By Mark Clement
November 14, 2006—Porter-Cable's 6-inch Saw Boss Model 345 is a unique cutting platform. The 6-inch diameter blade is smaller (obviously) than the standard 7-1/4-inch size, but provides the cut-depth needed for most jobsite tasks. The saw is lighter than its 7 1/4-inch brethren, too. This means, theoretically, I can not only shave off whatever wood I want to cut, but shave of a few pounds of heavy lifting—during every cut. Add a left-side blade and I'll do a double take on this half pint.
I used the Saw Boss anywhere I use a standard circular saw: cutting framing, sizing sheet goods, trimming door bottoms, and plunge cutting in flooring and sheathing.
Out of the box, not only did I like the idea of this tool, I liked the way it felt in my hand. The balance is nice, the adjustments all easy to reach, and the cord long enough to work off a lead cord without getting hung up on the plug-end or straight out of a multi-plug. Once I started cutting, however, the unit's fit and finish along with performance across the board left something to be desired.
Adjustments. The bevel and depth adjustment levers are stamped steel and let your fingers feel it when you move them. I changed cut depth frequently on a flooring retro-fit, and the adjustment was particularly stiff.
Guard. During other depth changes—like switching from cutting framing to sheathing or 1-by—if I didn't set the cut depth just so, the guard hooked under the material. The saw's depth scale helps prevent this, but for rough depth changes framing, I don't want to spend time reading the scale.
The guard also hung up on angle cuts. While trimming collar ties to fit a roof-line, the guard grabbed the material. Hassle.
Sight Lines. I like the left-mounted blade concept and hoped to get a clear line of sight to the cut-line and blade, but no dice. The compact, close-to-the-cut saw body is a little tough to see around. I could get used to that because the saw is supposed to be small, but the gap between the blade and the shoe was tiny and I couldn't see the cut line as the blade hit it well.
During rip cuts in 1-by, the blade housing was snowy with dust, so it was hard to see the line again. The 345 does have an included accessory saw dust evacuation port (I call this a chimney) however, the jobsite ate it almost instantaneously.
Shoe. The shoe (aka base-plate, plate, base) left a lot to be desired. The adjustable cut-line indicator was off out of the box, though adjusting it was easy.
The little piece of steel used to fabricate the guide hung up on the work on unless the shoe was almost dead flat on the board. You can break the edge with a file, but who wants to do that? And many cuts don't start with the shoe dead flat on the work anyway. Sure I'd pay extra attention while sizing a door bottom, but in a plunge cut or whacking through framing, there's no way I'm going to be that piddley.
There's no slot on the shoe for a blade-change wrench. While the Saw Boss comes with one, I think it's with the chimney.
The shoe fails the rugged test. If the 345 takes a dive off a scaffold, from the back of the truck, or out of the hands of an angry framer, expect it to deform. A kinder, gentler trim carpenter only using the Saw Boss for doors, sheets and occasional framing will get by longer.
Power. The Saw Boss 345 seemed to have the power I needed. But after using it for a while I noticed a little more vibration than with my 7 1/4-inch saw. And once I realized it was happening, I felt it on other cuts.
I like the idea of this saw more than the application. While I can see a dedicated trim guy thinking "Well, this model still sounds promising for doors and sheet goods—and it's way lighter than a wormdrive," I could make the case he'd get better service from the worm drive. And, while I think the 6-inch diameter blade platform is an under-utilized one, I think the Saw Boss needs a re-design to make it versatile enough for the work many carpenters face every time they step on site.
Mark Clement is a remodeler and author of The Carpenter's Notebook and Kid's Carpenter's Workbook, Fun Family Projects! Find out more at www.TheCarpentersNotebook.com.
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