I’m looking for opinions on cutting cabinet grade plywood with a circular saw. I read an article in Fine Woodworking about a year or so ago where the author recommended using a circular saw to cut sheets of plywood for cabinets. In the article the author used a dedicated circular saw, a sacrificial table, and shopmade straightedges. I’ve made a straightedge and I use it with a Skil worm drive saw.
The reason I’m posting here is that I’ve thought about upgrading my setup and wanted some advice. I don’t build cabinets for a living, but find myself cutting sheets of decent plywood several times a year; mainly for projects around the house or to help friends. I’ve considered some of the potential upgrades out there; I’ve eliminated the Festool as an option because I think it’s just too much for me to spend on something I won’t use a lot.
Something I have considered is the EZ system by Eureka zone, I’ve read about them in previous posts. Not sure if that would be a good choice for an ocasional user.
I’ve also considered purchasing another circular saw to use just for this type of cutting. I wonder if a dedicated saw is worth the expense?
Lastly, the cheapest option would be to make a few more guides and use the saw I have. With this, I have to ask if the saw is used for cutting framing lumber and ‘rough’ work, will it still give as clean a cut as a separate dedicated saw?
I’d like to hear what guys use to cut plywood down to size. Also, I should add that I have a decent contractor’s saw. It works well, but I don’t have the room to slide full sheets of plywood across it. Any advice would be appreciated.
Replies
check out http://eemersontool.com/A-Series.html
i havent tried their saw plate, but a 4 foot and a 8 foot straight edge clamp would be all you need, more important then a dedicated saw is a dedicated blade, a good forrest blade will cross cut plywood with little or no tear out http://www.forrestblades.com/hiat.htm
it helps to have a good platform to cut on, if you get three 2x4s at eight feet and cut one into two 4s, and cut a dado in each one about 8 inches from the ends so that they will sit flat and place the short ones on saw horses and the long ones on top of them you can use the set up for crosscutting and ripping sheets of plywood with out the plywood moving or falling once you cut through it
Speaking of cutting tables....
I ripped an 8' 2x4 in half and then another, I cross cut the other 2 2x2 into about 32" and with one screw from UNDER the long rails into each short one, I have a laddder with 6 "rungs".
Being as there is only one screw one each end of the short 2x2's , it can collapse like a parallogram for stowage and unfold for use. It also can be partially unfolded for narrower cutting.
As the short 2x2's get kerfed up they can be swapped out real easy.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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I like that, especially the folding part. And if you screw from the bottom up, that reduces the chance of hitting the screw with the blade."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Yep, I keep an eye on the saw depth, and never have hit a screw yet. Predrill the long rails so it has some slop, other wise the folding gets to binding. I'd guess a few washers wouldn't hurt, but I haven't used any.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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sphere, that is a good idear.
You get that from somebody or think it up yourself.
Might be time you mailed Tips and Techniques. And now he could feel it- that inevitable craving for cookies! It happened every time he left his firewall down. -Heck '02Elvis had all that he could take from Raven fans, both of them! -Crash '02
Both.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Use some brass or even aluminum if you can find them. Then it won't matter much if you eat them.
For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Clever idea.
Before I had a tablesaw stand for my portable, I used a set up similar to that:
Since the table of my tablesaw was exactly 1-1/2" thick, I used full 2x4's and the width between the "rungs" were the same dimension as the base of my table saw. The first rung was attached the depth of the tablesaw table away from the end and acted as a stop as I slid my tablesaw onto the rails. The whole setup could be unfolded, screwed to sawhorses, and table saw slid on ready to go in about 1 min. and acted as tablesaw, cross cut table, and workbench.
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I've been meaning to send a drawing and description in to FHB to put in the Tips section.... what do they give if they use your idea? Anyways, this setup worked well for me for years using an old $100 Craftsman tablesaw. I never took a photo of it because I always intended getting a new saw and building a new version for the new saw out of mahogany or something fancy. Instead I got the Bosch 4000 with gravity rise stand and side/rear extensions. Sometimes I wish I had the old setup again.
DC
FHB gave me $150 for my stair-tread cutoff jig with the shooting boards at both ends. Not bad pay for a 10-minute email.So send it in!AitchKay
Agreed -
Forrest is king!
Forrest
I'm an EZSmart user from way back and love it for exactly the application you're describing. Yeah, you can cobble together all kinds of guides but you're still going to lack many of the EZ's features. For the price it's a cheap way to make your sheet good work in the new shop a lot safer, more accurate and enjoyable...
PaulB
http://www.makeabettertomorrow.com
http://www.finecontracting.com
I like my EZ but I used shooting boards for years with good success tooo. And if the saw and blade quality you have leaves something to be desired, you can precut an inch large and then recut on the TS for some things.
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The trouble with ripping plywood accurately with a circular saw is having the blade run parallel to the foot of the saw.
Toed in slightly and it frays the outcut. Toed out and it wants to run off the guide.
If you are only using the circular saw to make the plywood sheets smaller and more managable for the final cuts on the tablesaw this is not a problem.
If you want consistent accurate cuts you may want to consider a rear pivot circular saw. With a rear pivot, there is an adjustment to true the saw to the base.
Edited 5/31/2009 11:13 am by gordsco
a panel saw is what everybody needs. I thougth the same thing so I got HD to rip some plywoood to make block outs for concrete pour. Last time I do that. there was 3/4 inch off on some cuts. had to throw that wood away
I thought +/- 3/4" was normal tolerance for you gulf coast concrete dudes."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
i've always preferred a drop foot circ saw because they are off right out of the box when you get swing foot bases like most are now.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Cutting at full depth with a front pivot helps, but when the saw is set to say, 3/4" it wobbles on that skinny piece of metal the saw is balancing on.
With my rear pivot saw, the body of the saw does not wobble no matter what the depth of cut.
An old carpenter who mentored me in the 80's had a rear pivot 7 1/4" B&D Sawcat with a huge foot.( it also had a PITA stop on a dime electric brake, but thats another story) He would rip finished ply for kitchen cabinets 2 or sometimes 3 sheets at a time.
I remember trying the same thing on my own a with my good old Makita. I had less than favorable results. After cutting shelving out of 6 or so sheets I happened to look down my homemade plywood shooting board and saw the cut line was not straight anymore. Neither were the shelves.
I took me a while to clue in to what I was doing wrong.
makita is one of the worst there is for foot alignment
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That would explain a lot. I replaced my Makita with a rear pivot DW in 89?
Since then I've replacd the DW with the same model 3 times. Stack of 1" MDF landed on one of them, anothe stolen.
The DW364 has served me very well.
"makita is one of the worst there is for foot alignment".I still have the original startup-twist-your-arm-off Makita hypoid and it is VERY accurate. Replaced the foot once. I guess I just got lucky.
i'm not a west coast kind of guy - I use sidewinders
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I forgot about that right coast= sidewinder! Girly boys! :o)
Edited 6/1/2009 11:42 am by kenhill3
whatever holds yer socks up!
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I still have the original startup-twist-your-arm-off Makita hypoid
I have one of those jewels too. Jumps like a mule when it starts.
Joe H
I use a straightedge and circular saw to rough cut plywood, then the smaller sheets are capable of being handled on a table saw for a finish cut.
The straightedge is an aluminum extrusion with clamps. It's about 9 feet long. No brand is marked on it.
When I first started using the straightedge I got awful cuts with the circular saw. The cause was the saw base not being parallel to the blade as some else said they found. I bought a better quality circular saw and am careful to not whack it, and get cuts that are quite nice.
You need a good shooting board. Start with a good clear piece of maple, and have it jointed true. Screw a piece of tempered hardboard on to it, and trim the hardboard to the width of your saw by running the saw down it.
I happen to have a dedicated saw I use for breaking down sheet goods. But if you have a saw already that is true and square to the base you can use it. Problem with using the same saw you use for framing is that, the saws guys frame with tend to get knocked around quite a bit, and are rarely true. Cast bases tend to be truer out of the box, and are better about staying that way.
The secret to a clean cut is a good sharp blade. Lots of teeth, is pretty much mandatory.
I don't have a dedicated table. I use a sheet of 1-inch poly foam, on top of a work bench. If I'm out and away from the shop, an improvised table from a hollow core door on two saw horses, or any other horizontal flat spot works just fine. The foam typically last a year or two before it is cut up to the point, it doesn't give good support.
I cut with the best face down, and scribe the "top" along the edge of the shooting board with a marking knife, or sharp chisel, prior to the cut.
"You need a good shooting board. "
Oh, that reminds me of another device I made back when I was exclusively building onsite cabinetry....
I had shooting boards of various lengths for saw and router but one of my favorites was the shooting board I made out of a Clamp-N-Guide like this:
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I simply cut a couple pieces of 1/8" birch ply and screwed them to the guide from the bottom. One side was for the saw the other was for the router. It worked like a charm.
By the way, I think someone mentioned the saw getting knocked around and out of square. I always carried two saws (both in their cases which helps too) , one was tuned perfectly for trim work and the other was the knock about framing saw. Both saws were the same model Milwaukee Tilt-Loc sidewinder. On the trim version, I ground the edges of the base perfectly square and covered the bottom with anti-friction tape. The blade side of the base was a PERFECT 1-1/2" from the blade using a Diablo 60T thin-kerf finish blade. I really like the feel of the Tilt-Loc and having two means there was no adjustment period to remember the feel of a new saw when switching between framing and trimming.
DC
I like my DeWalt TrackSaw
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Maybe my approach is a bit unorthodox, but I've used it with some success:
I set up a "table" from sawhorses to hold the sheet at a comfortable height. My straightedge is longer than the sheet, and rides on long screws I've sunk into holes at the ends, and then into the horses.
I slide the sheet under the clamp, and adjust so that just the right amount protrudes. I usually set one side 'close,' clamp the straightedge down, then position the other side more precisely; then I return to the first edge, and set it precisely.
For the 4' dimension, the blade from a drywall square majes a good straightedge. For the 8' length, you need something stiffer, such as a steel channel or small I-Beam. (Angle irons don't work nearly as well).
Support of the cut edge is critical. On one side, you can run a 2x under the edge; for the 'scrap' side you might have to set up additional horses.
I suppose 9' long hotses would be nice for the long cuts, but I've never tried them. Maybe use TJI's for the long piece?
I've been using the EZ setup with a dediated PC saw for 4 years now. While I like it, I don't love it. When money begins to flow again I'll either 1. sell the EZ and get the Festool saw (exclusively for dust control) and guide or, my preference, buy a proper cabinet saw. You'll get good results with the EZ, but nothing like a good table saw. Not trying to start a flame war, this is just one man's opinion.
Last set of cabs I built using high grade birch ply I did rough cuts to knock the boards down to a managable size and made final cuts on the old bosch 4000 with a fabulous #### blade. Cutting twice is a PITA, but it gets me the precision I want.
That blade was a ####, wasn't it?Mat-soo-shee-tuh.
cripes, don't know why it blurbed it.
The brand of blade is Mat-su-"sounds like sheet"-a.
Bradg,
Get yourself a dust shield and you have the best dust collection.
If you use the guide to cut twice you're wasting time.
You can use the Cabinetmaker /repeaters and cut to final size.
Or, you can build yourself a cutting table with the ez bridge and turn your guide into a portable beam saw.
Few ideas?
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=68440
david.
I know you want to use a circular saw, but here's an idea that takes an extra step but works beautifully... we used it in the shipyard where we couldn't bring a tablesaw into the yachts...duh
Make your cut about 1/8" to 1/4" oversize... You can even use a jigsaw at this point. do it free hand or by eye next to your line.
NOW setup you straightedge to the line, offset as needed. Use a small router or trimmer with a straight template bit mounted. The bearing runs along your straightedge. The cut will be clean and square along the entire edge.
It works!
Dino sells a baseplate for routers that rides on his straightedge. Works great, especially for dados or grooves."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
There's an interesting discussion on DIY tracks saws over at JLC.
http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48134