If the motor shows signs of slowing down or jamming, stop work immediately or you may burn it out on the spot. It is essential that the Motor should be kept running at a high speed all the time to keep it from being damaged. Do not press the saw forward too hard. and always start the motor before the blade touches the wood, so that the speed of the motor stays up. You need a straight edge, and some practice, to bring in the blade at exactly the point where you want to cut; sighting straight down the blade will make it easier.
Saw cuts can be kept straight by nailing a batten to the wood you are cutting, and running the saw along it; or by using the adjustable rip fence on the saw, which guides it parallel to the edge of the wood. Four types of blade are available: the rip blade, with coarse teeth, for cutting along the grain; the fine-toothed cross-cut; the planer blade, which gives an extra-neat result, and the most useful type, the combination blade, which cuts at any angle to the grain. These blades will not cut metal, so when using the saw on old wood it is essential to remove all nails and screws. To prevent the blade catching on anything underneath the wood, and to reduce the strain on the motor, set the depth gauge of the blade to only slightly more than the thickness of the wood you are cutting. A circular saw blade cuts on the upstroke, so setting the blade as shallow as possible gives a neater result by flattening the angle at which it cuts. If the blade of the saw wanders off the cutting line, do not twist the saw to straighten the line. This may jam the blade in the cut, with disastrous results. Take the saw out of the cut, go back a few inches and cut along that section again.