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Make straight cuts with your circular saw
A circular saw is perfect for slicing up
plywood and other sheet goods. Unless
you use a circular saw every day, however,
trying to eyeball a straight cut across a sheet
of plywood is like steering a boat without
a rudder. A scrap-made jig can solve that
problem once and for all.
This straightedge jig consists of a 3mm plywood base
with a fence screwed to it. That’s it! The edge of the
base lines up exactly with your saw’s blade, because
you’ll use your saw to trim the base to the perfect
width. So, it’s easy to set the jig precisely for the cut you
want to make: just line up the edge of the base with
your workpiece layout marks and clamp it down. The
fence backs up your saw base and keeps the blade
tracking straight through the cut (see pic 1).
Here’s how:
1. Rip (rough cut) a piece of 3mm thick plywood or
hardboard about 250mm 2m long. This way, you can
use the straightedge for crosscutting full sheets.
2. Rip a straight piece of 3mm wood or plywood to
serve as the jig fence. Make your fence a couple of
cm wider than the distance your circular saw motor
overhangs its base. The extra fence width will allow
room for clamping the jig in place. Align the ends
and one long edge of the base and fence, and
fasten them together with glue and 6mm flathead
wood screws.
3. Clamp the straightedge jig to the edge of a
workbench, and set your circular saw so the blade
will cut through the base. Trim the base to correct
width by guiding the saw base along the jig fence
(see Photo 2). Be sure to use a sharp, carbide-tipped
blade to trim the base neatly.
4. Now that your straightedge jig is custom-fitted to
your saw, using it is a snap. To cut a sheet, first raise
it off the floor with scrap blocking to create a clear
space for the blade. Make sure the whole sheet is
supported adequately and on both sides of the cut.
Draw tick marks on each edge of the sheet to mark
the cut, and line up your straightedge base with the
layout marks. Clamp the jig securely to the sheet,
and you’re ready to go.
Quick, easy, and best of all, straight!
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