Patent ID: 8122802

Claim:
A power saw comprising: a saw assembly comprising a cutting blade for cutting along a cutting plane; a base assembly for supporting a board to be cut by the saw assembly, the saw assembly being movably disposed above the base assembly; an offset support affixed to the base assembly and extending above the base assembly for supporting the saw assembly, said offset support being offset from said cutting plane to permit both rip cut and cross cut operations by the saw assembly; a tilt mechanism rotatably affixing the saw assembly to the offset support for rotating a cutting angle of the cutting blade while substantially maintaining the cutting blade in the cutting plane, said tilt mechanism comprising: a housing, a mounting bracket affixed to the housing for connecting the tilt mechanism to the offset support, an outer gear arc and an inner gear arc concentrically disposed in the housing, first and second gears operatively engaged with one another and with the inner and outer gear arcs so as to maintain a synchronous axis when either gear is rotated, and a mounting block for connecting the saw assembly to the tilt mechanism and slidably engaged to guide movement of the saw assembly; and a reversible fence secured to the base assembly and comprising a guide surface, where the reversible fence may be secured to the base assembly in a first orientation so that the guide surface is perpendicular to the cutting axis during cross cut operations, and where the reversible fence may be secured to the base assembly in a second orientation so that the guide surface is parallel to the cutting axis during rip cut operations.