Get More from Your Circular Saw

I wanted to get more from my circular saw. I developed and made this portable saw guide based on some 3/4 inch plywood and two very straight pieces of 1 inch angle iron. It can make both crosscuts and rip cuts, if one of the angle iron rails is moved away from the other.

This saw guide requires a half-sheet square of 3/4 inch plywood (4 feet x 4 feet).

Step 1 View from the front

The blade guard has been tied in the retracted position with a piece of wire. You see a slightly tapered piece of 1 x 2 holding the switch trigger in the "on" position. This is not necessary, or even desirable, for crosscuts; but it is necessary for rip cuts.

I added a strut to keep the weight of the saw motor from causing the base to flex. I described this in another Instructable titled "Too Much Flex in a Circular Saw Base."

Comments

[pepecarp]

My circular saw is CS718-AE. I am reading your "Get More on your circular saw". I cannot see a slot on the base. Please reply as I am converting my circular saw into table saw.

[Phil B]

I am not sure what you are asking. Could you include a photo? I discovered your saw is made by Black & Decker, but I have no idea what it looks like. I can find no pictures of it. If you wish to make a table saw from your hand circular saw you might wish to check this Instructable on doing just that.

[pepecarp]

I am referring to the blade opening on the ("get more from your circular saw") 3 by 4 feet table. I cannot see any blade opening. Thank you very much.

[Phil B]

Are you talking about a blade opening in the plywood where the blade might extend through the plywood? The angle iron rails carry the saw above the plywood much like the arm on a radial arm saw carries the motor carriage and blade above the table. The blade is above the plywood, except for about 1/16 to 1/8 inch where the tips of the blade cut into the plywood surface to make certain the cut in the lumber is complete. This does not function like a table saw where the blade extends through the table and the work moves over the table. Rather, it is like a radial arm saw where the work is stationary and the motor with the blade move on a carrier from above to make the cut. Let me know if you still have a question.

[notools1234]

Couldn't you just route two thin pices of wood to have that same shape instead of using angle iron?

[Phil B]

Perhaps, depending on the wood, its strength, and its dimensions. Steel will always be stronger than wood and can be much thinner so as not to reduce effective blade cutting depth. This saw weighs 15 pounds. If the wood is not quite strong enough the pieces of wood will deflect.

[kleinjahr]

Nice build. Sort of like a panel saw.

[Phil B]

Yes, so long as the panel is not more than about 3 feet wide. I have most often used it as a quick cut-off saw when my radial arm saw was set up for some precise cuts and I did not want to change that set up. Thanks for looking and for commenting.

[steliart]

Phil B, I have tried your idea with some small modifications and it works great. I have design it on sketchup so if anyone needs the file I could send it to him. Good Work! Steli

[socalcovey]

Hey Steli

Can you send me the sketchup model. I want to build it.

Santos

[sausachef]

Hello Steliart, I am intrrested in you sketchup file could you please send it to me? [e-mail] Thanks for your help

[pageup83]

Hi there steliart , I'm too intrested in your sketchup file
could you please send it to me ? :)
[e-mail]

[steliart]

No problem, enjoy!

[gordrum]

Steli - I'm interested in your sketchup for this project. This jig will save my butt on many upcoming projects! Thanks, Gordon ([e-mail])

[steliart]

No problem, on its way

[theproles]

I'm definitely interested in the sketchup file you've created.  That would save me tons of time and frustration. 

It's [e-mail]

Thanks again!

[steliart]

I will email the file, you may also be interested to my new instructable "The Smallest Workshop in the World"

thx
Stelios

[Phil B]

Thank you for telling me. I am glad it is useful to you. All of us probably make some modifications, depending on what we have for tools and materials.

[gentry]

So what does it do exactly?

[Phil B]

I never imagined anyone would ask this question. A circular saw is powerful and cuts wood much faster than a carpenter's handsaw. Some skill and practice is required to cut accurately with a circular saw. This saw guide is a quick and easy way to achieve a great deal of precision with a common circular saw that many would think impossible and that approaches the accuracy of a table saw, given some patience. These things are especially important for the home woodworker who dreams of owning a table saw, but cannot afford one.

[gentry]

Ah, I get it. I use a circular saw all the time, but I just follow my snapped chalk line or written pencil line and it comes out pretty straight. (It took quite a while for me to be able to make straight and/or square cuts.) I have the world's worst table saw (actually, the saw itself is kind of OK, and I have a good Freud Diablo blade on it, it's just the world's worst fence -- the handle is a rusty old 6" screw and the whole thing sticks and jams when you try to move it) and I use that when I need something more precise than a handheld circular saw. I got the table saw for half price because it was the hardware store's floor demo and was missing the handle for the fence, so it was something like $100, and it's just one of those tabletop contractor table saws, not a nice big woodworking one, but I can generally make what I want with it. So on your rig, you must have to adjust the saw depth so that it doesn't cut the plywood base? I didn't quite get how that worked from the pictures, but I'll re-read it. Maybe a video of it in action would make it clearer to me. It was already clear how to put it together, I just didn't know how you would use it. Thanks!

[pfred2]

I never liked the fence on my grandfather's tablesaw much so I made a new one:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8803/auxfence.jpg

Pimpin!

The secret of how it works:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/453/camq.jpg

Build pic:
http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/2234/fenceside.jpg

It cuts materials perfectly straight:
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2033/shelfy.jpg
(made from a full sheet of 3/4 plywood)

I'm just not seeing anyone chalk lining those cuts.

[Phil B]

I do not do video. There really is not too much of a problem with the blade cutting into the plywood. The motor of the saw can go only so close to the saw's baseplate because the motor housing will press against the upper edge of the angle iron rail. The bigger problem is getting as much cutting depth as desired. Using the square steel plate I described for mounting the saw keeps the motor housing out of the way of the angle iron rail. If you are using a square steel plate, you can raise the rails a bit more off of the saw table and have a little more cutting depth for 2 inch stock, etc.

[bo88y]

Even if you're not a carpenter, it can be worth spending some extra cash on a better saw. Those old B&Ds gave a lot of people access to saws they might not have otherwise bought, but a good Porter Cable, while still noisy, doesn't make the shrill shriek that the old B&Ds make, a shriek I find so unpleasant by comparison that I've found myself using a handsaw instead, just to avoid the noise. The P-C is also a lot more stable and balanced, and doesn't dance around on top of what you're trying to cut while you're trying to guide it. This can make a big difference regarding the ease with which you can make a straight cut, expecially on sheet goods, which this jig seems to have been designed for. And never underestimate the utility of a couple of c-clamps and a metal straight edge to clamp a fence right to the piece being cut, another practice that's made easier with a more stable saw. (Though support the sheet well-- if the sheet sags, the saw foot can slip under the guide, and oops!)

And get a good blade, a Marathon or a Diablo.

You can also get the P-C in a left-handed model.

If you want to save a bundle on power tools, go to cpooutlets.com for refurbished tools from a bunch of major manufacturers.

[Phil B]

Thank you for the link on the reconditioned tools. I have a couple of reconditioned tools and have always found them to be as good as the new version. I see CPO's shipping charges are as low as $6.99 on a Makita 5007N, too.

Since doing this Instructable I added a knob near the front of my B & D saw to help guide it. That made a big improvement. I also got a new 40 tooth carbide blade and it is another big improvement, although it is not a Marathon or a Diablo. My B & D saw was a gift from my in-laws. I have hoped it would wear out, but it has not. Now that my in-laws are no longer living and I could afford a better saw, I am near retirement and have reached a point in life where I seldom use a circular saw.

Thank you for your comment and the information.

[honorman]

I made one like it out of scrap wood I had, just a little smaller like 30"x 30"
no metal, to cut Vinyl siding for a house, a lot of siding as it was a 2 story with a lot of corners, worked great
tossed it when finished.

[bo88y]

Job-specific jigs come in handy, especially because you can make them only just as big as you need for the material you're cutting. Years ago when I was doing a lot of siding, we'd make up smaller versions of jigs like this for cutting clapboards out of a 2x8 and scraps of pine, small enough to mount on the safety-rail brackets of pump jacks.

[Phil B]

I think I have seen photos of something similar to what you made, perhaps in one of the how-to-magazines, like Popular Mechanics; but it has been years. Thank you for your comment.

[thenuttybolt]

Great instructable. Thank you. Did you ever have a problem with the saw blade trying to pull up the piece being cut ? In normal operation the angle of attack is such that the blade draws the piece being cut against the baseplate. However, here there is a gap between the baseplate/rails and the piece being cut and hence nothing to hold it down unless you are clamping down the work piece?

[Phil B]

Yes.  There is a tendency for the saw teeth to lift the piece being cut.  The larger the piece, the less the tendency.  Most of the time I could safely apply downward pressure with my fingertips (or a pusher stick) and that solved the problem.  Slowly feeding the saw into the work (crosscuts) or the work into the saw (ripping) helped, too.  It was more of an annoyance (when it happened) than a real problem.  

[ehmbee]

Wow, I wish I had seen this before I shelled out 200 bucks for a Eurekazone saw guide, though I'm satisfied with mine. I'd be more satisfied with 200 bucks in my pocket, though.

[marcward86]

whoa, i have the same square as you. i got it from an antique tool dealer in dallas.

[Phil B]

Marc, That square belonged to my father. He bought it about 1960, maybe a little earlier. It is made by Stanley. It is heavily featured in another Instructable I did on Making a Square Square. When it was new, it was not square; but it is now.

[João Mamão]

Excelent post, congratulations

[Phil B]

Thank you. It is a good and an inexpensive way to expand one's options.

[CrouchingFather]

If you could make the saw so that it slides on a tract and so you can tilt the table to a better angle so you could just slide the wood in would make it easier. (Think about the saw they use at Homedepot and Lows to cut ply wood!

[Phil B]

This is a type of smaller horizontal version of the panel cutting saw or panel saw you know from stores like Home Depot. The wood does slide into this, but not in a size like that accommodated by the commercially produced Home Depot version. You would need something for the tracks, perhaps steel tubing. It would need to be sturdy enough not to flex under use, but then in a vertical position, it would not bear the weight of the saw. You would need a bearing mount that held the saw in place with more than gravity. This arrangement allows ripping any length. The Home Depot saw can if you turn the saw in its mounting plate 90 degrees and crouch down near the floor. This saw allows you to position and hold your work much like one would on the table of a radial arm saw, even a chop saw. The Home Depot version pretty much depends on gravity to hold the work and on the fence along the bottom of the tool. In summary, a lot depends on your objectives for the saw. I wanted something that would do the work a person normally does on a table saw or a radial arm saw. If you want a panel saw, you could design it differently, but, the way I used the steel rails when attached to the saw's own base in combination with an "outrigger" fence (last step) allows this saw to function as a panel saw, too.

[zeel]

Great Instructable.

[Phil B]

Thank you.

[Goodhart]

Whoa, I love making jigs, and this is going to be very useful. Thanks...