Need a good way to break down sheet goods

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi folks!
Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope youre getting in a bit of shop time (or soon will)!

I found a gap in my tool set, or maybe just my SKILL set, yesterday. If you know a good answer, can you please help? Im looking for an affordable tool (less than $200-300), a jig or a technique that will let me break down plywood into SQUARE pieces.

I have an ancient contractor saw with a 52" fence. But that wont help when the plywood is (or gets) out of square. I have a good crosscut sled but its only 16" deep. I have an old circular saw but I dont trust my eyeballs to cut perfectly straight. A havent tried a fence or guide for that circ saw yet, but Im a bit skeptical I can get a good square cut - do they work? What brand works well?

Id like to be able to cut up to at least 48". How do you do this job?

Many thanks, and again, a very Merry Christmas!
Fred

[Matt Meiser]

I finally found a way but I'm at well north of 5x your budget. My methodology:

1) Only full sheet move--move the sheet onto a shop-made cutting grid set up on sawhorses.
2) Straight line rip one edge of the sheet with the Festool saw and a long rail.
3) Attach parallel guides (aftemarket, not Festool--blech!) to the rail and accurately rip to width.
4) Take the narrower strips over to the Festool MFT and square an end.
5) Crosscut to length at the MFT.

I can now very quickly and very consistently process my sheet goods with minimal handling of heavy full sheets. I built all the upper boxes for my kitchen in one Saturday using this method and that was the first time with the MFT.

I've tried crosscut sleds but the large pieces are a pain. I've tried squaring a rail perpendicular to a fresh edge but have had numerous problems with getting it slightly out of square and cascade effects from there. The MFT was the real breakthrough.

You could probably adapt many of these techniques to shop-made jigs and a common circular saw. With a homemade zero clearance base and a decent blade should should be able to get reasonably decent cuts.

[Sam Murdoch]

The easy answer is a track saw but your budget suggests that you should update your circular saw and look into one of these (or similar) guide rails - http://www.rockler.com/woodworking/Circular-Saw-Guide

Of course you can make up your own saw guide with different sized rips of 1/2" ply. I start with an 8" or 10" rip, screw a 3" rip (the fence) to the top and to one edge of the first piece and then run the circular saw along the fence with the intended saw blade over the overhang side of the sub ply. Your first cut will give you an accurate cut line for all subsequent cuts (until you change out the blade). If you make one of these at 96" and some shorter ones say - 58" and 42" - you will have a good collection of straight edges for guiding your saw. You will also need clamps and a good square. Often the first cuts will get your pieces small enough to handle comfortably on the table saw. With your TS fence properly aligned and a proper hold down and push technique you should be able to get repeatable square cuts.

Perhaps you know but just in case - never trust a plywood factory edge as straight. You should always rip a new straight edge whether for the rip or the cross cut. This new edge is the basis for your square cuts.

[Rich Engelhardt]

If you know a good answer, can you please help? Im looking for an affordable tool (less than $200-300), a jig or a technique that will let me break down plywood into SQUARE pieces.

The Grizzly track saw is in that price range & it's gotten some pretty good reviews here.

As far as making square cuts goes - even with the Festool TS55EQ I have, you have to get square and stay square to make square cuts.
By that I mean, if I do my part and make sure my cuts are square, the saw does it's part. If I get sloppy or rush something, the saw still does it's part - and makes a nice perfectly straight splinter free cut that's - out of square....along with the rest of the cuts I make that use that edge as a reference.

[glenn bradley]

Any guided circ-saw is only as accurate as the placement of the guides so, you need to have a method for that no matter how simple or involved the Guided Circular Saw system is. If you are going to do a lot of large sheetgoods work, you need to tool up for it; large infeed/outfeed and side support surfaces, etc. If it is occasional, as in my case, I fake it.

Something like this can do the job or, you can spend more. If you head down the high end GCS path, I advise you not to try any half measures. In things like this I either go simple or go high quality. If I go simple I realize there are limitations, If I make a half measure, I am never quite satisfied with the sub-optimal results ;-)

I made a large sled for pieces up to about 40" and it comes in handy often enough to earn the real estate it takes up; YMMV.

[Julie Moriarty]

Lee Valley sells the Veritas® Power Tool Guide that would keep you under $200 with clamps and saw guide. I haven't tried it but maybe others here have. It looks well made.

I had the Festool plunge saw & rail setup and it performed very well but at almost $1,000 it was too much for how often I would use it so I returned it. The LV rail may do the trick. For squaring, you might consider a 48" drywall square.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Generally to get square panels, you'll need to rip parallel sides. I think the Eurekazone track does a good job with straight cuts and also it has very good anti-splintering features. What it won't do it automatically be square unless you build a whole rig around it (they sell one but the cost adds up). A squaring fence that affixes to one end of a track saw track has to be meticulously squared again every time you install it. If the panels are under 30" wide I suggest you might build another cut-off sled for wider parts.

[George Bokros]

2) Straight line rip one edge of the sheet with the Festool saw and a long rail.
3) Attach parallel guides (aftemarket, not Festool--blech!) to the rail and accurately rip to width.

Couple of questions Matt....

2.) I believe you are saying you rip off one of the long edges of the sheet, correct? If so you are saying you either do not trust the factory long edges as being straight or they are not smooth enough for you, which is it? How do you make sure your Festool track is set up straight>

3.) The parallel guides you are using to attach to the Festool track what brand are they?
How do they attach to the Festool track?
Do you thing they would work with the Eureka Zone track?

Thanks Matt.


George

[Darrin Davis]

I'm not a big fan of Festool because of their ridiculous prices but I did find a closeout deal on the TS45 model several years ago so I thought I would give it a try. It has a splinter guard that the saw blade cuts right up against that eliminates cross-cut tear-outs on one side that is really nice for cross-cutting red oak ply which we use most of the time in our shop. I think I was lucky enough to find the closeout deal for $325 (about 1/2 price of the comparable saws from Festool). I have used the heck out of the saw with NO trouble at all. The best part that I like about the guide is that you do not have to clamp it to your work piece. It has non-slip pads on the bottom and I personally, in over 7 years, have never clamped it down and never had it slip. I've heard others say you have to still clamp it but again, I never have and I'm still using the same foam rubber pads that came on it.

[Michael Mahan]

I use the Festool TS55REQ 118" rail & Seneca Parallel guide jigs with the Incra track plus , a large square , simple fast but about $1K
http://www.senecawoodworking.com/pro...a-t-track-plus

[Jim Matthews]

I use the EZ Smart system from Eurekazone.

I believe the universal edge guide has the principle in place,
but I don't know if it adjusts to 48" lengths.

For something so large as that, I would want an edge guide that clamps to the sheet goods.

I do this between two VIKA adjustable tables, with a rigid foam board underneath the sheet.
That reduces chip out on the bottom. If you're making lots of these - it might make sense to have
your supplier break the sheets down on a panel saw.

It's really difficult to beat the accuracy of a rig designed for just this sort of thing.

http://www.eurekazone.com/parallel_r...ols_s/1921.htm

[Jamie Buxton]

.. How do you make sure your ...track is set up straight?...

You can test the straightness of any track saw by using it to cut a piece of plywood, then folding the cut pieces together across the cut. If the cut edges match perfectly, the straight edge is straight. If the edges don't match, the straight edge is not straight.

[Rick Potter]

To keep it inexpensive, perhaps a good drywall square, clamped to the ply as a guide, and careful measurements diagonally to make sure sides are parallel? It could easily be used with a home made plywood guide as mentioned above. You could also tape a piece of Masonite under your saw to zero clearance the blade.

Rick Potter

Edit: You could also ensure parallel sides by simply cutting a scrap stick to the desired width, and using it to set the drywall square.

[George Bokros]

You can test the straightness of any track saw by using it to cut a piece of plywood, then folding the cut pieces together across the cut. If the cut edges match perfectly, the straight edge is straight. If the edges don't match, the straight edge is not straight.

I know how check if the track itself is straight, I was referring to how do you know it is set up on sheet is straight with the sheet you are going to cut.

[Matt Meiser]

Couple of questions Matt....

2.) I believe you are saying you rip off one of the long edges of the sheet, correct? If so you are saying you either do not trust the factory long edges as being straight or they are not smooth enough for you, which is it? How do you make sure your Festool track is set up straight>

3.) The parallel guides you are using to attach to the Festool track what brand are they?
How do they attach to the Festool track?
Do you thing they would work with the Eureka Zone track?

Thanks Matt.


George

yes, first step is to rip off about 1/4" off one long edge to get a good, us damaged, straight edge. Then I make parallel rips off that, then square off one of those. I use Seneca guides which are great. They hook over the T-slot side and use Incra track for rails. Love them. The Eurekazone rails are a different shape.

I'll echo Glenn's statement. Do it right or do it cheap and save your pennies for something good. Wasting a bunch of money on something that half works isn't going to save you anything in the end. Been there, done that.