circular saw cutting guide

[thai_woodie]

I use one like the wood magazine, actually I made two one for rips and shorter one for cross cuts. I just made a simple lattice work "frame" out of 2x4's and put the sheet goods on top of that to make the cuts. For me, I am OK to do at least the initial breakdown on the floor. Then move the smaller pieces up on the saw horses for the rest. Works great, no issues.

[Hertzd]

If you make the cutting guide, I would suggest using 1/4" hardboard. It's much lighter and works great. I made 3 of them...lengths of 8', 4' and 2'.

[Admiral]

I use a straight edge clamp, 50" like the one in the link. Measure the blade edge from the side of your circular saw footprint and clamp to your plywood at your finished size plus the blade edge measurement and Bob's your uncle. I've been breaking down sheet goods this way for 20 years. Clamp also has other uses too.

https://www.amazon.com/Bora-541050-Circu...VXKNN96YVS

[Bob10]

I use a piece of metal bed frame to do the same thing when I cut granite.  The angle iron stays straight

[AHill]

Before I bought my "green" saw and guide, I used a jig like you've referenced, with my Milwaukee circular saw.  No riving knife.  Sheet goods sitting directly on foam.  Never ever had any issues with kickback cutting sheet goods.  The cuts were just as beautiful as with my very expensive green saw.

[rwe2156]

I wouldn't worry about kickback.  Saw guides eliminate kickback unless you're using very poor technique.

Looking at the Woodsmith article, there is no need for two layers of ply that just decreases cutting height.  If you make the top board pictured 12" wide you have an adequate guide.  I like 1/2" MDF for this.  You can use the factory edge of a cut off for the edge guide.

Make it wider so the first cut you make trims it to width then its a snap to use.

BTW I don't like using spring clamps. 

I've never used foam I just use saw horses and a few 2x4's.

[Dodis]

I use a similar guide for all of my sheet cutting. The thing that has helped the most is to build a cutting table, a good first project once you get your saw guide made. As said above, some 2x4s on sawhorses is a good start, the foam board not really needed like this. The foam is best for use on the ground as a spacer, for me.

I built the table shown here, Knock Down Cutting Table, and mounted a set of the stamped sheet metal sawhorses to the two support rails, shown here. It made the table the perfect height to place behind my truck and slide the sheets out onto the table for easy breakdown.

My guide is made from a 6" wide strip of good 1/2" plywood and 1/4 (3/16") hardboard, rough side down. You can either buy an aluminum guide to get your initial straight cuts, or use the factory edge of another sheet of ply as a temporary guide. I glue the strip of 1/2" to a full sheet of 1/4 hardboard spaced to make three 8-foot guides from one sheet of hardboard. Then cut the edges with my circular saw to separate the guides. I then cut one guide into a 5-foot and 3-foot shorter guide for smaller work. The second 8-footer is stored as a spare. Don't have any pics of it, there are so many on the net anyway.

Another handy thing I made is a cross between a marking gauge and a kerf-maker. Took a 1x2 and ripped it to 1x1s. Glued one end of the 1x1s and cut the end flush. Then make a cut through one of the 1x1 in the non-glued area to get the thickness of the saw kerf, and put the 1x1 back on the other, sliding the kerf closed and then screw in place (so I can adjust for new blades later). Then made a block with an opening the two would fit in and added a screw to clamp it in place so it looks like a long marking gauge. This allows me to duplicate the guide location from the edge of a workpiece for multiple cuts and to maintain exactly parallel. And can use either side of the 1x1s depending on if I want to set the gauge block spacing to either side of the saw blade thickness. (I need to take pics of this setup for future posts...)

[joe1086]

BTW I don't like using spring clamps. 

+1

Use/get clamps with better grip than spring clamps.

[Steve N]

+1

Use/get clamps with better grip than spring clamps.

Before I got a track saw and used a shoe jig like the OP showed earlier, all I ever used to hold it on my line was spring clamps. I never had a problem, why? Because I kept the saw tight to the guide, and moving straight. You will only get problems there if you cannot keep the saw moving tight to the guide.

Now spring clamps to edge glue panels and such, no way. But to just hold things down like a jig, while you work a tool, no problem, that is what they were made for to begin with. Millions have been sold by BESSE alone, and "most" people don't have any issues using them

[Dodis]

Before I got a track saw and used a shoe jig like the OP showed earlier, all I ever used to hold it on my line was spring clamps. I never had a problem, why? Because I kept the saw tight to the guide, and moving straight. You will only get problems there if you cannot keep the saw moving tight to the guide.

Now spring clamps to edge glue panels and such, no way. But to just hold things down like a jig, while you work a tool, no problem, that is what they were made for to begin with. Millions have been sold by BESSE alone, and "most" people don't have any issues using them

I use spring clamps too for my saw guide. As long as the saw rides straight on the guide, it doesn't take that much to hold it in place. Plus, using hardboard to make the guide, put the rough side of hte hardboard down and that helps greatly too with not sliding around.

But to follow up on this, I used the depth rod on my caliper to verify that the blade is parallel with the edge of the base plate/shoe of the saw. On my current Milwaukee it was good right out of the box, but I have had to tweak cheaper saws before. If it is off, you can also just make a new baseplate cover from some hardboard, then you can easily trim it to be parallel to the blade.