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Woodworking Tip - Routers rule!

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Effayy:
I am by no means a woodworking guru at all.  I have a jig, circ saw, and as of last week, a shiny new router.

When I was cutting my MDF, I used teh circ saw for the straight edges, and I even set up a guide.  Unfortunately due to my inexperience with the tool, I was cutting crooked cuts even when the tool was following the guide nicely.  I have no idea why but I can only guess that it's because I wasn't holding the saw correctly.

Well after buying the router, I realized that if I had known better, this is what I would do in future to make perfectly straight cuts:

1. Use a circ saw to make a cut outside the line, as crooked and gross as you want, no worries.
2. Take a machine-cut peice of wood the same width or longer as the crooked cut, and line it up so the edge of the machine-cut peice is right up against the cutline on the crooked peice.
3. Clamp the 2 peices together and flip them over so the sraight-edge is on the bottom.
4. Take out your router with a Flush-trim bit.  Using th ebottom peice as a guide, you'll end up with a cut right along the original cut line!

Apologies if this is truly woodworking 101 to most of you, but it's just something that I worked out for myself last night, and if I had known before I cut my wood I'd have owned the router ages ago!  I'll probably be doing this for all future projects until I get the hang of the other tools.

- FA

Ash...Housewares:
Hey, that is a pretty good idea!  I'll have to store that away for further reference. 

Another good item to have is a table saw.  Straight cuts every time.  Course, for the sides of a control panel, you need a biiiiig saw table.

-Ash

Lilwolf:
I would be worried about the price of those little bits.

But does anyone have problems cutting straight lines with a circular saw? 

Another way you can do this (but it takes some practice and knowledge of your circular saw or router and your bit your using) is to clamp down a straight edge or a straight piece of wood a few inches in from your cut.  Line it up so that when you have your saw/router touching the edge, it will be right where you want to cut... Then you have a super fast (once its lined up) cut and perfectly straight.  Also allows you to go back over it if you bump away from the board.

I have some templates I use for my circular saw to get the board placed just right.  I place it on the line I want to cut at both ends.  Then put a board on the other side, clamp it down... then make my cut.  Takes about 10 seconds when you have the templates.

Wienerdog:
A spiral bit is also nice.  It doesn't have a bearing to use with a template, but if you set up a straight edge to run the router against (as Lilwolf suggests for either the router or the circular saw), you get the straight line and a smooth finish on the cut.  The spiral bit will last longer than the template bit (which is a straight flute bit).

Effayy:

--- Quote from: Lilwolf on July 29, 2005, 12:36:06 pm ---I would be worried about the price of those little bits.

But does anyone have problems cutting straight lines with a circular saw?
--- End quote ---

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