O.T. for welding forum, router/circular saw guide rail

[Browser]

Sorry this is woodworkery, but I figured that someone one here'd have/have built one of these.
I've terrible at cutting straight with a circular saw or router without guide rails, and whilst I have a suitable length of extruded aluminium and clamps, it's a righ faff getting it clamped square. Then half the time the bloody tool still wanders off a little! So, does anyone own one of the commercially available systems or have made theri own and if so, how well do they work please?

 

[711jrp]

I had a Festool TS55 (was nicked) was designed by the hand of god....

 

[rikrobson]

Plunge saws like the Festool TS55 have an integral rail, so don't wonder as long as the rail is clamped.

You can get a clamp with an arm on a protrcator to guide the saw, but you still to either clamp a rail or guide the saw correctly.

 

[Mick B]

Browser, I have been a carpenter all my life and only ever use an aluminium straight edge clamped to the material I am cutting. I guess it's easy for me to say, but I think you need to just hold the saw nice and firm without trying to hold it HARD and PUSH it into the guide you are using. Relax your grip a bit and after a while you can sort of feel what the saw is doing. Just make sure that the base plate is nice and parallel to the blade before starting. Sometimes if the saw has been dropped or banged the base plate can be a bit off and that makes it very hard to follow any straight edge. When I have to do some joinery work I like to have the pieces perfectly straight and within .5 mm. Yes Festool do make a nice gadget that would help you out if you feel uneasy.

 

[711jrp]

No need to clamp on most surfaces with the festool system, not sure how they do it to be honest but the rail doesn't move. When you look at the bottom there isn't anything special just some rubber strip, another good point is there is no calculation for blade width, the edge of the rail is the edge of the cut. They really are a great bit of kit and I will be replacing mine as soon as funds allow, have a search over on youtube there are some very informative videos

Just to clarify this isn't a answer to Micks post as that wasn't up when I wrote this and I agree with what he had to say.

 

[Maker]

I think DeWalt make a plunge saw too, probably a bit cheaper than Festool.
You could make a new base plate for a normal circular saw to fit onto a rail of your choice quite easily (Assuming you have a milling machine).

 

[HughF]

I have a dewalt 18v cordless track saw and the track that goes with. Best thing I ever purchased... The Scheppach system gets good reviews and is cheap.

 

[Parm]

Browser, I have been a carpenter all my life and only ever use an aluminium straight edge clamped to the material I am cutting. I guess it's easy for me to say, but I think you need to just hold the saw nice and firm without trying to hold it HARD and PUSH it into the guide you are using. Relax your grip a bit and after a while you can sort of feel what the saw is doing. Just make sure that the base plate is nice and parallel to the blade before starting. Sometimes if the saw has been dropped or banged the base plate can be a bit off and that makes it very hard to follow any straight edge. When I have to do some joinery work I like to have the pieces perfectly straight and within .5 mm. Yes Festool do make a nice gadget that would help you out if you feel uneasy.

Good advice there, the fancy jigs sometimes make it look all too easy !! Getting a feel for how your tools work and respond is very very important

 

[striker]

I have the makita plunge/track saw. Absaloutly brilliant..more accurate than my table saw was because you dont have to wrestle with 8×4 sheets trying to keep parallel to the fence.
I have been using it this week to cut 2mm aluminium 5 bar tread plate..with the appropriate blade...again brilliant. I can't imagine being without it now.

 

[HughF]

I've done 12mm aluminium with my cordless one!

 

[ford34/2]

One big secret is if you are cutting say 1/2" ply the blade needs to be set to protude 9/16 or 5/8". Ive regularly seen people trying to cut sheet stuff with a circ saw (ripsnorter) maybe a 71/4" or a 9" and the blade is cutting at its full depth. No different if its a bench circ saw, The fence should clear the back of the riving knife/saw blade, it helps stops the timber binding and the blade should just cut through the thickness of the timber. When you have time, check and double check the machine you are using, which ever edge of the base you use to run against the guide, the blade MUST be parallel to it, these saws are not mega robust and get regular knocks, if the blade and the edge of the base are not parallel you on a no winner straight away. Clamp a good straight edge to the blade the measure to the edge of the base, very accurately-- it solves 9 out of 10 problems . Another problem often the riving knife is missing, or it is too thick for the thickness of the saw blade. make sure its not sticking too far out from the blade. Just double check everything even making sure the table has no twists in its base and the blade is set to 90 degrees and is SHARP. And the spring loaded guard works properly. Set up properly will give you hours upon hours of pleasurable cutting, set up twisted and out of parallel will frustrate you with every cut you make. Any good straight edge will do, wide enough to clamp to the sheet and not foul the motor on the way past, One of my favourites was 1/2" MDF. Remember the blade is cutting up over, not down like bench saw so make allowances if you want a chip free finish.

Stan

 

[Turbo]

I have one of those parkside circular saws with a laser line marker on it from lidl. I know what people say, cheap nasty tools, but tbh it's quite good and more than adequate for the average diy'er. The laser is a good aid to cutting straight though imho they've set it up on the wrong side of the line to allow for blade width. But once you get used to it you can cut reasonably straight.

 

[Mick B]

At last, a thread where I finally know what I am talking about .

A few good points here, like keeping the blade just deep enough to cut through plus about 1/8" inch. It's no use having the blade down as deep as it will go. All that does is make bigger splinters as the front of the blade comes up through the timber, it may also heat the blade up and you will cut through all your saw stools ! if the blade hasn't got enough set on the teeth, that will certainly heat it up and then it will distort / buckle and then you cannot follow any line or straight edge. I usually buy a pack of 3 thin blades now every time I need some. They are cheaper than buying them one at a time and as they loose their edge they go to the bottom of the pile and get used for the rough stuff ............. not that I'm rough mind you !!! It's amazing how much better a new blade will cut.

 

[Browser]

Thanks for all of the replies gents, looking at my circ saw (Black and Decker) it appears to have an odd or at least less common-sized blade (170mm diameter, 16mm bore) for which there seems to be a smaller range of blades available. I think I'll save me pennies up and get a new (to me) machine which takes a blades size which gives me a better choice of blades I've seen a D.I.Y. saw guide-making plan here http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/a3602/4283497/ think I might give it a go as it's cheap and simple, just to see if it helps

 

[rikrobson]

you could check the runout of the blade and the straightness of the alignment of the blade to the sole plate.

you will be cutting to the sole plate. if the blade is out of alignment the saw will want to wander off the line.