Production framers love breaking the
rules. You can confirm this by looking
at some of the alterations that get
made to worm-drive saws on production
sites.
The most common alteration is to
remove the saw's retractable blade
guard. This makes it possible to mount
a larger blade for a greater depth of
cut. It also makes plunge cuts and
repeated passes to remove stock a bit
easier.
Another saw conversion you might
see produces what is commonly called
a sidewinder (not to be confused with
the northeastern term for a directdrive
circular saw). This infamous,
flush-cutting hybrid is made by welding
an extended arbor onto a blade,
which exposes it completely beyond
the housing and the shoe plate. These
are often