A saw comprising: a base assembly ; a cutting unit pivotably mounted on the base assembly to allow the cutting unit to pivot towards or away from the base assembly , a circular saw blade rotationally mounted on the cutting unit which can be rotationally driven by a motor; a fixed guard mounted on the cutting unit which surrounds at least a portion of the upper edge of the saw blade ; a pivotal guard pivotally mounted on the cutting unit which can pivot from a first position, where it surrounds at least a portion of the lower edge of the saw blade to a second retracted position where the portion of the lower edge of the saw blade is exposed; a biasing mechanism which biases the pivotal guard towards its first position; a pivotal guard actuating mechanism which is capable of moving the pivotal guard from its first position to its second retracted position; wherein the pivotal guard actuation mechanism comprises: a cam mechanism; a hand lever pivotally mounted on the cutting unit ; characterised in that the cam mechanism comprises a cam and cam follower connected between the hand lever and the pivotal guard wherein the cam is connected to the pivotal guard and the cam follower is connected to the hand lever ; wherein the biasing mechanism urges the cam into engagement with the cam follower ; wherein pivotal movement of the pivotal guard between its second position to its first position results in the movement of the cam follower from a second position to a first position along the cam ; wherein, when the cam follower is in its first position along the cam , pivotal movement of the hand lever results in the cam follower being moved along the cam towards its second position to pivot the pivotal guard towards its second position against the biasing force of the biasing mechanism. a base assembly ; a cutting unit pivotably mounted on the base assembly to allow the cutting unit to pivot towards or away from the base assembly , a circular saw blade rotationally mounted on the cutting unit which can be rotationally driven by a motor; a fixed guard mounted on the cutting unit which surrounds at least a portion of the upper edge of the saw blade ; a pivotal guard pivotally mounted on the cutting unit which can pivot from a first position, where it surrounds at least a portion of the lower edge of the saw blade to a second retracted position where the portion of the lower edge of the saw blade is exposed; a biasing mechanism which biases the pivotal guard towards its first position; a pivotal guard actuating mechanism which is capable of moving the pivotal guard from its first position to its second retracted position; wherein the pivotal guard actuation mechanism comprises: a cam mechanism; a hand lever pivotally mounted on the cutting unit ; characterised in that the cam mechanism comprises a cam and cam follower connected between the hand lever and the pivotal guard wherein the cam is connected to the pivotal guard and the cam follower is connected to the hand lever ; wherein the biasing mechanism urges the cam into engagement with the cam follower ; wherein pivotal movement of the pivotal guard between its second position to its first position results in the movement of the cam follower from a second position to a first position along the cam ; wherein, when the cam follower is in its first position along the cam , pivotal movement of the hand lever results in the cam follower being moved along the cam towards its second position to pivot the pivotal guard towards its second position against the biasing force of the biasing mechanism. <EOS>