I am wondering?

[L. D. Jeffries]

Just got done cutting down to size some birch plywood using my skill saw and got wondering about this: chop saws; table saws; saber saws; band saws all cut with the blade cutting from the top of the material down. You don't have to stop and make sure that the good side of the stuff is facing up so you don't ruin the face of the material. Why do "skill" saws all cut the opposite way; from the bottom up? Seems to me that it would not be a "stop the world" if manufactures made them rotate the same way as other tools. Wadda think?

[Richard in Smithville]

The blade on stationary tools cut in such a way so that the wood is pulled down onto the table. With a skill saw, the blade turns so that the tool is pulled down to the wood. It's all about safety.

[LCHIEN]

The blade on stationary tools cut in such a way so that the wood is pulled down onto the table. With a skill saw, the blade turns so that the tool is pulled down to the wood. It's all about safety.

"Skillsaw" = handheld circular saw.
Richard in Smithville is right.
Or another way of saying it is that the wood is pulled up against the plate of the saw, otherwise it would be pushed away and the saw would want to walk off.

[cabinetman]

As a point of interest, a hand held circular saw has been called a "skill" saw, as an acceptance of the term for a certain type of saw. In actuality the brand "Skil", is wriien with one "L".

Another common usage of general terminology is for "circular saw", which could mean a table saw, or a hand held saw like a Skilsaw (brand).

.

[LCHIEN]

actually, I believe Skilsaw is still a trademark of the Skil company for their line of worm drive handheld circular saw. However its often used generically for any handheld circular saw.
Technically, a table saw is also a circular saw, that's why I specifically refer to handheld circular saws.

And Skil is now a division of Robert Bosch.

[L. D. Jeffries]

More on the circular saw idea! Try this on for size: Granted the circular saw pulls the material up towards the saw plate, BUT would not the weight of the saw (and they are pretty heavy) pressing down on the material keep the saw from "tracking" off the cut line if the rotation was "down" on the material? The weight of the saw plus the pressure of your arm might be enough! Shall we debate this more? At least games for the little grey cells.

[Bill in Buena Park]

More on the circular saw idea! Try this on for size: Granted the circular saw pulls the material up towards the saw plate, BUT would not the weight of the saw (and they are pretty heavy) pressing down on the material keep the saw from "tracking" off the cut line if the rotation was "down" on the material? The weight of the saw plus the pressure of your arm might be enough! Shall we debate this more? At least games for the little grey cells.

Probably not enough weight. Take the RAS. Even with its weight and the fact that its fixed to an arm that provides steady pressure, it will try to walk up the workpiece if not carefully controlled.

And from the OP mention of saber saw - ordinary blades have teeth up, meaning that the cutting happens on the upstroke, pulling the tool to the workpiece. The Bosch style wood blades will cut on both up and down strokes, and you need to keep some downward pressure on the saw to keep it from lifting the tool. Happens with some scroll saw blades too - gotta hold down the workpiece or it will jump around.

[Pappy]

If the blade rotated forward on a circ saw the blade would want to 'pull' the saw into and through the material. You would have to pull back and down on the saw to keep from climbing out of the cut.

[LCHIEN]

weight of the saw is not near enough to hold back 3/4 or 1 HP and the force of the user is unpredictable and unreliable and not near enough either.
Ever seen a kickback? That's what happens when a piece of wood and a saw motor get to fighting with loss of restraint on one of them.

Debate over.

[Stytooner]

As general rule, teeth almost always point toward the plate. I said almost because some do not necessarily. Some down cutting or even cutting jig and scroll saw blades. The dual saws come to mind as well. Basically it is a control issue. The best control is had when the motor is applying force to a solid plate.

My first table saw was a handheld circular saw that I mounted upside down. It emulated just how a table saw works. It also had a guard.

[L. D. Jeffries]

Well, enough of that I guess. Just an interesting source of ****-chat along with some serious facts. Thanks people for the interest.

[capncarl]

If the skill saw did cut on the foreward side of the blade rather than the rearward side of the blade the manufacturer would have to put a really short electric cord on the machine so it would unplug itself when it ran across the room.

capncarl

[LCHIEN]

If the skill saw did cut on the foreward side of the blade rather than the rearward side of the blade the manufacturer would have to put a really short electric cord on the machine so it would unplug itself when it ran across the room.

capncarl

Good one!!

[jdon]

One additional side-quibble: the OP included saber saws as "saber saws ... all cut with the blade cutting from the top of the material down".

All the saber saw blades I've ever seen cut on the upstroke.- consistent with other comments made that a saw blade cuts toward the plate- a safety measure to keep the saw against the material.