Cutting vinyl soffit and siding material can be done quickly and accurately with a saw guide, and the jobs I work on usually have a commercially available guide on site. But once in a while, the saw guide goes missing, and we have to improvise.
On a recent job with much vinyl to cut and no saw guide, I noticed a few scraps of 1×6 shiplap siding on the burn pile. As shown in the drawing, I cut two pieces 33 in. long and, with their rabbeted edges facing one another, laid them upside down atop a couple of 2x6s. With the 1×6 pieces set at a distance equal to the width of my saw’s base, I screwed them to the 2x6s. This setup made a nifty little slide guide for cutting vinyl siding or squaring 1x or 2x stock.
The sawkerf in the far 2×6 indicates the cutline. In the near 2×6, a nail acts as a safety stop to keep the saw from accidentally backing out of the guide.
—Will Ruttencutter, Valdosta, GA
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #174
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Irwin makes a blade intended specifically for vinyl siding, but if you don't have one of those, a plywood blade (non-carbide) running backwards (negative hook angle) is next best. And wear earplugs and earmuffs- for some reason, cutting vinyl is VERY noisy.
This tip is something like 25 years old. These days, the industry has moved on and no one would spend half an hour making a jig- they'd just get out their miter saw.
Which is to tell Mr. Yagid that it's time to get some up to date tips. If the rest of your magazine was as out of date as your tips, no one would subscribe.