How to cut straight with a circular saw

[OhhWatALoser]

I had to build myself another one of these, so I took pictures along the way. Track saw are no doubt a better option, but are expensive. This is an alternative to just clamping a straight edge to your piece and measuring how far away your blade is from the guide. not having a visual made me make a lot of mistakes of cutting on the wrong side of the line, this jig solved my problem. All it is, is a straight edge for your circular saw to ride along that is easy to set up. Circular saw is a very cheap tool to pick up off of craigslist, buy a new blade and it alone can serve all your rack cutting needs. If you don't own a table saw, this jig might do the job. If you own a table saw, this can still be useful for making the first couple cuts on 4 x 8 sheets.

First you need a straight piece of wood, I use the pine 1x2s as you can normally find one that is straight. Then you need a scrap piece of wood, id say for most saws you need it to be at least 3-4 inches wide, but more is fine. length of the wood is completely up to you, personally I like having one that is 8 foot and one that is 4 foot for cutting 4 x 8 sheets. This one I am making today is a little over 4 foot, which is fine. I found a scrap piece of wood that was 6 inches wide so that's what I'm using. some glue, few 1 inch screws, drill, couple clamps, bout all you need.



the bottom piece needs to be as wide as the straight piece of wood + the edge of your blades guard to the blade. I am using 1 x 2 (which is actually 1 1/2 wide and my blade to blade guard is 1 1/2, so I need atleast a 3 inch wide piece. so my 6 inch scrap piece will work just fine.

This is me checking straightness of the wood against something I know is straight, such as my 4 x 8 sheet. I did this in the store to pick this piece of wood out.


I counter sinked a few holes, which is optional, I would however recommend pre drilling some holes at least to prevent splitting wood. Then glue the straight board onto the bottom board, couple spring clamps hold it in place while I screw the board down.


then clamp your piece down so your circular saw can cut the bottom piece. I used my table saw to clamp to but you could just as easily clamp it overhanging any edge, like a 4 x 8 sheet.


cut the bottom piece, using the straight piece as your guide


and now we have an awesome jig


example usage: I want a 12 inch piece of plastic from this 4 x 8 sheet.
clamp the jig at 12 1/8 inches away from the edge on each end. Reason being I want a 12 inch piece and the blade is 1/8 thick. the jig shows you exactly where your personal circular saw will cut.


I found it helpful to have a piece of scrap ride under the guard to keep the saw straight up and down. However normally I just free hand it and it comes out fine, just giving you options.


close enough for me


What I like about this jig, is it shows you exactly where your saw will cut and screwing the two pieces together tends to make the straight piece actually stay straight for years of use. opposed to just measuring off your cut line and clamping a straight edge for your saw to ride along. Hopefully this helps someone out.