About to be in the market for a new circular saw, just looking for the typical 7.25 blade saw. One thing that has constantly bothered me though is the depth adjustment. Every saw I’ve ever had used a flip lever on a nut in the back, and that’s always been the point of failure. They slip, break, seize or otherwise fail first before anything else on the saw. And it’s literally the only setting on a saw that i ever touch beyond changing blades.
So what brand has a reliable depth adjustment?
For breaking down 2x4s and rough cutting sheet goods, I just have a cordless Craftsman that has a lever depth adjuster. After 2 years of regular use I haven’t had any complaints about it. DeWalt or Makita are also pretty popular. IMO prob the bigger consideration is which battery ecosystem do you want to jump into (if going cordless and not already in one).
On the other end of the spectrum, the easiest depth stop I’ve used is on festool’s track saw but that’s going cost a lot more.
I’ve gone through Dewalt, Craftsman, Skil and some chinesium saws in the past. The Dewalt would slowly drop while cutting, the Craftsman broke the saw case and would flop around, the Skill took a cheater bar to unlock, and the chinese one stripped out and just spun.
I’ve been tempted by a track saw, but I also plan on a lot of 2x lumber where a track seems like it would be a major hassle.