Speaking of whom, their June brochure hit my doormat the other day. I've been humming & harring about Trend varijig straight guides for a while but put off by the price compared to how much use I'd make of them, anyone have any comment on this type of clamp guides?
The other option is look on ebay for a "proper" cabinet saw - quite often the real pro tools go for peanuts if they don't look all neat and shiny. A big lump of cast iron with surface rust will probably turn out to be a pretty decent saw once cleaned up.
Good price, even when you add the VAT. Useful for a router, but I prefer a sawboard for a circular saw.
I haven't re-made a sawboard since buying a new saw. If I was cutting think sheets I'd agree, but for ripping 2" off of a thick plank, the problem is clamping the sawboard to the work without obstructing the motor body.
Then again for my planks I'd need the 8' long version of the Varijig anyway; if they sold it with the tall version of their clamps as standard, rather than as extra, I'd probably plump for it. As it is, I've been putting on three quick-grips, then removing/replacing them in turn to allow the saw to pass by, which works, but is a faff.
Could you not use the rip fence?
I often rip down decking boards at an angle. I just screw the sawboard to the underside of the deck board.
I could, but in general I find them waggly, new saw does have a better fence than old one.
That would be OK I guess, I have a hidden side where a few screw-holes wouldn't be noticed.
You can do a similar jig for a router:
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