Straight Edge

There are 8-ft levels out there. reasonably priced, too. Hard to find a straighter edge than that.

I think a piece of 8ft angle iron would make a heavy but decent straight edge.

I bought a great straight edge from

I have used the rough cut with a circular saw and clean up with a straight edge and router for long lengths and have been very happy with the result.

Dave Paine.

That works for me.

Get an aluminum angle, 2"x2"x1/8"x96" and a couple of 3", C-Clamps.

Works for me, less than $20 USD, complete.

HTH

Lew

Lew Hodgett responds:

Works great. Add a really good blade and you can often forget about clean-up.

Charlie Self "Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major categories - those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost." Russell Baker

I cheated. I got a 10' metal stud at the lumber yard. I think it was a whopping $2.79. clamps at each end, *and* some 'brace' strips against the back of it, clamped down at the back of the stock, to keep it from flexing. and 'awaaaaaaay we go!'. works like a charm.

Cut a 3 or 4" strip from the other side of your ply or a cheaper ply and use that to reference your cuts.

Clif

I was wondering when the simplest solution would surface.. ;~) I was just getting ready to post the same.

Thanks all! I think the angle iron is for me!

Wanker

Any S4S (surfaced 4 sides) lumber you buy will be straight enough to make a fence for your circular saw and use it for this cut. No need to rout. Rig the setup on a scrap piece to determine the distance from the blade to the fence and be sure to consider which side of the blade kerf you're measuring from. Put 4 2x4's on your horses and set it up so that there is a 2x very close to each side of the blade and the other 2 are supporting the far sides. Clamp your "fence" and rip away.

Good luck. With my CS, the motor comes close to the foot for shallow cuts. Angle iron is too tall. YMMV.

I would love to know where you buy your straight s4s lumber.

Not really. Levels are a bit concave to bias them towards resting out at the ends.

Robert Bonomi states:

For maybe six bucks, would 2 of those things work if you tack welded one on top of the other about every 6-8"? No flex to deal with then, not much thicker, twice as heavy, but IIRC, they are pretty light anyway?

Charlie Self "Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major categories - those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost." Russell Baker

Yep ... just like any woman will do for a wife.

Assuming you are buying more than one sheet of plywood, you can put 2 sheets up on sawhorses, offset the long edge of the top sheet from the bottom sheet an appropriate distance to use it as a fence for your circular saw, clamp it, then rip off a strip a few inches wide from the bottom sheet. Now you have an 8 foot straightedge.

Ok, let me rephrase. Any STRAIGHT s4s lumber will work. Though I didn't specify in my original post, you may want to inspect it before you buy; just like your wife.

Scott Conner apparently said,on my timestamp of 11/08/2004 12:00 AM:

Funny. Wasn't aware my wife inspected anything before buying...

Got an 8ft length of MDF laying around w/ the factory edge still on it?