Circular saw guide advice please....

[Victorthesecond]

Hi all. I have an inexpensive corded MacAllister / B&Q circular saw and would like to use it to trim an internal door for my sister after she has had a thick carpet laid. I've seen a few ' circular saw track guides' on Amazon and wondered if there was any real difference between them and if they are universal / can be used for any brand of saw.

Thanks for any advice!

Mike

 

[Spectric]

Just use a length of wood clamped to the door and run the saw down it, no need for a track if it is just a one off or occasional use.

 

[ChaiLatte]

Make your own. Take any old piece of plywood and nail a straight batten to it far enough from the edge so the full width of the saw fits between batten and edge. Cut through the plywood using the batten as a guide. The cut edge will represent the edge of the blade. Clamp that to the door with its edge on the pencil line.

Advantage is that you do not need to measure or calculate the offset between the line you want to cut and the place where you clamp a straight edge. Effectively, you have made a jig with this setting built into it.

Disadvantage is you lose cut depth, so use 13mm or 9mm plywood if the saw's depth is limited.

 

[BillHoughton]

The plywood jig will also help somewhat with splintering on the good side of the cut, if you're cutting cross-grain. Only somewhat, though; once you clamp the jig in place for a cross-cut trimming job, it's a good idea to run a rock/utility/whatever-y'all-call-them knife down the edge of the jig. Particularly a good idea if the door face is plywood.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Your saw won't run on a track anyway, as it won't have the corresponding grooves in its base.

 

[HamsterJam]

I’ve got a couple of these…
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cht684-50-clamp-guide/
Requires a little care to get them clamped at right angles to an edge as they can move slightly as the clamp is locked. I’m not sure if more expensive versions are better in this respect.
They are useful to have in the workshop as router guides etc.

 

[John Brown]

I’ve got a couple of these…
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cht684-50-clamp-guide/
Requires a little care to get them clamped at right angles to an edge as they can move slightly as the clamp is locked. I’m not sure if more expensive versions are better in this respect.
They are useful to have in the workshop as router guides etc.

I have a cheap one from BandQ, and one from Rutland(IIRC). The cheap one is indeed more difficult to get square, but that can be an advantage sometimes, especially when using it as a simple clamp.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A zero clearance fence is worth making - often it's difficult to fix a fence to the left of the saw as there isn't much clearance under it and the clamps at both ends get in the way. If the fence is fixed to the right of the saw there's nothing to support it - even if taking of an inch or two it'll still wobble.