A pole saw apparatus includes a saw blade, a pole, and a tubular adapter connecting the saw blade to the pole. The adapter includes an obround blade-receiving end that stably telescopingly engage sides of the blade-receiving end, with bolts fixing the blade on the adapter. The adapter also includes a pole-engaging end that is cylindrically shaped to telescopingly engage the anchoring end of the pole. A friction clamp includes a transverse shaft extending through the pole, the shaft being shaped to slide into longitudinal slots in the pole-engaging end of the adapter and then rotate into circumferential slots where it is not longitudinally removable. A rotatable cam handle on the clamp is manipulated to create circumferential friction to hold (or release) the adapter on the pole. The blade, adapter and pole align along a common centerline for robust and balanced use.