Cutting apparatus

A cutting apparatus comprising:

• a cutting device comprising:
• a motor;
• a circular saw blade driven by the motor to cut a workpiece;
• a housing rotatably supporting the circular saw blade and accommodating the motor;
• and
• a base plate connected with the housing and formed with an opening into which the circular saw blade is inserted, the base plate including a main base plate connected with the housing and a sub base plate detachably mounted on the main base plate;
• and
• a base section for supporting the workpiece, the cutting device being detachably mounted on the base section and being pivotably supported by the base section to be moved toward and away from the base section to cut the workpiece,
• wherein the circular saw blade has an outer circumferential portion,
• wherein the base plate has a bottom surface, the bottom surface being formed with the opening through which the circular saw blade projects downward beyond the bottom surface, the circular saw blade having a first portion housed in the housing and a second portion protruding from the bottom surface,
• wherein the cutting device further comprises a protection member pivotably provided on the housing and configured to project downward beyond the bottom surface to cover a part of the outer circumferential portion of the second portion, and
• wherein the base section comprises an abutment member that abuts the protection member to pivot the protection member such that the protection member covers the outer circumferential portion of the second portion by a predetermined amount, the protection member being brought into abutment with the base section and pivotally moved to expose the covered outer circumferential portion of the second portion when the cutting device pivotally moves toward the base section.