Cutting square with a hand held circular saw

[LFS19]

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for cutting length with a circular saw.

I've seen allot of homemade rip fences online that look very useful.
Are there any other methods or are the rip fences the best bet?

Thank allot.

 

[Dan j]

You could improvise a track saw.
Is this the kind of thing you were thinking of?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbfDrv1pMOQ

 

[DiscoStu]

Whack a straight piece of wood down on the board and run the saw along that.


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[Nelsun]

If you want quick repeatability on sheet goods there's the jumbo "Rip-Cut" guide from Kreg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRabQGJ1opE

 

[LFS19]

You could improvise a track saw.
Is this the kind of thing you were thinking of?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbfDrv1pMOQ

That looks interesting, thanks.

 

[LFS19]

Whack a straight piece of wood down on the board and run the saw along that.


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That's what I've been trying to do, but getting in perfectly square is a challenge for narrower boards.

Thanks

 

[LFS19]

If you want quick repeatability on sheet goods there's the jumbo "Rip-Cut" guide from Kreg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRabQGJ1opE

That looks cool.
Pretty inexpensive, too.

Thanks

 

[GLFaria]

Whack a straight piece of wood down on the board and run the saw along that.


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That's what I've been trying to do, but getting in perfectly square is a challenge for narrower boards.

Thanks

If the pieces are not too big you might be able to square them with a handplane and a shooting board (one of my most useful accessories, as I can't make a straight cut by hand... )

G.

 

[Bm101]

For shorter cuts, if you're near a lidles, they've been selling a clamping saw guide for a tenner this week which are good for the price. You might be lucky but they appear to be going like hotcakes according to some members. lidl-power-tools-this-week-t95030.html You'll need to scroll down a bit.

 

[LFS19]

Whack a straight piece of wood down on the board and run the saw along that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's what I've been trying to do, but getting in perfectly square is a challenge for narrower boards.

Thanks

If the pieces are not too big you might be able to square them with a handplane and a shooting board (one of my most useful accessories, as I can't make a straight cut by hand... )

G.

Thanks for the response.

Indeed the shooting board would be useful, I've never used one

 

[LFS19]

For shorter cuts, if you're near a lidles, they've been selling a clamping saw guide for a tenner this week which are good for the price. You might be lucky but they appear to be going like hotcakes according to some members. lidl-power-tools-this-week-t95030.html You'll need to scroll down a bit.

Thanks for the response.

I keep hearing about lidl! I'll have to check it out.

 

[RobinBHM]

Narrow rips can still be done with a track saw or home made guide. The difference is that you need to make the narrow piece wide! Basically you need a 2nd piece the same thickness as the piece you want to cut to form a wider support. It may all need clamping or screwing to a piece of 18mm sheet material as a simple jig.

More faff than a table saw with a fence of course but do-able.

 

[LFS19]

Narrow rips can still be done with a track saw or home made guide. The difference is that you need to make the narrow piece wide! Basically you need a 2nd piece the same thickness as the piece you want to cut to form a wider support. It may all need clamping or screwing to a piece of 18mm sheet material as a simple jig.

More faff than a table saw with a fence of course but do-able.

Yeah, this was what I had in mind really.
I figured you'd need some sort of wider surface to fit the jig onto the piece you want to cut so that it doesn't wobble.

Do you think it'd be fairly easy to do something like that with the Kreg gear meantioned above?

Many thanks.

 

[Minidaveo]

Kreg rip saw guide not expensive on gumtree

A bit far from me but thought you'd might like


https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/kreg ... 1153893746

 

[DiscoStu]

Whack a straight piece of wood down on the board and run the saw along that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's what I've been trying to do, but getting in perfectly square is a challenge for narrower boards.

Thanks

If you have narrow boards then you can use a speed square - clamp it in place and then run the saw along the edge.

I think most of the guides shown hear will have issues with narrow boards and a speed square will cost about £7.

If you have a lot of narrow boards to cross cut then a mitre saw is the best option - though not the cheapest. My mitre saw was bought before I got into woodworking, I bought it when I did decking and although it's one of my cheapest machines it's the one I couldn't live without. However it's not worth buying one of you have 10 boards to cut as a one off.


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[LFS19]

Kreg rip saw guide not expensive on gumtree

A bit far from me but thought you'd might like


https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/kreg ... 1153893746

Thanks allot for the link.

 

[LFS19]

Whack a straight piece of wood down on the board and run the saw along that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's what I've been trying to do, but getting in perfectly square is a challenge for narrower boards.

Thanks

If you have narrow boards then you can use a speed square - clamp it in place and then run the saw along the edge.

I think most of the guides shown hear will have issues with narrow boards and a speed square will cost about £7.

If you have a lot of narrow boards to cross cut then a mitre saw is the best option - though not the cheapest. My mitre saw was bought before I got into woodworking, I bought it when I did decking and although it's one of my cheapest machines it's the one I couldn't live without. However it's not worth buying one of you have 10 boards to cut as a one off.


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I have a speed square, actually. And I did used to use it in a similar was before I got my miter saw.

When I say narrow, though, I mean cutting a narrow length rather than width ways which I'd just use get miter saw for.

Thanks for the response.

 

[DiscoStu]

If it's a narrow length then won't the fence on your circular saw do what you want? Anything to wide for that should be covered by a straight edge on the board.

These days I'm fortunate enough to have a track saw and a table saw which make these tasks easier, but all still achievable without expensive tools.


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[LFS19]

If it's a narrow length then won't the fence on your circular saw do what you want? Anything to wide for that should be covered by a straight edge on the board.

These days I'm fortunate enough to have a track saw and a table saw which make these tasks easier, but all still achievable without expensive tools.


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Do you mean those t shaped guides that slide into the saws baseplate?

Thanks