Thread: Left Handed Circular Saw

I couldn't give you any statistics, so don't quote me 'cause I'm just going on what Eagle says. All I know is that in our house I am 1 out of 5, and that includes 2 ambidextrous dogs and cat!

Originally Posted by felixe

Wow!!! I'm a left hander, maybe someone could make a left handed panel saw, dovetail saw, and some LH chisels. (C'mon, It's a joke, not sarcasim!)
Seriously though, as a left hander I have never felt disadvantaged with a RH circular saw, I spent most of today "ripping" posts for landscaping the front yard using my cheapie black and decker circular saw and at no time did I feel disadvantaged or uncomfortable, my point is that even though 10% of woodworkers may be left handed, some won't care, others are not disadvantaged and some already have a saw so they won't want to buy another. The research and development are better spent creating products that last longer, are reliable, have improved safety features and are still value for money for everyone to use.
Sorry to spoil the party but such a "minority" product will never fly!

I hear you felixe. All I can say is wait until you pick it up you will notice the difference. I am a lefthander and was dubious but the proof is on the pudding!

Even if only 10% of woodies are lefties it would seem to be an excellent marketing strategy. As the lefties will really have little choice compared to the righties who have numerous choices.

It wouldn't surprise me if a left handed saw became the best selling product in the range for that reason. Plus there is the world market.

Originally Posted by Eagle

I hear you felixe. All I can say is wait until you pick it up you will notice the difference. I am a lefthander and was dubious but the proof is on the pudding!

Guess the easiest way of convincing the rest of us, is to get us to try our current saw left handed, and see whether we'd prefer one suited to our hand of preference.

On the subject of left handers, has anyone else noticed that just about anyone who writes on TV or the movies is a left handed?

Why is this so? Do they reverse the film? Is there a genetic predisposition for left-handers to become actors? Did they become actors because they couldn't buy LH circular saws?

There are certain things that will be made & sold sucessfully for left handers & there are things that won't.
Hand held circular saws are one of those things that just arent worth a manufacturers bother.
Add to that lathes, rifles & machine gunns, cars (unless you move to another country).
Sorry chaps just be happy you are a down trodden minority.

cheers

just to respond ...
Soundman said

There are certain things that will be made & sold sucessfully for left handers & there are things that won't.
Hand held circular saws are one of those things that just arent worth a manufacturers bother.

apart from moulding the grip for a right or left hander, and without running out to the shed I don't know if my saw even has molded finger grips, what would be the difference?
motor to the left or right ? some do this already
so what would make a left-handed saw?

Add to that lathes

silly example

rifles & machine guns

last rifle I used could be set to eject the spent cartridge to either the left or right — you'd get more than a bruised eye if a rightie picked up a leftie's rifle

cars (unless you move to another country)

even then they're not. every left hand drive car I've driven has had the accelerator on the right, brake in the middle and clutch on the left. Things like wipers and blinkers are either left or right, though in Europe the blinker tends to be on the left, but it's that way on some pommy cars as well


ian

Maton made a left hand classical guitar, not many though.

Originally Posted by Iain

Maton made a left hand classical guitar, not many though.

Many name brand guitar manufacturers eg Fender and Gibson, have for many years made and continue to make left handed guitars.

see http://www.fender.com/products/searc...tno=0117422725

There must be a lot more lefties prepared to pay $100 for a left handed powertool than $3000 for a left handed guitar (although my guess is the high price/margin is what makes the left handed guitar more viable).

I was waiting for a bite though as a classical guitar looks to be identical on both left and right but there are some subtle differences on the internal construction and with the bridge, nut and bracing.
Cheapies make no difference.

I was wondering about that. I went to school with a guy who was an excellent guitarist, who through a birth defect had not much of a right hand, and no fingers. He had his guitar strung backwards quite successfully. Of course, it makes sense that the internals are assymetric on expensive models.

For us mollydukers it would be fantastic. But if it were to happen then we wouldn't be able to show the righthanders how versitile we are, and the righthanders would be absolutly confused on how to use a left handed tool.

I know with being a mollyduker I am able to swing a hammer working shoulder to shoulder with a right hander.

There is more to making a left handed circular saw than you think.
1/ a completly different, left handed mirror image main case moulding and all major case parts and lots of the minor ones too.
2/ the motor has to spin the other way, completly different armiture required.
3/the blade mounting nut needs to be the opposite thread.

in short you would have to manufacture a completely different machine and most of the parts for it.

As far as rifles, Im prety sure there would be many left handed fire arms on the market, but this would not represent the majority. Speficlay do the military issue left handed fire arms?

Lathes are no more silly than anything else, in fact it has been a question raised on this board before.

gituars would have to be one of the easiest items to adapt to opposite hand.
The simplest would be a symetricaly solid body electric, the only difference would be the relative sequence of sizing of the string groves in the bridge and nut and the cavity for location of controls. Only in the better acoustics would have any internal structrual difference. It wouldn't be unreasonable to say you could make a left handed gituar by mistake.

The cars thing was intentionaly silly, driving direction was determined by a choice of breaking your kneck steping into the roadside ditch or being runover by a passing carage when dismounting from a horse.
A horse there's another thing that doesnt come left handed, you always mount a horse from the left.

as far as using both hands. I would encourage any aspiring tradesman to strive to be able to use either hand at least marginaly competently with either hand for at least basic tasks
.
I can drive a nail quite well with my left hand, use a power drill, sort of use lathe tools and yes I do from time to time use my circularsaw left handed.

BTW heres a tip for left handers, if you are going to use your power saw with your left hand...... tape up your left trouser pocket.

Robert Stevenson Smythe Baden Powel (actualy barden pole) had a party trick of signing his name symoultaniously with both hands.

Lighten up ian or well have to banish you to the pointless forest.

cheers

Don't really see what all the fuss is about... I use my circular saw with my left hand all the time. I am a right-hander... (Thank God, for use of the left is the Devil's work and shall be punished with a smart caning!) Unless you're just cutting a plank or similar to length, you have to stand beside the workpiece and walk the saw. This means the saw is always on your left. The left hand pulls the trigger so - depending on how you look at it - 90% of the population are already using left-handed saws...

Or am I missing something?


Damien