Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm sure I'm not the first person on the planet to think of this, but I used a handy little trick recently to make precision, straight line cuts with my hand-held rotary saw. I was cutting tongue and groove paneling for my basement, and it was critical to have perfectly straight cuts.

I marked my line to cut and clamped a piece of hook strip (the stuff shelves rest on in your closet) to the panel. I measured the blade and guide on my saw, and clamped the hook strip the appropriate distance from the line. Then I butted the saw up against the hook strip and used it as a guide as I cut the panel. The result was a perfect straight line cut with no wiggles in it. This would certainly be useful in cutting long straight lines for teardrop construction rather than depending on a steady hand and clear view of the line.

I have a aluminum saw circular guide I picked up a one of the big box stores for $15.

Although, it seemed like an extravagance at the time. I'm glad I bought it. It won't warp like wood. I keep it hanging up in my shop where I can easily find it instead of rumaging through my scrap pile each time I need to make a cut.

TomS wrote:I have a aluminum saw circular guide I picked up a one of the big box stores for $15.

Yep, got one of those too. One of the best things I ever bought, they are really nice used with a cordless 4 1/2" saw and I was kinda surprised that it stays straight in the middle.

Karl

That hook strip sounds like a good idea, never thought of using that.

I use angle iron for my guide. I have a 8' and 4' piece that I use on 4'x8' sheets of plywood and a 15" piece for smaller pieces of wood.

OR if you wanna get fancy something like these:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... 47843&ap=1

Cheers,

Coop

Now you're talkin', Coop. I've got all three and use them frequently. Don't have a panel saw in my shop, so when I have to cut down large sheets of cabinet grade plywood, that's the tool I reach for first. Easier to cut it down close to size and do the real work on my cabinet saw. Super for any straight line you want to cut. I often use them with my router when cutting stopped dado joints.

I have one of those aluminum extrusion saw guides. 2pcs 5ft long, long enough to let you cut ply in both directions.

I also have a piece of scrap wood that has the exact distance from the edge of the saw's sole plate to the blade. I butted the wood up against an edge, then I butted the saw against the same edge and made a small cut with the saw. Now, I just line up the cuts in the wooden guide to the pencil line and the straight edge to the side of the wooden guide. It lets me know how far away to clamp the straight edge from the line. I can run it up and down the pencil line to check the straight edge's parallelism to the line.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before but it saves me a ton of time when setting up the straight edge.

ah, reminds me of a story: I used to work for a company that had a large facility, held about 3,000 people. They had a disconnected garage and decided to cover the walkway with an above ground 'tunnel' using aluminum frame with smoked acrylic panels.... They were cutting the panels to size and had long thin pieces left over. I asked one of the workman if I could get a piece. This stuff is about 1/4" thick and almost industructable..... he said sure...

Then I forgot about getting it, and they completed this 100 ft. long 'thing' and left the job site.... I walked intot the garage and leaning against one wall was a piece almost 8 feet long and 6 inches wide... very nice fellow to remember me...... I got it about 15 years ago, and probably used it 30 times on my tear, cutting doors, windows, etc.... a great (and free) straight-edge.. Whenever I need a long/straight guilde for the saw, it comes off the ceiling rack......

Karl Stevens wrote:I'm sure I'm not the first person on the planet to think of this, but I used a handy little trick recently to make precision, straight line cuts with my hand-held rotary saw. I was cutting tongue and groove paneling for my basement, and it was critical to have perfectly straight cuts.

I marked my line to cut and clamped a piece of hook strip (the stuff shelves rest on in your closet) to the panel. I measured the blade and guide on my saw, and clamped the hook strip the appropriate distance from the line. Then I butted the saw up against the hook strip and used it as a guide as I cut the panel. The result was a perfect straight line cut with no wiggles in it. This would certainly be useful in cutting long straight lines for teardrop construction rather than depending on a steady hand and clear view of the line.

Hi,

That is the only way I can get a straight cut. On the top of my circular saw foot I used a magic marker write the distance from the blade to the edge of the saw. That way I always know how far to offset the edge guide from the cut line.

Joanne

I just draw my line crooked then cut,me tring to follow the line makes it pretty straght most of the time
JUst joking I use my 4 or 6 ft level for 4ft cuts for 8 ft I use a piece of oak I've had for a few years know.


mike

I've found that a 6" wide piece cut off the edge of a new 3/4" plywood sheet doesn't warp and works well for making long straight cuts.

psssst

I will give you all a tip from a Field Carpenter. Leave your blade as big as it can be/ dont "set your depth" but rather support the work higher. a deep blade has a hard time doing any thin BUT straight. A shallow blade is great for cutting circles

...a tip my bidnez partner showed me......
...take a 4" wide strip of 1/4" ply in whatever length you want your guide...
...make sure it has a factory edge...
...Now take an 8" strip of the same 1/4" ply, cut the same length...
...Now take the 4" strip and glue it on top of the 8" strip, leaving the factory edge running down the center...
...take your saw and placing the shoe against the factory edge of the 4" piece and run it down the length...
... cutting the wider strip off at the width of the shoe to blade edge...
...You now have a guide that is exact to your saw...
...clamp it down on your work piece with the cut edge on your desired cut line...
...you now can cut without making a measurement for your guide....
...just using your original/desired measurment...a perfect cut everytime without making extra measurements
madjack

Jack, kudos to your partner. That's a good tip. I'm gonna set one up.

cracker39 wrote:Jack, kudos to your partner. That's a good tip. I'm gonna set one up.

Dale, we use 2 in the shop, an 8'er, and a 4'er...they work great.......................................