Shop-built panel saw

[Unquestionably Confused]

Be very, very careful. That sort of thing could get you arrested and prosecuted on the wreck. Overbuilding's a crime in Canada, don't you know?

[Lobby Dosser]

I think I'm OK. I also tend to over-plan. :o)

[Patriarch]

Lee DeRaud wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Number of weeks before the whole process is shipped to Bangalore: 22

Number of weeks before it was determined that the software produced in Bangalore was bug free, written to spec, and accomplished exactly the wrong objective: 4

Patriarch, thoroughly enjoying the sawdust therapy...

[Bill Leonhardt]

Lou,

Are you talking about the piece of panel with straight edge attached, where you trim the panel with the first saw cut? If so, I've been thinking of making a short and long one, like you have. Where I'm hung up is getting a

96" straight edge. I know people use the edge of a sheet of plywood. Maybe I'm being too anal here, but I figure I'm making a jig that I'll use over and over again and I want it to be accurate enough to give good cuts. I have doubts about getting a good, chrisp, straight plywood edge. Also, whatever I do get, I want to stay straight.

Again, perhaps I'm being too anal. I'm only judging the plywood edges by what I've seen at the BORG. Perhaps a cabinet grade plywood is OK. Anyway, finding a good straight edge here is important.

What do others think or use?

Bill Leonhardt

[Lee Michaels]

I use a big piece of aluminum angle. Two inch or bigger. Fairly heavy gauge. Anything smaller can bend easily.

And it seems to me that at least one of the manufacturers of the circular saw cutting guides use aluminum angle for their straightedge as well.

[Morris Dovey]

I've been using the Lee Valley two-piece guide in combination with a plywood spacer that lets me offset it exactly from where I want the cut (see about

1/3 of the way down at and, sometimes, a 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1/8" aluminum angle (with the same spacer). Both work well, but require that I muscle the sheet goods around more than is comfortable - and spend more time with each cut than I'd prefer.

The saw board/fence approach is a good one and does save time. If it met my needs, I think I'd be tempted to pop rivet a piece of 1/8" tempered hardboard to the aluminum angle...

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[loutent]

Hi Bill,

I first considered using a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum angle for the guide - especially since I already had a

96 inch piece of it. However, after making my smaller sawboard out of 1/4 oak ply and an oak strip, it was so easy to work with (light weight & easy to handle) that I went ahead and made the bigger one the same way.

I did not fuss a lot with them. For the bottom (where the saw sits) I ripped about a 10 inch wide piece of the oak ply. For the "guide" part, I ripped a 1/2 inch piece of solid oak from a 1x3. Next, I measured in about 2 inches from what would become the blade side and glued/tacked then screwed the strip on to the ply from below. I had the factory edge of the oak facing the blade. When it all dried overnight, I ran my saw against the oak strip and voila - a sawboard!

I do no find that it deflects left or right since I have about 8 inches of the plywood left after cutting. I wanted to leave plenty of material for clamping.

HTH.

Lou

[Bill Leonhardt]

SNIP>

Morris,

I would expect you'd need some kind of countersunk rivits here so they wouldn't mar the surface of the sheet material to which the saw board is clamped.

Bill

[Bill Leonhardt]

Lou,

If I understand you correctly, you used a piece of oak 1/2"x2-1/2"x96" for the guide. How did you mount ot on the base ply to assure it would be straight? Did you use the plywood factory edge as a guide or some other means?

Thanks,

Bill

[Morris Dovey]

Bill ...

Whenever the head would get in the way, I make a small counterbore using an ordinary drill bit so that the rivet head doesn't protrude. It's important not to drill so deeply that the tool head can't reach the rivet. In my shop I use stainless (rather than aluminum) rivets with a pneumatic tool and it works like a charm! I would expect equally good results with aluminum rivets and a hand tool.

-- Morris

[loutent]

Hi again Bill,

My 1/4 oak ply base started at about 10 x 96. The oak strip that I ripped from a 1x3 x96 was about 1/2 x 3/4 x 96 after I ripped it. I took that strip and, with the factory edge toward the blade side, measured in about 2 inches. I used a square to get it consistent up & down the 96 inch length before I glued/tacked/screwed. My saw's offset is about 1 3/8 inches which is why I measured in 2 inches.

To be honest, I initially intended to use these sawboards to simply give me panels that were reasonable size that I could finish on the TS. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cuts were very accurate & square.

Lou

[Bill Leonhardt]

Lou,

Thanks for the follow-up reply. I guess the bottom line here is that you used the factory edge of your base material to index the oak guide strip and the results you get from that are most satisfactory. Sounds reasonable to me. Building a couple of these sounds like a good idea.

Thanks again,

Bill

[loutent]

Good luck Bill...I thimk you will like the result - you seem like the type of person who want's to know all details first. I resemble that.

I predict that you will be very pleased with your sawboard(s).

Lou

[Old Nick]

I am not sure you understand. You make the oak (which has to be straight; you couod use aluminium here) as near as possible to right. But that's only really for appearnce. The trick is that you let it set, then cut the ply using the oak as a fence. This ensures that you have a ply edge that is dead parallel to the oak, as straight as the oak, and exactly the right distance away so that you will then cut by using ghe oak as the fence. The ply edge is laid exacltly on the cut line and the blade _just_ touches it as it did when you made the board.. That's what makes it so easy and quick to use.