The working motor from an automatic washing machine should not gather dust in the garage. Even a home craftsman can find a use for it. We will tell you how to make a homemade circular from a washing machine engine.

This tool will help you cut wood and master carpentry. However, be careful: careless use of a homemade machine can lead to unpleasant consequences. Therefore, before taking on a job, you must be completely confident in your abilities.

Which engine to choose to make a circular machine

The choice of engine for creating a mini-circular depends on its power. It is advisable to use an engine with a V-belt, which will allow its speed to be transmitted to the saw blade of the machine.

A 350 mm disk will require 1 kW of energy to start. A disk with a diameter of 170 mm will require about 500 W. Therefore, you can install a motor from an old washing machine.

It is important to regulate the number of engine revolutions, otherwise instability in operation will lead to the disc tearing the material.

In the washing machine, the speed is controlled by a tachometer, which is controlled by a control module. But it is impossible to connect a module to the circular, so install a voltage regulator. Use the wiring diagram to correctly install the motor.

DIY circular machine with washing machine motor

You have figured out which motor is needed and how to connect it. Now consider the design diagram of a circular saw.

For a circular saw made at home, the absence of a bearing assembly is allowed, which will significantly simplify the design.

The main load will be on the moving elements. This:

• saw and electric motor shaft;
• motor pulley and saw shaft;
• drive belt.

Let's look at the features of each of them:

1. The drive belt does not have to be taken from the washing machine; other belts can be used. The main thing is that they have serrations, like a V-belt.
2. Flow grooves need to be made on the small pulley. The belt will cling to them during operation, which will prevent slipping.
3. A larger disc is welded onto the large pulley, which will prevent the belt from slipping off.
4. To fasten the circular saw, use a shaft into which it is mounted, as well as a washer and nut, which are used to secure it. It is recommended to select or take this kit from the factory to ensure the drive is secured as securely as possible.

When creating a design, you need to take into account that it is designed for a three-hundredth disk. Of course, a self-made circular machine is only suitable for household use. Therefore, try not to overload the engine.

Preparing the electrical part

A starter can be installed to start the saw. If you provide thermal protection for overcurrent, then if jammed, the switch will turn off automatically. A button from a door lock will do.

Often such machines are stored in the yard, on the street, so protect the electrical part from moisture.

Manufacturing of frame and bed

The frame is made of metal sheet 3 mm thick. Before making the frame, prepare a 30 mm metal corner.

As shown in the photo above, the craftsman installed the frame into homemade pipe racks. Now it is possible to adjust the height of the device. However, it is recommended to make a solid frame by welding pieces of corner together. Strong vibration over time loosens the fastenings of bolts and other elements.

When making a circular saw, consider the possibility of repairing it. All moving parts should be easily lubricated. Before starting work, it is advisable to prepare detailed drawings.

Please note that the mini circular saw varies in size. It is much smaller than usual and can fit into a pantry when stored.

How the device works

The engine starts, which drives the shaft and pulley. As a result, the drive belt rotates, transmitting speed to the circular saw pulley. The saw begins to rotate, allowing the material to be cut.

A homemade circular saw is always useful in the household. Due to the fact that it can be made from improvised materials, it will cost you almost free.

A homemade circular saw is a kind of handy tool that can cope with a number of construction tasks in domestic conditions. In principle, it won’t be difficult to make a circular saw yourself even if you don’t have any special skills, the main thing is to have at least a little idea about working with metal. The necessary material can usually be found in a garage or home workshop, and here a steel angle, a rectangular profile pipe and an engine will do. The assembled circular saw can be placed on an existing workbench, or, in the absence of one, you will have to build a table for the circular saw with your own hands. As for the motor, you can use a unit from an old washing machine or walk-behind tractor, but first things first.

Manual device from an angle grinder

If you have a grinder on your farm, then you won’t find a better device for a hand-held circular saw. Don't know how to make a mini circular saw at home from such a popular tool? Don’t despair, because its manufacture only involves providing a sliding stop and an axial handle to an existing unit. The sliding stop includes in its design two pieces of metal corner of a small cross-section, located on both sides of the saw blade. Using bolts and nuts, the corners are connected from the front and back sides with a transverse ligament, and the technological gap between the sidewalls of the thrust structure and the working element will be provided with washers.

It is necessary to put a metal band clamp on the grinder so that its screw tie is located at the bottom, and a strip of galvanized metal with a hole for a sliding stop, folded in half, is fixed to it. In principle, a special clamp with a stand can be made as a single unit, but in this case the thickness of the metal strip will ideally be at least one and a half millimeters. Next, you will have to make a couple of holes for bolts in the gearbox housing of the future circular saw, for which it is disassembled and the drilling points are determined. Through the holes made, an axial handle for a circular saw assembled from a grinder is attached, since the existing handle will not allow for high-quality cuts, even if the master has remarkable physical strength.

The axial handle, which will be equipped with a grinder grinder, is made of a metal rod or tube. The shape of the design can be a transverse bracket or a kind of horn. The ends of the metal part with which the handle is attached to the gearbox are equipped with holes for fasteners. There is one important point here: the ends cannot be riveted to prevent the handle from deflecting during operation of the circular saw assembled with your own hands. It is also necessary to make an adjusting rod from a piece of metal rod (4 - 6 mm), for which we bend one end into a loop, rivet it a little and form a hole for the front stop bolt. As usual, we adjust the uniformity of the gap with washers.

At the other end of the rod, a thread is cut, thanks to which it is connected to the handle. First, one nut is screwed onto the thread, and after assembling the structure, a second one is screwed. By tightening and lowering the nuts of this device for a homemade hand-held circular saw, the depth of cut is adjusted. This is how, at home, you can convert an angle grinder into a full-fledged disk tool designed for cutting various materials. By the way, by remaking a circular saw from a drill, you can achieve a similar result.

Mini table saw

The mobility of the element is achieved by sawing the horizontal segment into two equal parts, which after installation are fastened with clamps. A circular saw is fixed to the vertical part of the frame with a clamp. An assembled hand-held circular saw table can function as a cutting machine if a standard cutting disc is installed on the grinder. It is worth noting that the through cut here will not exceed 80 mm, and to process larger lumber you will need a more serious homemade circular saw, which will be discussed further.

Stationary machine

A circular saw, as close as possible to factory models, requires a competent approach to assembly, so before making a stationary type circular saw, you need to think through everything down to the smallest detail. In principle, a tabletop mini circular saw differs from a stationary one in the height of the frame, which directly depends on the nature of the work performed and the dimensions of the workpieces that the device will process. One-time work can be carried out on a compact table saw, while a circular saw from a hand-held circular saw can be easily hidden in a shed or closet, and a carpenter who constantly manipulates lumber will need a stationary homemade circular saw. Below is a diagram that details all the elements and accessories for a circular saw of this type.

As can be seen from the figure, homemade circulars of this type have a clear design, and drawings like the one presented above greatly facilitate the process of assembling them. Before making a circular table, as well as mounting a circular table with your own hands, we will consider each part of the unit separately in order to know all the intricacies of its operation and installation.

Circular table

A table for a hand-held circular saw with a slot in the center is sometimes converted from an ordinary kitchen table or assembled from beams or metal profiles. Experts strongly recommend covering a table for a circular saw with a sheet of galvanized metal, since without a coating the base is at risk of abrasion in the center from constant friction of the lumber, which in turn will negatively affect the quality of the cut, and the depth of the cut will be uneven. It is better to make cross braces that strengthen the sawing table from a steel angle 60 - 80 mm with a horizontal segment outward in order to simplify the installation of the side stop. The homemade table on which the circular saw will be installed must be strong and stable, and it must also be securely fixed in a stationary position.

Saw blade

The toothed disk should rise above the surface of the table of the circular saw by a maximum of a third of its diameter, otherwise it will not cut the tree properly, and the process itself will become dangerous. If you need to cut a beam with a diameter of, for example, 100 mm, the same parameter of the cutter should not exceed 350 mm, however, a motor with a power of 1 kW will also be required. For workpieces with a diameter of over 150 mm, a mini circular saw made by hand is unlikely to be suitable. Some factory circular machines have a riving knife, which is installed behind the disk at a distance of 2 - 3 mm from the saw teeth. It eliminates the jamming moment due to the closure of parts of the sawn workpiece, so it can also be very useful in the case when a homemade circular saw is assembled.

Adjustable side support

It is possible to install a high-quality stop from a steel angle with a cross-section of about 80 mm, which is 3–4 cm longer than the table structure. The flat sides of the corner are bent down so that their width is one and a half cm greater than the thickness of the table. After installation, the emphasis is fixed on a homemade circular table in a given position using bolts. This element is adjusted according to a template placed between it and the cutter.

Shaft

The shaft installed on the circular saw is the most critical component, so its turning and testing together with the disk should be carried out exclusively by a specialist using special equipment. A pipe product with a carelessly fixed circle is immediately excluded, because the slightest errors in the operation of this element will result in major troubles such as equipment breakdown, damage to the workpiece and injury to the operator. The optimal solution would be to purchase a ready-made shaft with a seat for the cutter. It is better to give preference to self-aligning ball bearings that have a curved inner surface, otherwise the unit you made yourself will quickly collapse and the shaft mounted on a homemade circular will become unusable.

Broadcast

In our case, the ideal option would be a V-belt drive, but it is better to refuse a rigid gear mechanism, since such a homemade product does not guarantee safety. If a nail suddenly gets caught in the lumber, the motor rotor will cause the disc to fracture, which can lead to injury. If the inner diameter of the belt drive pulleys is small, then slippage will be ensured, and the tensioned belt will serve as a kind of damper. The gear ratio is usually selected based on engine speed, always taking into account the permissible number of disk revolutions. The smaller the diameter of the saw wheel, the higher its rotation speed can be, and the cleaner the converted unit will cut.

Motor

Among home-made devices, the most popular is a circular machine assembled from a washing machine motor. This choice is explained by the fact that its operating scheme is best suited for such purposes. Unlike collector units, which are usually supplied with power tools, the engine from a washing machine operates at lower speeds, which means that it lasts longer, has increased efficiency and is not so susceptible to all sorts of blockages. You can also use a three-phase motor, but then additional costs will be required for the purchase of a starting and operating capacitor, so it is more economical to make do with a device from a washing machine. That, in general, is all the wisdom.

A homemade mini circular saw will perfectly solve the issue of savings. Because not every home craftsman can afford to purchase it in order to make small repairs. But sometimes it’s impossible to do without such a tool. The resulting homemade circular saw can perfectly cope with the task associated with small construction, for example, in a country house.

In order to make repairs at home or in the countryside, you will need a circular saw, and you can do it yourself.

Homemade circular saw

A homemade circular saw is designed to cut logs.

The thickness of the logs that this equipment can cut depends on the power of the electric drive.

If it is necessary to cut thick pieces of wood, these saws are equipped with a shaft, a belt drive and the most powerful engine.

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Making the base

The mini-circulating saw must be placed on a stable table, because rocking can be dangerous and very disruptive to work. Before making a machine from hand tools, it is necessary to build a special table. The bed can be an old kitchen table or a trestle made of metal or wood. They must be connected to each other with a board whose cross-section is 50 mm. A table is attached to this base on top. One of the options for making a tabletop is to use 4 mm steel plates in the amount of 2 pieces. Another option is to use thick bars. They are tied in the middle with a jumper, for which 20-25 mm plywood is taken. The required gap left between the sheets is 10-12 mm.

It is very important to ensure that the inner edges of the plate are perfectly parallel. Attaching the tool from below to the table will be done so that the circular saw is between the sheets of the tabletop in the middle of the gap. Using the drilled holes, a mini circular saw is attached to the table in this position.

A DIY circular saw is an excellent way to save a lot of money and at the same time acquire fairly high-quality and reliable equipment. A properly assembled homemade circular saw is in no way inferior to a factory saw and is also capable of sawing logs of even very large diameters.

A circular saw is used for straight cutting of lumber.

How to make a homemade circular saw?

In order for the circular saw to easily cut large logs, it is necessary to equip it with a truly powerful electric drive. In addition, for this purpose, a belt drive, a shaft and a motor with high traction force are installed on it. All hand-made circular saws consist of two parts: upper and lower.

At the bottom there is always various electrical equipment, namely:

• saw motor;
• transformer;
• device that starts the circular machine.

At the top of the circular saw install:

• pulley;
• cutting disc.

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Large homemade circular saw

When making a frame for the top of the saw, it is best to use a metal corner 25 mm wide. In this case, the rectangle, which will represent the frame of the upper part of the homemade circular, should have dimensions of 600x400 mm. Next, four pipes are welded in the corners of this quadrangle, the diameter of which should be 17 mm and the height should be approximately 2.2 m.

After this, it is necessary to strengthen two corners on the frame, on which the bearings will later be fixed. The distance between these corners directly depends on the length of the shaft. To fix bearings, as a rule, clamps are used. It is best if the bearings installed on a homemade circular are closed. This way you won’t have to worry about wood chips getting into the space between the balls, rings and separator. Don't forget to also cut a thread at the very end of the shaft so that you can install a cutting blade on it later.

The lower part of the circular saw should be made much more massive, which will provide it with the necessary stability and reliability. Therefore, when making the lower frame, you need to take a corner with a width of at least 40 mm. Next, across the frame it is necessary to secure two additional corners, which will later support the motor of the homemade circular saw. The most suitable motor for a DIY circular saw is an asynchronous three-phase motor with a power of at least 1.5 kW and 1500 rpm. The pulley groove should be quite large, approximately 80 mm, and it should be mounted directly on the shaft itself. In addition, you will need to weld a fairly small metal platform to the frame on which the starting device will be placed. Large pipes 2.2 m long, which you previously welded in the corners of the frame, are necessary for high-quality tension of the belt so that the metal wings press the thin pipes.

Now you need to insert both the lower and upper parts of the homemade saw into the finished supports made of pipes, and then tighten and tighten the belt with metal wings. You can start the motor in this model of circular machine yourself using starting capacitors. In order to additionally load the motor and increase its torque, you can use a 220/36,400 W transformer.

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Pendulum circular saw with electric motor

You can make a homemade circular saw quite easily to cut logs and pieces of wood, the thickness of which corresponds to the strength of the electric drive installed on it. If you intend to work with large and very thick pieces of wood, then you should equip your homemade saw with a truly powerful electric motor, as well as install a shaft and belt drive on it. The best solution in this case would be to install a special pendulum frame.

When making a pendulum circular with your own hands, only very strong steel corners should be used as the material for the frame. Next, on the finished steel frame you will need to place all the mechanisms necessary for the normal operation of a homemade circular saw. With this design, you can personally set the flight altitude of the cutting blade without any special effort, while avoiding excessive design difficulties.

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Mini circular saw: manufacturing instructions

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Mini-circular base

To make such homemade products you will need:

• two metal plates;
• wooden beam;
• spindle from a bicycle;
• star;
• chain.

The mini-circular saw should be placed on a strong and stable table, since any rocking can pose a danger to human health and also interfere with normal operation of the saw. Before you start making a machine from a hand-held circular saw, you need to make a special table. In this case, you can use metal sawhorses and a regular old kitchen table as a bed. To begin, you will need to connect the trestles to each other with a wide wooden board at least 50 mm thick, and then secure the kitchen table to this base.

You can make the tabletop itself from two metal (preferably steel) plates with a cross-section of about 4 mm. In addition, you can use thick wooden blocks for this purpose.

It is important not to forget to leave a small gap between the metal sheets, the size of which is usually 10-12 mm.

In this case, you need to make sure that the edges of the metal plates are perfectly parallel to each other. Now that the table is completely ready, you can begin attaching the circular saw itself to it. It is important to note that it should be secured from below, and in such a way that its cutting disk is directly in the gap between the two sheets of the tabletop.

The household often lacks a circular saw, especially if major renovations or construction are underway. Not everyone can afford industrial products - they are too expensive. But you can make a circular saw yourself, using materials that are available in the household.

Design - main components, their purpose

A do-it-yourself stationary circular saw is created with advancement in several possible directions:

• adapting existing hand tools using the motor and circular saw for new capabilities;
• improvement of industrial products to expand functionality;
• assembly of individual parts, manufactured mainly in-house.

A stationary circular machine includes several main components: a table, a shaft, a motor and some others, the characteristics of which are not so important.

The table is used for fastening woodworking mechanisms. It can be assembled entirely from metal, which is preferable, especially for machines with a high-power engine. Wood also makes good circular tables. But it is necessary to take into account that the tabletop should be covered with a sheet of metal, otherwise the wood will soon wear out. Tables must be very rigid and stable, capable of withstanding considerable load during work. The surface is made perfectly flat; protective shields must be installed above the rotating parts.

For a homemade circular machine, a washing machine motor is quite suitable. Portable tools are less suitable: their commutator motors are designed only for short-term work. They have very high speeds, low efficiency, and are afraid of clogging. You can use a three-phase electric motor, but if the household does not have 380 V, you will need to purchase capacitors to make it work on 220 V.

The most critical component is the shaft. Use a ready-made one, if available, or machine it from round metal. The work on the lathe is performed in one setup, then the assembly with the working parts is checked for centering. Even minimal runout is unacceptable, otherwise during work it will become stronger, at which it is unacceptable to work. Seats are provided on the shaft: for a circular saw and for pulleys on the other side. You can also make grooves for planing knives.

Main parameters - calculation of power, speed, gear

The characteristics of the circular saw, the engine and the maximum thickness of lumber that can be cut are interconnected. The maximum speed for which it is designed is indicated on the purchased circular disk. The number of revolutions transmitted by the engine to the shaft should be less. The engine power affects the maximum permissible saw tooth diameter. The diameter must be at least three times the thickness of the material, otherwise sawing will be difficult. It is believed that to cut materials 100 mm thick, you need a motor of at least 1 kW of power.

The transmission is made only by a V-belt - if foreign objects get under the saw, the material jams, the belt slips on the pulleys. Injuries in such cases are practically eliminated. It is important to choose the right gear ratio. We take into account two indicators: engine speed and the maximum permissible speed of the circular saw. We calculate the required pulley diameters. A pulley with a large diameter is installed on the engine, and a smaller one on the circular shaft to increase the number of revolutions.

The revolutions of the shaft with a circular saw are as many times greater than the engine revolutions as the diameter of its pulley is smaller than the diameter of the pulley on the engine.

Woodworking machine - a capital product for the home

To work with wood in large volumes, it is better to have a machine that allows you to cut the material, plan it, and select a quarter. A fairly powerful electric motor and a rigid table are required. We present a structure made of steel angle and sheet steel. It provides a cutting depth of 60 mm; you can plan boards 200 mm wide. A three-phase motor of 1.1 kW, 2700 rpm is used. To connect to 220 V, capacitors are required.

1 – machine frame; 2 – panel; 3 – starter; 4 – device for height adjustment; 5.7 – work table of two halves; 6 – base; 8 – engine; 9 – platform; 10 – M10 studs; 11 – circular disk; 12 – shaft; 13 – stops of the lifting mechanism; 14 – driven pulley; 15 – belt; 16 – drive pulley; 17 – switch.

The work table has dimensions of 700×300 mm. In the drawing we see that the height of the entire structure is 350 mm. The height is not sufficient for comfortable work; the circular saw will have to be installed on an additional platform; it weighs only 35 kg. You can increase the length and width, increase the height up to 1200 mm. We adjust the remaining sizes to fit them, but the design features remain unchanged.

First we make the bed frame from steel corners 25x25 mm. If we are not going to increase the height, we make another similar lower frame. For a frame with a higher height, first we weld four legs from the same corners to the upper frame, and then we tie them at a height of 15–20 cm from the bottom. The lower frame has grooves for the engine platform locking bolts. Two studs are welded to the back side of the platform, which go into holes on the back of the lower frame. By tightening the studs, we tighten the belts, then we lock the platform by tightening the nuts on the studs that go into the grooves.

To adjust the height of the table in relation to the saw, we use a simple lifting mechanism. It consists of racks, in the upper part of which we cut grooves at an angle of 45°. A total of eight racks are needed - four on each side. We weld them to the frame with grooves located in a mirror image. We attach cross members to the outer posts. We drill holes in the middle of each of them and weld nuts. Threaded shafts will move along them to regulate the lift.

Their ends rest against racks welded to frames assembled from 75x50 mm corners. We weld studs into them on the side opposite the grooves for the adjustment mechanism. The table consists of two equal halves and is attached to the frames with countersunk bolts. The adjustment mechanism works like this:

• loosen the nuts on the racks;
• we turn the screw, which presses on the stop, raising or lowering the table;
• tighten the stud nuts;
• We perform a similar adjustment for the second half of the working surface.

The design can be simplified without installing an adjusting shaft. Raise and lower the table manually. If you assemble the table not from two halves, but from one piece, you will only need four racks for the lifting mechanism.

Hand-held circular saw - turning into a stationary one

It’s easy to make a stationary one from a hand-held circular saw, expanding its capabilities. The first thing you need is a table. A convenient material is Finnish plywood, which, unlike ordinary plywood, is laminated - the workpieces glide well over the surface during processing. It is thick enough to withstand a lot of weight, moisture resistant, and easy to process. You can use ordinary 20 mm plywood, but you just need to paint it, or better yet, cover it with sheet steel or textolite.

You need to understand that the depth of cut will decrease by the thickness of the cover. You will need a large diameter disk so as not to reduce functionality compared to a portable tool. We make the dimensions of the tabletop sufficient to ensure that the workpiece fits in width. It should be added that on a wide table you can additionally strengthen an electric plane and a jigsaw, which will make the machine universal.

Using drawings and explanations, it is not difficult to make additional accessories for a circular saw that will expand its capabilities.

We mark a rectangle of the required dimensions on a sheet of plywood, cut it out, and process the edges. Using the sole, we apply a hand-held circular saw to the surface and mark the attachment points with a pencil. We make a slot for the circular saw. You can slightly deepen the attachment point using a milling cutter, but not more than 10 mm, so as not to weaken the tabletop. This manufacturing method will allow you to bring the cutting depth closer to that indicated in the circular saw’s passport.

From the boards we make a frame (tsars), which we install from below to strengthen the structure. We fasten four boards into a box, glue them to the tabletop, securing them with clamps. We screw self-tapping screws into the boards across the table. We countersink the holes for them from above so that the heads of the screws are hidden. We attach the legs to the frames of the stationary saw, preferably with bolts, washers and nuts. The table should be provided with additional rigidity, so we make spacers at the bottom of the legs.

We make a limit bar equal to the length of the working surface. In it we drill two grooves perpendicular to the disk, in which the bar will move and be fixed at a certain distance from the saw blade. It remains to make changes to the control system: we fix the control button in the on state with electrical tape. We install an outlet connected to the network on the drawer. We install a switch in the gap in the wire going to the saw.

Some aspects of the execution of homemade devices

No matter how well a circular machine is made, individual errors can lead to its performance being limited. This concerns, at first glance, seemingly trifles. Let's start with the bearings for the shaft. Installing conventional ones is justified if the machine is used from time to time. For a homemade device with permanent use, it is better to install self-aligning bearings. They consist of two rows of balls and are adjusted by tightening the clamping nut. Be sure to install a cover to protect against dust and chips.

On the working surface we apply a scale in centimeter increments. This will make woodworking much easier when determining the width of the cut. Many people neglect to install a protective shield over the disk, but in vain - treatment for chips getting into the eye or in more serious situations is more expensive.

When working with various materials, it is often necessary to adjust the speed of the circular saw. A homemade design, as a rule, does not have the ability to regulate engine speed. There is only one way out - the use of pulleys of different diameters. They are installed on the motor shaft. If you decide to order pulleys from a turner, immediately make a solid pulley with two or three different diameters.

Many people want to install a three-phase electric motor on a sawing machine, without having 380 V. They will need capacitors designed for a minimum operating voltage of 600 V of paper or oil-paper type.

We calculate the capacitance of the capacitors based on the power of the electric motor: for 1 kW - 100 µF for the working capacitor Av. We take the capacity of the starting joint twice as large. The SB trigger is a button that automatically returns to its original position. Startup is simple: turn on SQ, press SB for a couple of seconds. After starting, the button is released, as soon as the engine picks up speed, you can cut.