DIY Rail for Circular Saw?

[Martin_S]

I picked up a corded Sthil circular saw on eBay - don't think they make them anymore, but it was cheap (£25 I think) and I love it. Compared to that Black & Decker circular saw drill attachment that I grew up with this cuts through stuff with no effort at all (including my saw horses on my 1st time out! :roll: )

Anyway, my one gripe is that since having learned about rail systems for saws, clamping a batten to a panel just less than 11cm from where I want to cut and running the saw along the batten is great and simple but is not as accurate as modern rail systems.

I guess I should just buy myself one - but I have a perfectly good saw and being a hobbyist, it is lucky if it sees 2-3 hours usage in the average month, so do I really want to spend £400-500 on a replacement?

My thought is that making a rail for it to run on should not be too hard.....

- A width of rubber (the first cut will mark where the blade runs and will give the cutting line for future use)
- A strip of Perspex for the saw to run along with the rubber stuck on the bottom
- A routed groove or Perspex profile to keep the saw aligned

I'd like it to be light and to be able to use it long ways on 8x4 panels. But probably need to build a short one too for shorter cuts.

Am I using the wrong materials? Is there a simpler way? Should I just buy a pre-built new one?

 

[porker]

I may get a tracksaw as I don't have the room for a tablesaw since I moved house and had to settle for a smaller workshop but I made a guide for my Makita circular saw by screwing a thin strip of plywood to a battern wider than the guide edge to the blade and ripping this down with the actual saw. This gives you a guide you can align with your marking and clamp in place fairly accurately. Just need to make sure the batten can be clamped without interfering with the saw body during the cut. Worked OK but probably not as good as a proper tracksaw. Before the Makita circ saw I had a real cheapo. The main problem with this was the whole frame used to flex so getting any sort of straight cut was near impossible.

 

[Martin_S]

Thanks, that sounds neat and simple and definitely gives me the edge to work to that I am looking for....

Will start with that and then see if I need anything more sophisticated.

 

[Mike.S]

The late Niki made some guides for a circular saw. Try these links:

Summary of all Niki's jigs

Circular saw guide

HTH

 

[mailee]

I often make them out of some scrap 9mm MDF. 8' long piece about 10" wide. I then glue and brad another strip of 9mm MDF onto the centre parallel to the edge. Place the saw with it's base plate up against the centre raised section and run down it to cut the edge off. The extra width means you can clamp it down without the clamps getting in the way of the saw. I have also added some non slip tape to the base of a couple of them too. HTH. :wink: