Making repeatable cuts

[Wilson joinery]

Morning everyone

Just wondering how you make repeatable cuts in particular on sheet material.

For rip cuts I generally use my table saw but for cross cutting (too big for a mitre saw) how do you do it? Is it worth investing in an mft table (I’m thinking Black Friday) or are there other (cheaper!) alternatives? Would be really interested to hear from you as I bet there are loads of different ways of doing it. Do parallel guides for track saw rails do the same/similar job as an mft?

Thanks all
Pete

 

[johnnyb]

hi Pete
I struggled with this for a long time. using a table saw and a cross cut sled. the I got a parf guide and made an 8 by 4 mdf table got some super dogs( with a track saw). suddenly all my cuts were perfectly square.and repeatability was screwing a simple block to the table ripping I use a 3m rail and a tee( don't bother with parallel guides as there awkward being attached to the long rail tbh.)

 

[johnnyb]

track saw and stop arrangement( scrap raising far end)

 

[johnnyb]

tee peice for repeat rips( push against the back of the track at both ends.)i prefer a single tee as it ensures being perfectly parallel. many fancier( and pricier) solutions are available.

 

[Wilson joinery]

Hi johnny

That’s really helpful thanks very much. I hadn’t really seen understood what a parf system was until I watched a YouTube video after your recommendation. Think I may well invest in one as they are 25% off at Axminster at the minute. I’m guessing you must keep the same tee and use a correctly sized piece of scrap rather than making a new tee each time you’ve got a rip cut of a different width?

Cheers
Pete

 

[johna.clements]

Morning everyone

Just wondering how you make repeatable cuts in particular on sheet material.

For rip cuts I generally use my table saw but for cross cutting (too big for a mitre saw) how do you do it? Is it worth investing in an mft table (I’m thinking Black Friday) or are there other (cheaper!) alternatives? Would be really interested to hear from you as I bet there are loads of different ways of doing it. Do parallel guides for track saw rails do the same/similar job as an mft?

Thanks all
Pete

I would watch Peter Millard's videos on youtube, he has an excellent series on plunge/track saws.

I have an off the self MFT top (£50 delivered) which I will be mounting on my on bench. I have used if with a benchdogs fence on my workmate and have got repeatable cuts on ply and 4x2 for my bench. I cut the plywood down initially just on a sheet of chipboard on the workmate and a sawhorse with my plunge saw and track clamped to it. Parallel guides would be faster for the initial cuts but I did not think the time saving was worth the money for my use.

There are cheaper ways of making your own MFT top than the parf system. It depends on how long each MFT top will last and if you want a bigger non standard one. I only have room for a standard size so did not want to invest in tools that would allow me to make a bigger one. I do not think I am young enough to have to replace the top enough times to buy the parf system but I may look at the price of the various like the templates if /when I need to replace my off the shelf top.

 

[johnnyb]

so the tee is pushed onto the edge of the sheet to be cut and the back edge of the rail is against the front of the tee. do the same at the far end and recheck again. cut. as long as the front of the tee is in contact with the rail at both ends ta daa! this one cuts strips at 530mm for kitchen units. how you go about making your table is open to debate but the parf is fairly foolproof. where I'm not so convinced is with little bits as it's a bit of a faff( I use a mitre saw) but it's squareness on panels is excellent.