types of bearings and washers usually hold a circular saw’s shaft in place.
However, after regular use, there’s a chance that your circular saw’s blade may become loose or start to wobble.
Not only will this cause problems during cutting (tear-out, inaccurate cuts, etc.), it’s also quite unsafe.
Quick Summary
In this post, we will provide detailed instructions on how you can easily and efficiently tighten a circular saw blade.
Please note that the process may differ slightly depending on the model and manufacturer of your particular circular saw.
However, most of the process will largely be the same.
We strongly recommend that you read the instruction manual of your circular saw as well as the entirety of this post before attempting to tighten the blade.
So without further ado, let’s get started.
How to Tighten a Circular Saw Blade?
Before you get to unscrewing anything, you must first ensure that the circular saw is unplugged.
This is something you should always be mindful of any time you’re making any type of adjustment to your circular saw.
Your saw must have come with either a spanner or an Allen key. You can use this to tighten certain nuts that are used to hold certain components of the circular saw in place.
Important tip: If you did not receive a spanner or an Allen key with your circular saw or if you have misplaced it, then you can use a socket wrench instead.
It will work the same and essentially do the job just as well.
You will use the spanner, Allen key, or socket wrench to tighten the arbor nut that holds the circular saw blade in place.
Many circular saws come with a shaft lock. If your circular saw has a shaft lock, make sure to use it to lock the blade in place. This will ensure that your blade does not move while you tighten the arbor nut.
If your saw does not come with a shaft lock, use a clamp or vice grips to hold the blade in place while you tighten the arbor nut.
Many people get confused about which way they should turn the arbor nut. While this may be quite confusing at first, you can easily tell which way you need to turn it by one simple rule:
The arbor nut will always be tightened in the opposite direction of the circular saw blade’s rotation.
If you think about it, this makes complete sense because if the nut tightened in the direction of the saw blade’s rotation, then the nut would get unscrewed every time the blade rotated.
Typically, the circular saw blade on a right-handed saw turns counter-clockwise. Hence, you would turn the arbor nut on it clockwise in order to tighten it.
The circular saw blade on a left-handed saw typically turns clockwise. Hence, you would turn the arbor nut on it counter-clockwise in order to tighten it.
Use another wrench or some similar tool to hold the outer flange of the nut so that it does not turn while you tighten it. With your other hand, use the spanner, Allen key or socket wrench to tighten the arbor nut completely in the opposite direction in which the circular blade spins.
Once the nut has been tightened, you can go ahead and release the circular saw blade from the clamps or the vice grips. If it had a shaft lock that you turned on while tightening, you can go ahead and turn it off.
Note: It is better to have all the tools before tightening the circular saw.
Safety tip: You should make it a habit to check all of your power tools periodically to ensure that all of them are properly tightened and no component is loose.
Neglecting your power tools and poorly maintaining them can lead to many accidents that would otherwise be easily preventable.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does a Spindle Lock Do in a Circular Saw?
The spindle lock is a safety feature in many circular saws that you can turn on simply by the press of a button. It locks the blade in place so that it doesn’t rotate and allows you to remove it from the circular saw.
You can use this feature any time you want to remove the blade from the circular saw either for changing or for cleaning.
What is a Blade Wrench?
While a typical socket wrench will do the job when you are tightening a circular saw blade, it can be a good idea to invest in a blade wrench.
A blade wrench is a tool that is used to tighten and loosen blades within different types of saws including circular saws. There’s a high chance you may get a blade wrench along with your circular saw as part of its package.
However, if you don’t get it, you can easily buy one separately from your local hardware store.
We recommend getting it if you have many different types of power tools and blades that require regular maintenance.
How Do I Tighten My Circular Saw Blade Without Spindle and Arbor Locks?
As we mentioned above, you can easily make use of clamps or vice grips in order to hold the saw blade in place while you either tighten or loosen it.
It’s especially important that you do secure your blade in some way when you are either tightening or loosening it. Just letting the blade hang there without any sort of security is highly dangerous and we don’t recommend you ever do this.
If you don’t have clamps or vice grips, then you can even use a screwdriver for this job.
Set the screwdriver across the barrier to hold the saw blade in place while you tighten the nut with your finger. Then, when you can’t tighten it anymore, you can finish the job with a spanner, Allen key, or socket wrench.
The screwdriver will hold the blade in place and prevent it from spinning while you do all this.
Wrapping Things Up…
That’s it for our tutorial post on how to tighten a circular saw blade.
We hope you feel more confident tightening your circular saw blade after this post. Remember that this is something that you can’t avoid or skip. It’s important that your circular saw blade is properly tightened and you should check it regularly to ensure nothing’s loose.
You can check our website for more information.
If you have any more questions, please reach out to us in the comments below.