Cutting Sheet Goods -

Hey all-
Project coming up were I will need to cut lots of sheets goods and was wondering what everyone else does? Right now, I usually rough cut using a circular saw & guide and then finish cut on the table saw if the piece is small enough. Every now and then I will cut them on my table saw, but my shop is not big enough to do this on a regular basis (7' ceilings, etc.). I am thinking about pulling the trigger on a festool setup. Sure would be nice, but ouch the price is a little high. Other ideas?

Sure would be nice to find something that is as fast and easy to use as a table saw....maybe I just need to invest some time into creating large infeed and outfeed tables.


Doug,

I bought the Festool TS55/vac setup 5 years ago and have never looked back. I use it to make finished cuts on sheet goods with excellent results. Lot easier on the back than wrestling the ply ont table saw etc. I recently built a set of parallel guides for the saw that makes repeat cuts a breeze!

Jack
 
Here are the important tools:

attachment.php


The measuring systm is millimeters. A calculator and the number 24.5 to remember. The yard sticks came from Harbor Freight. They are amazingly accurate with each other and with the tape on my table saw. The ruler stop is shop made with a nylon thumbscrew that doesn't mess up the yard sticks. I noticed that Lee Valley had some fancy powder coated aluminum stops with brass thumb screws for $15 a pop. Maybe later. NOT! The aluminum track is something I had extruded and sold in various lengthes in the late '90's. Took it on the show circuit with me. About a year after I did that in New Jersey, a guy came out with his own system. That's what happens went you do not have the money to market the crap out of your product. Getting it patented would have been a waste of money. Not much of change leaves you with no legal standing even if you had the money. Save that soap box for another time. :( I now use the smallest vise grips HF makes to clamp the track to the sheeet goods..

A shoe is made for your saw base. You need to know the distance from the inside of the blade to the edge of the track.

attachment.php


Measure this carefully and make a gauge. I used a strip of 1/4" plywood and my number is 54 mm. If you changed saws and or blades you would have to do this over everytime you wanted to use this system. I have an inexpensive Skil saw with a Tenyru blade great for cutting sheet goods.

Set the ruler stop at your desired dimension. I set it at 8 inches. If I really wanted 8", I'd convert it to millimeters, in this case multiplying 8 by 25.4 or 203 mm and set the stop at 203 mm. Lay the gauge against the track and butt the assembly against the end of the ruler. I use the yellow clamp to hold the ruler stop snuggly against the edge of the ply. Clamp the track.

attachment.php


Repeat on the other end. Set the clamp aside and check each end of the clamped track and adjust until you are happy that each end is perfect. Now remove the gauge and readjust the stop without thes gauge in the relationship. I don't use the yellow clamp for subsequent set ups either. Now you can setup repeatable cuts with two less items to juggle. Notice the guage says the saw kerf is not included in the 54 mm. In this example we are trying to cut off exactly 8". The saw kerf equals 2 mm. So adjust the stop 2 more mm out. Now the stop should be at 203 + 54 + 2 or 257 mm.

attachment.php


Adjust the blade depth. Drop the saw in the track. Take a nick cut. Set the saw aside. Take the ruler and check that the nick is the very end of the ruler. Adjust the stop or track as needed. Make the cut. The cut off should be exactly 8" or 203 mm. For subsequent cuts just clamp the track with the stopped ruler and you are good to go. No more measurements. i can stack multiple cuts and find the widths are finger flush from top to bottom.

attachment.php


attachment.php


I don't need to comment on track systems or racks to cut on. Plenty said there. Whatever floats your boat.

Hope that works for you, Brent. I'd really like to make a trip north to visit. Maybe in May. I could toss the rig in the car, if you like.
 

Attachments

  • tools.JPG
    tools.JPG
    38.1 KB · Views: 121
  • saw blade to shoe relationship.JPG
    saw blade to shoe relationship.JPG
    41.8 KB · Views: 121
  • ruler stop gauge relationship.JPG
    ruler stop gauge relationship.JPG
    27.3 KB · Views: 121
  • ruler gstop without gauge relationship.JPG
    ruler gstop without gauge relationship.JPG
    32.8 KB · Views: 122
  • setting other end.JPG
    setting other end.JPG
    30.5 KB · Views: 122
  • saw in track.JPG
    saw in track.JPG
    33.8 KB · Views: 122
Last edited by a moderator:
Now that's a pair of pretty clever jigs. Would work for the home built jigs and the track saws as far as I can tell.

I like to avoid measuring when ever I can, well , maybe measure once and be able to repeat over and over...

Looks like this would be just the trick!

Thanks so much Carol! I'm definitely going to put together a little something like this. :thumb:
 
I think I fixed them for you. I really need to put together tutorial on the new attachment's and picture posting options.

Let me know if I messed up the order or anything.

Suffice to say, In the past, using the paper clip was the way to do it, now, you can just use the little picture frame icon. You can upload directly from there...

icons.jpg
 
There is more, Brent, if you want dead square too. Gotta invest in a 24" drafting triangle and a straight board, though. And I 'handle' sheet goods with a hoist, a special sling I had sown up, and a web strap. And then there is the panel dolly for getting them from point A to point B. Gotta get clever when you get older and aren't as strong any more. Crafty cunningness always trumps youth, brute strength, and inexperience. :D
 
Last edited:
Carol I like your ruler stop. Nice job. I think that maybe the key I am looking for. Like others on here I have a guide that I built and use with a fair amount of accuracy, but as Brent mentioned repeatably is suspect. Trying to get the cuts perfect on 5 panels is almost impossible. About the third panel I would get sloppy with my mark or maybe not keep the saw perfectly up against the guide. I am thinking with an attached track saw and your guide I will see some improvements in cut quality and speed.

Thanks all for the input.
 
The secret, Doug, is measure only once. Prove the measurement for accuracy and then lock the setting for subsequent cuts. Easy peasy. I can cut with less than a quarter of a millimeter discrepancy all day long. Good enough for me.
 
Cutting Sheet Goods Magic Number is 25.4

Just a heads up for those who want to try this and missed the correction. The multiplier to convert inches to millimeters is 25.4. The conversion is highly recommended to make the math much easier.
 
No. I use fractional, millimeters (not the whole metric system), and decimal systems interchangably. However, I find millimeters allow me greater accuracy and less hassle. Here is my thinking. I find that when talking to customers, I need to use fractional because that is what they understand. If I am drilling holes, I need fractional because that is how drill bits are sized. If I need to do math with the numbers, then I want whole numbers and millimeters is the way to go. Drill bits can also drive me to decimals. So, no, I can't see an entire switch over. Impractical. I use what works best under the circumstances; fractional for customers, decimal or fractional for tooling, and milimeters for math and accuracy. My 2 cents.
 
I use my tablesaw for the most part even with the 7 foot ceilings. I do have a festool that I use for tricky cuts and special cuts ie. odd angles and such. Having invested in a festool and I have no regrets but I could just as easily built a track with 1/4" ply mounted to a piece of 3/4 stock then run my saw against the 3/4 stock cutting the 1/4 ply to the inside of the sawblade thus giving me an exact line to set the fence to. If you are rough cutting the sheets to make them easier to handle this is a great way to work then do your final sizing on the table saw. Do you have a sliding table for your table saw? that is a very worthwhile investment if you have the room and the budget. Mine has pretty much replaced using my chop saw in the shop and I use it to cross cut ply as well.
 
I've been considering making a zero clearance plate for my circular saw too. Kind of like this...

http://woodworking.phruksawan.com/zctpForCircularSaw/index.html

This is an excellent article. I have not tried it however. I wonder if we shouldn't archive it.

I have a guide that Glenn and I made using Glenn's technique. It cuts right to the mark. It is VERY easy to make and is easy to use. However, it does not have zero clearance capabilities. I have a Glenn version guide that works fine with my 4 1/2 inch circle saw.

I used a piece of floor laminate for the base. This works great.

My Makita circle saw gave me trouble originally. It would bind after cutting 16 - 18 inches. The base was out of alignment with the blade and there was no way to adjust it. I took it to the Makita service center. They got a new base and installed it. I got my saw back three weeks later. I still had the same problem except that now I could saw a couple feet before the saw blade and the guide did battle with each other.

By the way, I replaced the original blade with a more expensive blade when the problem showed up with the new saw. It did not matter I had the same results. The saw is OK if I am not using a fence with it.

One time when Glenn was down he filed the "guide edge" (that is my term) so the saw would run true. I think for $100 plus the Makita should have done better than a $28 Sear's. I do use the Makita, however I am always leery. If someone offered me $40 for it, I would take it in a second and go buy a saw with an adjustable base.

Please understand, the above is a sample of one. That does not mean that all Makita saws are that way. However, it has made me "Makita Leery." I don't like to be that way.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
Last edited:
this may be it brent,,,
LINK

Larry,

I would be leery with this arrangement after my problems with the Makita. A person would have to get that fence really, really, really accurately aligned to avoid trouble. The Makita fence was off so little that Glenn was able to make it work by filing off almost no material, on a taper on the fence. I just do not see a person making different width of cuts taking the time necessary to get the fence really true to the base each time.

As my wife's brother would say, "That's one dang fool's opinion." To be truthful, because using quotes implies an accurate duplication of the message, the middle word was spelled a bit differently. (Mods, if you don't like the last three lines, delete them. No need to ask.)

Enjoy,

JimB
 
I have to admit, It was a little tricky to align.

I do have one of those Kreg Ripcuts on pre-order. It's similar, but looks better engineered than mine. It should ship 4/1, so once I get it and have a chance to review it I'll let you know!
 
I have a guide that Glenn and I made using Glenn's technique. It cuts right to the mark. It is VERY easy to make and is easy to use. However, it does not have zero clearance capabilities. TO PREVENT TEAROUT make an initial cut down the cut line with a razor knife. This severs the fibers so they do not get pulled up and torn when the saw cut is made. The result is a clean cut.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
Top