Cutting Straight Lines!

[Rich P]

Obviously cutting a curved line I use a jigsaw, but i'm curious what those of you who don't have expensive table or band saws use to cut straight lines...? I tend to use a jigsaw and make a cutting guide for it, but the blade sometimes wanders even with good quality ones...
I'm wondering if a circular saw is a good investment, they seem a lot of hassle to use!

[bcooke]

Circular saw = no hassle.

I couldn't work on my boat without it.

A fence that attaches to the saw can be nice sometimes to cut a straight line.

Jigsaws (saber saws) are impossible to cut a truly straight line with. The flexible blade wanders too much. But then they are designed to cut curves and the flexible blades do that quite well.

[barrybrown]

Rich, a circular saw can cut as straight as a table saw with a little care either by using a fence or clamping a straight edge to the material to be cut offset for the base of the saw and using a blade appropriate for the material. Definitely a good investment if you have a lot of cutting to do. Barry

[Oscar]

If a 7-1/4" is more than you want to muscle around look into the smaller rechargeables.

[Bluenose]

I am pretty new to woodworking and power tools in general so take my opinion for what it is worth, much less than two cents. That said, I replacee my old worn our Bosch 18V rechargeable circular saw with a Festool TS 55 plunge cut circular saw and guide rail. It is a pretty sweet setup. If you can lay the guide rail down you can cut a straight line pretty much anywhere.



But, and you probably new this was coming, Festool is Fien Multimaster type expensive. Strike that, they make Fein seem reasonable. But the quality is outstanding and it is a well thought out system.

Bill

[Rich P]

Well what put me off is we have 2 circular saws in the house, 1 cheap black and decker one that left the wood where it cut it a splintered mess! And the other (cheap) one is so heavy that its a real pain to use!

I may have to invest in a Bocsh or Skill!

[Chris Campbell]

I have a cheap Black and Decker that I sometimes curse and wish for a better saw - but in it's favour I do have to say that it cut the cabin top of my boat into 1" squares without complaining. So I'm not sure it's the saw that's to blame for my grumping at it after all. The quality of the blade you use will make more difference than the saw, I think - not enough to turn a B&D into a Fesstool, mind you, but it'll make a big difference.

[Rich P]

Got myself a nice Bosch one today, £80 so a fairly large hit to my bank balance!
I was tempted by the Skill one, but the Bosch came with some carbide tipped blades already and felt a little lighter but still solidly built.

Also as i have a bosch angle grinder, drill, sander etc, may as well continue the family! :)

[Quetzalsailor]

Decent quality, sharp blades make most of the difference. Get to know your local sharpener. Buy toothy carbide blades (all the teeth you can afford).

Any wide, 8" +, straight piece of plywood will do for a straight edge. Clamps and a better brain for addition than mine, to figure the offset between table edge and blade, is all you need for reasonably decent work. Alternatively, make a stepped edge guide so that the saw rides on one piece of plywood and is guided by the other, upper piece. The lower is arranged to be lined up with the cut thus cutting out the addition. Of course, not quite as good and lots more trouble than a table or even radial arm saw.

I've got two, identical Craftsman 2 1/8 hp radial saws (one bought for $5 at a yard sale); one's got a nice new blade, and only gets used on Sundays. The other has the nail cutter. I once bought a $24 all-plastic Black and Decker when I discoverd that a $100 diamond tile-cutting blade would not last more than 50 brick. The B&D, with a masonry cutoff wheel, did 100s before the bearings failed in the dust only a week or so later. I took it back to the same discount store and got a replacement for free and finished the job. Clearly the right tool for the job!

Dull blades usually mean damage to the teeth, often more to one side than the other. These will run hotter and it does not take much heat to cup a cheap blade which makes a radius cut very easy (if you like that radius) and all other cuts hard.

[kendall]

Well what put me off is we have 2 circular saws in the house, 1 cheap black and decker one that left the wood where it cut it a splintered mess! And the other (cheap) one is so heavy that its a real pain to use!

I may have to invest in a Bocsh or Skill!

One way to make the saw cut better is to make a zero clearance shoe for it, simply fasten a sheet of wood or plastic (delrin is great, plexi works) to the shoe with the saw lifted as high as you can, then plunge cut the slot for the blade. Same as for a tablesaw when you don't want to splinter the wood.
The best saw in my opinion is the OLD style left blade porter cable. The new 7 1/4 ones are useless. But they still make the six inch saw boss which is identical to the old PC saws.

Also, especially if the saw cuts decently following a line freehand, but tears out when using a guide, check to make sure the sole and blade are aligned.(normally shows up as tearout on one side of the cut line where the rear of the blade is trying to 'shave' the wood) A common issue with stamped soles (vs cast aluminum) is that a minor drop or simply setting the saw down hard can twist the sole and throw the blade out of alignment resulting in as lot of useable saws getting stuck on a shelf or thrown in the trash because they don't cut well.
I personally don't use black and decker simply because I use my saws at work all day long, but they do make a nice sturdy saw that's grea for home-owner/hobbiest work

Ken.

[bcooke]

Decent quality, sharp blades make most of the difference.

Exactly.

Got myself a nice Bosch one today, £80 so a fairly large hit to my bank balance!

I hope you are not in for a rude awakening. Its only going to get worse; much, much worse.

I like my Porter Cable a lot but its a few years old now. I don't know if the quality is still there. I also tried the $100 Forrest blades for the circular saw. They are awesome and worth every penny. Don't waste them on fiberglass though.

[Rich P]

Trust me I'm beyond the rude awakening stage! I'm at the resigned 'Why didn't i buy one in good condition to start with!' stage! I've spent far more than I will ever recoup! Probably at least £500 on tools if not more!

[Oscar]

I like my Porter Cable a lot but its a few years old now. I don't know if the quality is still there.

My Porter Cable belt sander is making nasty bearing noises well before the point that I think it should.......

[One Way David]

My brother gave me the Ryobi (drill, sawzall, circular, and light and enough batteries that I can work all day and charge all night and never sleep) tool pack and I love it. The mini circular saw is light weight and powerful. Ryobi has promised to not change the battery so that the tools will be useable until they wear out. I don't think any of the other companies do that.

I'm still using a B & D 25 year old plug in that I've dropped off the roof twice. It just won't die.

Ditto on the blade makes the cut quality.

Dave

[Rich P]

Cheers for the feedback guys!

I used the Bosch today, after a few scraps to get to grips.... AMAZING!
So much better than those other saws I had, perfectly straight lines, cut slightly over size and then an electric planer takes it straight down to the required size!

Awesome!

[Zach]

As far as straight lines go... I like to use a piece of aluminum 8 feet long, and four inches wide. Somewhere around an 1/8th inch thick.

It's a straight enough straight edge for most everything I need, and long enough to do a sheet of plywood. If you have clamps that are short enough for the motor to pass over, it'll cut either direction.

The easiest way to do the measuring is a combination square laid on the work side of the blade, with the rule extending to the scrap side. Measure to the edge of the sole. Read off how much you have to add... That's the clearance and kerf included, so long as you pick a tooth thats offset out towards the square.

(Actually the easiest way is to take a piece of scrap, clamp it... cut it... and measure what ya got, but that'd be uncouth. Grin.)

If its not a tight tolerance piece, (IE you are making a cut with a framing blade... grin) or is about to get run through a band saw... Mark the piece in whatever width intervals, and lay down your square on the mark on the piece with the rule pointing towards the scrap, mark where the end hits. Go to the other end and do it again... No measuring required... Clamp your guide and cut. After you use your saw a bunch, you'll know how much to add to get it the first time.

High speed for a billion pieces... make a few blocks that are the same width as the edge of the sole to the blade plus your kerf... Drop em on your lines, clamp and keep on going.

Just remember that if you change your saw blade... your kerf changes...