As the slice gets narrower, it gets harder to use a hand held circular saw accurately. When the kerf thickness approaches the slice thickness it take s a lot of skill, or a table saw with fence. 3/16 would make me nervous, b ut a more skilled person would probably have no trouble. Less than that st arts to get into the undoable area where you need to plane it, rout it, sha pe it, etc.
You hold the saw guide firmly against the stop. I've taken off far less than 3/16" cleanly. Make sure the blade is sharp and go slowly, but not so slow you burn the wood. I use a carbide-tipped combo blade to rip and crosscut. You want a blade that doesn't flex easily, so don't buy a cheap blade. Most people don't have planes, and couldn't use them right if they did. Unless you're a pro planer, the saw is faster and cleaner.
Which is why I and several others here, said to clamp a guide onto the door. At that point, it isn't hard at all.
You are underestimating the feeling of power one of those things gives you. Like I said, great tool.
Yes you can do the job without power, but it's more fun and you'll get a better result with power.
A bedrock 605 is perfect for that application; it would take longer to unroll the extension cord for the portable power planer.
I'll argue about the better result, too. The bedrock (with a well-sharpened cutter) will leave a better surface than the power planer (which takes a series of finely scalloped cuts).
So, I looked up Bedrock 605. I have one of those, the blade is just slightly wider than a door edge. Not the tool I'd pick.
I inherited a plane, about 20 inches long that looks like a full sized 4x4 with a blade that goes the full width (4 inches). Perfect for the job.
Still I like the power plane. I know in theory, you might see scallops because of the way it cuts. But in practice that doesn't happen.
Sorry, I'm pretty much a traditionalist. I don't even have a power saw let alone a power planer.
I find the long shavings coming up through the mouth very pleasing. For most woods they smell good too, and the only noise is a quiet swish. Whatever fluffs your fur though.
I meant the "3/16" is a lot of planing" part. A circular saw with a guide to take off 3/16 sounds like a splintery mess to me.
Good blade, guide, perfect cut. I know a guy that could easily freehand it too.
I admire your attitude. I bet you're good at it too.
Maybe because I'm not a pro, I like tools that make hard things easy.
I spent plenty of time sharpening plane blades.
| I meant the "3/16" is a lot of planing" part. A circular saw with a guide to | take off 3/16 sounds like a splintery mess to me. |
3/16" is a lot of planing, and there's nothing "splintery" about a circular saw cut. It's basically a hand held table saw. There could be some subtle blade marks left behind, but they're easy to take down. (This is assuming a decent blade. If you only use a circular saw for things like cutting up rubbish then you might not be using a good blade and would see "pulling" of the grain on a crosscut.)
aw accurately. When the kerf thickness approaches the slice thickness it t akes a lot of skill, or a table saw with fence. 3/16 would make me nervous , but a more skilled person would probably have no trouble. Less than that starts to get into the undoable area where you need to plane it, rout it, shape it, etc.
Yep. Set the guide strep so the wide portion of the saw shoe rides on the door, Can cut even a 1/8" strip or less using a good sharp blade. Doesn't take an "expert" to do it.
Harry K
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