# Home made circular saw guide track



## wobblycogs

A while ago I read Chems thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums...w-and-router-t28797.html?highlight=guide rail detailing a circular saw and router guide track he made. I'd been thinking about how to make a guide rail and the design I'd come up with was pretty similar so I thought it was worth a go.

My aims were: to reduce the thickness of the track so that I could maintain a good cut depth as I want to use it on material up to 40mm thick, not modify the base of the saw if I could get away with it and to build it without needing to build a router table first.

The solution I came up with was this (sorry for the terrible picture quality I got carried away building it and forgot to take photos - if anyone is interested in this design I'll try and take some better photos of it): 

_Update: I accidentally deleted the original images but I've upload the originals again, the order may be different to that described in the text: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105902885043861662711/albums/5926170132252627121._

The track is a piece of 9mm thick MDF laminate flooring (pic 3). I ran the long tongue edge over the planer to make it dead flat and then routed three parallel grooves down the length of the board (10mm wide by 4 mm deep IIRC). 

I decided to make a shoe design rather than the more common mounted plate for the circular saw for two reasons. Firstly it would allow me to keep the part that attaches to the saw very thin since it wouldn't need to accept counter sunk bolts and secondly there were no obvious points to drill though the base of the saw.

To make the shoe (see pictures 4 and 5) I cut a piece of 6mm ply a little larger than the base of the circular saw. I retracted the blade guide and sat the saw on the ply then carefully glued blocks around three edges of the saw. This gave me a nice tight fit around the saw with no play. 

I then cut and carefully planned up some scrap pine so that it exactly fitted into the grooves in the track with no play (see picture 1), this took a little while but it wasn't too hard. I made the runners such that when they were in the groves they stood about 1mm proud of the track. I spread a thin coat of glue on the runners and pressed the shoe down on to them. Once the glue had dried I put some 80 grit on the bench and carefully sanded off the additional 1mm on the runners. This sounds like a lot of messing about but it's imperative that the runners line up exactly with the grooves or the shoe it will bind up and you want the shoe to run on the track not the runners which are there just for guidance.

To finished the shoe I drilled two holes and expoyied in some bolts (see picture 5 again). I made some hooks out of an old shower cubical (I couldn't find any that fitted that didn't cost the earth) and I use wingnuts to hold the shoe onto the saw.

Finally, I had to deal with the track moving while cutting. I first tried clamping the track to the piece, that worked but it was a lot of messing about so I decided to try non-slip netting. A trip to the shops and £1 later and I had the problem fixed. I've just used carpet tape to attach the non-slip netting to the track (pic 2).

Pic 3 is just after cutting though a 30mm piece of oak. Over all the track assembly is about 16mm so I'm pretty happy and it cuts a surprisingly good straight line. Total build cost as <£5 - I had to buy the wingnuts.

The main downside of this design are that because the track isn't clamped down you have to be a bit careful when you first start off. The weight of the saw is beyond the end of the work piece which can cause the track to pivot up slightly and drift away from the line at the far end. I know this from experience as I got complacent and rushed a cut which ended up a 2mm from the line.

Hope you like it.


----------



## Paul Chapman

That's brilliant, wobblycogs =D> 

To get maximum use from it, I think it would be worth trying to come up with some sort of clamping arrangement. In my experience, even the proper rail systems need clamping for some tasks.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## wobblycogs

On rough sawn wood which is what I've mostly cut with it so far I'm finding it sticks pretty well. I suspect it might not do quite so well on something a bit shiny like MDF though which should be fun then I come to make the router table.

One idea I've come up with is to mount some t-track on the bottom but t-track is expensive and I'm tight :lol:. The best solution would probably be like chems only rout a straight channel in the bottom and mount the t-track in that.


----------



## Sportique

Wobblycogs, I like this idea - well done. 

I shall steal the idea if you don't mind.

Maybe the long base plate could be made a little wider to allow clamping yet still allowing the small base plate to pass - not feeling confident just using ant-slip matting - although, clearly, you have had success with it.

Thanks for the idea

Dave


----------



## Chems

That looks familiar, but oh so better. 

The second one I made after that thread I made it much wider just so i could use normal clamps to hold the rail without it fowling the motor. Did increase the heft but I still use it alot as its 2.4m long so is great for squaring the edge of rough sawn stuff.


----------



## wobblycogs

Well, I consider that high praise indeed . 

I did debate whether I should try to come up with a design that allowed me to make a 2.4m cut but I decided to stick with just the 1.5m or so this allows - so far it's not been a problem.

Clamps are probably a better solution over all and I've racked my brain trying to think of some way to attach them that doesn't result in either a much thicker track or a much wider track*. The best I've come up with is to put a fixed block at the exit end and then drill and counter sink holes every few cm along the track in-between the guide channels. That would allow something along the lines of a Veritas wonder dog (or half a vice) to be bolted to the bottom of the track to act as an adjustable clamp. I've got another piece of laminate flooring kicking about so I might give it a go sometime.

* the motor on my saw sticks out a truly ridiculous amount so the track would need to be at least two boards wide.


----------



## Chems

What about drilling some holes in the side of the board, (difficult with it being 9mm) and then using some of these:

http://www.mtmc.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductID=14142


----------



## JohnBrown

Chems":1mol1sut said:


> What about drilling some holes in the side of the board, (difficult with it being 9mm) and then using some of these:
> 
> http://www.mtmc.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductID=14142


Hmmm... Let's see now, total cost so far < £5. Two Fesstool clamps at around £20 each... No, I don't see any flaws in that!


----------



## Paul Chapman

Fret clamps might work. They come in various sizes, are cheap, and shallow enough that they wouldn't foul the motor of the saw. Paint them green and they'd look like Festool  

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/-2-Inch-Hobby-Fre ... 72ffc48c13

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## OPJ

A great idea! 

Thanks also to Paul for the link to those fret clamps - I reckon they might also be compatible with the other guide rails (Festool, Makita, DeWalt, etc.). One would have to check but, they look to be _a lot_ cheaper than buying the manufacturer's own brand. :wink:


----------



## Paul Chapman

OPJ":1pubtz89 said:


> Thanks also to Paul for the link to those fret clamps - I reckon they might also be compatible with the other guide rails (Festool, Makita, DeWalt, etc.). One would have to check but, they look to be _a lot_ cheaper than buying the manufacturer's own brand. :wink:



Yes, I think you could use them in place of the posh ones. You might have to file or grind the end down a bit - the clamps for my Mafell rail are quite narrow but I see no reason why you couldn't make them fit.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


----------



## Chems

JohnBrown":3f47niap said:


> Chems":3f47niap said:
> 
> 
> 
> What about drilling some holes in the side of the board, (difficult with it being 9mm) and then using some of these:
> 
> http://www.mtmc.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductID=14142
> 
> 
> 
> Hmmm... Let's see now, total cost so far < £5. Two Fesstool clamps at around £20 each... No, I don't see any flaws in that!
Click to expand...


Two in a pack you cabbage lol!!

Those one paul linked would be ideal.


----------



## JohnBrown

Chems":1yauu1xu said:


> JohnBrown":1yauu1xu said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Chems":1yauu1xu said:
> 
> 
> 
> What about drilling some holes in the side of the board, (difficult with it being 9mm) and then using some of these:
> 
> http://www.mtmc.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductID=14142
> 
> 
> 
> Hmmm... Let's see now, total cost so far < £5. Two Fesstool clamps at around £20 each... No, I don't see any flaws in that!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Two in a pack you cabbage lol!!
> 
> Those one paul linked would be ideal.
Click to expand...

Ooops! You are right! Now I and my family must live in shame for many years, all because I didn't read carefully enough.


----------



## Chems

Lol! =D>


----------



## Extremely Average

Thanks for the post. I have been thinking about how to build something similar, but my design wasn't nearly as good.


----------



## cambournepete

wobblycogs":2now58zk said:


> One idea I've come up with is to mount some t-track on the bottom but t-track is expensive and I'm tight :lol:. The best solution would probably be like chems only rout a straight channel in the bottom and mount the t-track in that.



Have a look at Rutlands - it's on offer and with free postage 
You'll even have spare to use for your router table.


----------



## Chems

I still really enjoy using mine, I've made a few modifications thou:




:twisted: :twisted:


----------



## OPJ

...Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it!! :roll:

;-)

Now, that's one purchase that no-one can fault you for!  I've been eyeing up the Makita plunge saw for a while but, I'd love to be able to spend that bit extra on a Festool...

Was it full-price or did you get another bargain?


----------



## Chems

£0 Money spent, check out the rail bag in the background!

Stop fighting olly and start the only collection you'll ever need. As a pro you can't quibble!


----------



## wobblycogs

I've been thinking about making the same modifications. I built a track cheaply because I wasn't sure how much I'd use it but I've found it so useful for rough dimensioning stock that I think it's time to start saving up for a TS55 (or similar).


----------



## Teejay

wobblycogs":2mdrypy1 said:


> A while ago I read Chems thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums...w-and-router-t28797.html?highlight=guide rail detailing a circular saw and router guide track he made. I'd been thinking about how to make a guide rail and the design I'd come up with was pretty similar so I thought it was worth a go.
> 
> My aims were: to reduce the thickness of the track so that I could maintain a good cut depth as I want to use it on material up to 40mm thick, not modify the base of the saw if I could get away with it and to build it without needing to build a router table first.
> 
> The solution I came up with was this (sorry for the terrible picture quality I got carried away building it and forgot to take photos - if anyone is interested in this design I'll try and take some better photos of it):
> 
> The track is a piece of 9mm thick MDF laminate flooring (pic 3). I ran the long tongue edge over the planer to make it dead flat and then routed three parallel grooves down the length of the board (10mm wide by 4 mm deep IIRC).
> 
> I decided to make a shoe design rather than the more common mounted plate for the circular saw for two reasons. Firstly it would allow me to keep the part that attaches to the saw very thin since it wouldn't need to accept counter sunk bolts and secondly there were no obvious points to drill though the base of the saw.
> 
> To make the shoe (see pictures 4 and 5) I cut a piece of 6mm ply a little larger than the base of the circular saw. I retracted the blade guide and sat the saw on the ply then carefully glued blocks around three edges of the saw. This gave me a nice tight fit around the saw with no play.
> 
> I then cut and carefully planned up some scrap pine so that it exactly fitted into the grooves in the track with no play (see picture 1), this took a little while but it wasn't too hard. I made the runners such that when they were in the groves they stood about 1mm proud of the track. I spread a thin coat of glue on the runners and pressed the shoe down on to them. Once the glue had dried I put some 80 grit on the bench and carefully sanded off the additional 1mm on the runners. This sounds like a lot of messing about but it's imperative that the runners line up exactly with the grooves or the shoe it will bind up and you want the shoe to run on the track not the runners which are there just for guidance.
> 
> To finished the shoe I drilled two holes and expoyied in some bolts (see picture 5 again). I made some hooks out of an old shower cubical (I couldn't find any that fitted that didn't cost the earth) and I use wingnuts to hold the shoe onto the saw.
> 
> Finally, I had to deal with the track moving while cutting. I first tried clamping the track to the piece, that worked but it was a lot of messing about so I decided to try non-slip netting. A trip to the shops and £1 later and I had the problem fixed. I've just used carpet tape to attach the non-slip netting to the track (pic 2).
> 
> Pic 3 is just after cutting though a 30mm piece of oak. Over all the track assembly is about 16mm so I'm pretty happy and it cuts a surprisingly good straight line. Total build cost as <£5 - I had to buy the wingnuts.
> 
> The main downside of this design are that because the track isn't clamped down you have to be a bit careful when you first start off. The weight of the saw is beyond the end of the work piece which can cause the track to pivot up slightly and drift away from the line at the far end. I know this from experience as I got complacent and rushed a cut which ended up a 2mm from the line.
> 
> Hope you like it.



Could you please reupload your images? I struggle to follow instructions without visual cues and you have taken a lot of time to provide this info.


----------



## wobblycogs

I've re-uploaded some photos here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105902885043861662711/albums/5926170132252627121 - the originals must have been deleted when I had a clean out. I actually still use this track saw now and then. I plan on buying a Festool track saw at some point though.


----------



## Teejay

Thank you for doing that. Do you have any photos of the underside of the guide plate used on the bottom of the saw? I am struggling to imagine how that attaches to the saw and how it runs along the routed lines.


----------



## wobblycogs

There's a couple more photos in that album now showing the underside of the guide plate. The running are just a little bit of scrap pine that I hand planed and sanded until it was a nice tight fit in the grooves. I found that over time it got a little stiff so I now spray a teflon lubricant on it before I start work. If I was to make it again I'd only put in two tracks. There's really no benefit to having three tracks and it just makes it harder to get everything aligned.


----------



## Teejay

Where would I get those metal hooks from? I tried searching for metal cubical hooks and got nothing relevant.


----------



## wobblycogs

I made the hooks you see there out of an old piece of aluminium extrusion I have lying around. They don't have to resist any force so anything will do. If you can't find any scrap lying around I'd get a pack of something like this http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/nails-sc...-Brace-Zinc-Effect-25mm-9370810?skuId=9671515. Saw off on leg to the desired length and use a small file to turn the hole in the other leg into a slot.


----------

