Reply by Nicky

In reading through you post it sounds as if the saw blade is not parallel with the saw’s base plate (heeling).

Anything loose on the base?

I bought a skill saw about 30 years ago. It was cheap, but that s what I could afford at the time. About 20 years ago I realized the saw blade was not parallel to the base, and actually ground it parallel (saw had no adjustment for this.) It’s been going strong for many years and used 99% of the time cutting down sheet goods
.

-- Nicky