Hi Wood workers. I have an project that requires an 1/4" x 22" x 102" piece of G1S plywood I have an small T.S. the top about
24" x 28" my problem is trying to cross cut the plywood as accurately as possible . I'm almost tempted to use an handsaw, but then it would probably not be cut square. I would appreciate suggestions as to how I might do this job.Sal
Sal, My first suggestion is to try to get them to cut it for you when you buy the plywood. They will probably have a panel saw that is made for the task. If that's not an option, then buy a plywood blade for your portable circular saw. Lay your plywood on a few 2 X 4s on the floor and clamp a board to the plywood to guide your saw. I have a cabinet saw, but I still cut plywood with a circular saw unless the pieces are small enough to handle easily. I just don't like wrestling plywood on the table saw, and I've got an extension table on the side and rear.
DonkeyHody "You just don't know a man until you've divided an inheritance with him." - Mark Twain
Donkey's advice is about the best you're going to do I think. Look for a *Hollow Ground* blade. In the absense of a plywood blade, cutting from the backside will help reduce chipping.
What is G1S plywood and does it actually come in 102" lengths??
1.) Build a sled.
2.) Build a simple guide to square the cut with a router or handheld power saw.
3.) Have the wood dealer cut it.
All the replies were excellent , not sure which to use. Bye the way in Can. G1S means good one side there being better grade wood with few if any patches. Thanks for the advice.
Sal
So can you get plywood that is 102" long in Canada or are you going to splice?
Around where I live in S.E. Wisconsin, plywood is available in 4 foot x 8 foot sheets. That's 96" long, maximum. Trimming it to get a nice edge will make it a little shorter.
Where are you getting plywood that you can get one continuous 102" finished length?
Or use a combination. Depending on the final size and how much waste, rough cut the sheet down to manageable sizes then finish on the table saw. Most lumber yards will have a fairly loose tolerance and a splintery cut if they do it on the panel saw. If you have one with a good saw setup, that changes things.
you could go to a place with a panel saw loke HD or something. If you brought your own piece of wood in, find out when the manager is on shift, arrange to run into him, which might take a while, and ask him to fill out a cut service charge only, maybe buy a $1.01 piece of cull to put on the bill. With that cut, which can be done geometrically and metrologically pretty darn good, you're either finished, or you could put it back on the TS. You could put an inch, or whatever against the fence and keep the outbound side as your finished cut. Or you could clamp something, screw, glue, nail, whatever to get a staright edge, or just wing it, and then cut the other side to match if possible. You could even do the rough cut with a jig saw if you have a good straight piece attached for a guide for your final finish cut. For that matter, just as long as there is a succession of max clearance points along the chalk line at a period (much) less than the lenght of the fence, your ok theoretically.
It makes the cutting a little difficult, you don't want it to bind. The important thing to remember is you have to make sure all of the forward momentum you imopart into the cutting is pointing parallel to the blade/fence, and when you get close to the cut-through area at the end of cutting, you can't use the outbound side of the blade to push any longer, because you'll be pushing sideways at the same time, and bind into the blade. You need to keep your hand between the fence and the blade while pushing forward, and make sure the outbound piece follows straight forward. This applies to all cutting. I learned the hard way.
Having an adjustable height roller stand is a good thing to have, placed somewhat centered to the cut, and rolling parallel to the cut. and also additional support table that you can clamp to the sides of the saw any time, extending support throughout the rear with a piece of plywood, or whatever handy. you just need to test the setup each time you're on different ground. And with the rollers always lower the blade under the table, and roll the piece over the roller to the final cutted-through position, and micro-adjust the angle of the roller so it rides without help, parallel. I use a level, straightedge, and a fairly flat 5' chrome steel pipe I garbage picked. You can clamp a wood rest to the side of the saw, and screw into it for a temp extension table. Its all in appropriate stable re-set-up capability.
if you mean the 102" you could need/want to fashion a "sled", possibly asingle use, or single guide type, since you have 22" width. You could flip it. A good sled should be capable of that. This could be nothing, just my
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