Circular Saw Guides
 

Anyone had a chance to use them? Which one would you recommend? I am
partially blind and a newbie at wood working and would appreciate your
feedback. Working without one is out of the question for the obvious reason.

Regards



Guy Castonguay

Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada

Hi Guy,
The one I like the best is home made. I bought a piece of 1" square aluminium
tubing at Rona and attached it to the centre of a piece of 1/4" plywood which
was about 14" to start. I than ran the saw down the side of the tube against the
saw's foot to cut the plywood to the exact distance from blade to side of foot.
To use the guide, line up the cut edge with the line you want to cut, clamp in
place and cut. Hope this helps. Cheers, JG

Guy Castonguay wrote:

Anyone had a chance to use them? Which one would you recommend? I am
partially blind and a newbie at wood working and would appreciate your
feedback. Working without one is out of the question for the obvious reason.

Regards



Guy Castonguay

Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada

Not sure of the name of it, but I borrowed one from a friend that was
fantastic. It has a flush, sliding clamp system built into it, so you
don't have to mess with C-clamps.

I've looked for one for myself, but it's not available at the big
shops. He says he got it at a retail woodworking supply store (I can't
find the name of the store or the product). They come in several
different lengths and are well worth the money in my opinion.

Best commercial cutting guide Iknow of:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,240,45313
Can be used shortened, or at its full 100" length.

Be warned. It is NOT cheap.

Rockler makes one that is similar to what you describe. I've got
one--not the Rockler--out in the shop, which is probably the one you
describe. I use it, but don't like it much. Hard to clamp with the
small levers if you really want to pull it up tight. And it was not
cheap. It's only a 50".

I suspect these:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...864969-7467329

Squanklin wrote:

Not sure of the name of it, but I borrowed one from a friend that was
fantastic. It has a flush, sliding clamp system built into it, so you
don't have to mess with C-clamps.

I've looked for one for myself, but it's not available at the big
shops. He says he got it at a retail woodworking supply store (I can't
find the name of the store or the product). They come in several
different lengths and are well worth the money in my opinion.

Pat's link to the Griset guides look to be the product I was trying to
describe above. Thanks!

I've never found anything that works better than a sawboard and a
circular saw with a good blade on it. Check out this link:

http://members.aol.com/woodmiser1/sawbd.htm

"Guy Castonguay" wrote in message
...
Anyone had a chance to use them? Which one would you recommend? I am
partially blind and a newbie at wood working and would appreciate your
feedback. Working without one is out of the question for the obvious
reason.

Regards

Guy Castonguay

I have three pieces of 1" by 2" steel tube I bought at a metal supply house.
One is 30", one is 50" and one is 100" long.
I clamp them to the plywood (or other sheet material) with quick grip
clamps.
From the edge of the guide to the saw blade is 1 and 7/16 inches. (that's
from the edge of the shoe to the blade) I just measure accordingly.
My son uses the same method but he bought aluminum instead of steel. It's
even better...... lighter. But it cost quite a bit more!!

Max

Guy Castonguay wrote:
Anyone had a chance to use them? Which one would you recommend? I am
partially blind and a newbie at wood working and would appreciate your
feedback. Working without one is out of the question for the obvious reason.


Regards



Guy Castonguay

Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada


You've got a lot of replies. Personally I would
go with the saw board. I have one of the aluminum
saw guides and it works ok, but you have to figure
out the distance to clamp it to saw on a line. It
works ok, but the clamps are a bit weak. I plan
on making a saw board as I have to cut a bunch of
doors to width. And I suggest that you make your
own. Lots of instructions, but basically you
start with a 4x8 sheet of good 1/2 plywood. The
manufactured edge will be straight so you cut off
a 2-3" strip (doesn't have to be a real straight
cut, which will form the basis for your straight
edge. You will still have an 8' x 30" (or more)
piece of plywood to make another 8' saw board
which you can cut into a 3' and a 5' piece. So
now you have 8', 5', and 3' saw board for the
price of sheet of 1/2 plywood and far handier than
an aluminum guide and you set edge directly on the
line to cut. If you don't quite understand
someone here will send you to a site that gives
detailed instructions.

Clamping guides made by TREND. Available in various lengths. I have 2 --
a 3 foot and a 5 foot. Excellent but VERY expensive.

Malcolm Webb

Hi JGS,

I have a 96 inch piece of Aluminum angle (2 inch x 2 inch)
that I would like to use as a sawboard guide. How exactly did
you attach your metal tubing to the 1/4 inch ply? I was
thinking of epoxy/bolts or something, but the 1/4 inch
seems a bit thin to do this right.

Maybe 1/2 inch would be better?

How did you do yours?

Thanks!

Lou

P.S.

I glued an oak strip to 1/4 inch ply and that's what I
am currently using. Would like to "upgrade" to something
better/heftier.



In article , JGS
wrote:

Hi Guy,
The one I like the best is home made. I bought a piece of 1" square aluminium
tubing at Rona and attached it to the centre of a piece of 1/4" plywood which
was about 14" to start. I than ran the saw down the side of the tube against
the
saw's foot to cut the plywood to the exact distance from blade to side of
foot.
To use the guide, line up the cut edge with the line you want to cut, clamp in
place and cut. Hope this helps. Cheers, JG

Guy Castonguay wrote:

Anyone had a chance to use them? Which one would you recommend? I am
partially blind and a newbie at wood working and would appreciate your
feedback. Working without one is out of the question for the obvious reason.

Regards



Guy Castonguay

Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada

Hi Lou,
I used screws. They look to be #6 about every foot. It has worked well for 5 years
with a lot of use. With my saw, to get most of the foot to ride on the plywood the
motor rides over the aluminium tubing. This limits me to cutting 3/4" max otherwise
the motor hits the tubing. You might want to check yours before using two inch
tube. Cheers, JG

loutent wrote:

Hi JGS,

I have a 96 inch piece of Aluminum angle (2 inch x 2 inch)
that I would like to use as a sawboard guide. How exactly did
you attach your metal tubing to the 1/4 inch ply? I was
thinking of epoxy/bolts or something, but the 1/4 inch
seems a bit thin to do this right.

Maybe 1/2 inch would be better?

How did you do yours?

Thanks!

Lou

P.S.

I glued an oak strip to 1/4 inch ply and that's what I
am currently using. Would like to "upgrade" to something
better/heftier.

In article , JGS
wrote:

Hi Guy,
The one I like the best is home made. I bought a piece of 1" square aluminium
tubing at Rona and attached it to the centre of a piece of 1/4" plywood which
was about 14" to start. I than ran the saw down the side of the tube against
the
saw's foot to cut the plywood to the exact distance from blade to side of
foot.
To use the guide, line up the cut edge with the line you want to cut, clamp in
place and cut. Hope this helps. Cheers, JG

Guy Castonguay wrote:

Anyone had a chance to use them? Which one would you recommend? I am
partially blind and a newbie at wood working and would appreciate your
feedback. Working without one is out of the question for the obvious reason.

Regards



Guy Castonguay

Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada