No table saw? Build a $15 Sawboard for your small budget project!

[Ed_McCarron]

If you have to have your cut INCLUDE your pencil line, you'll need to place the sawboard ON that line so that it is not visible. 

Thats why I use this:



Seriously, I made my sawboard today, and quickly fell in love with it.  Helping an relative make a DDR cabinet, and the quality of my circular saw work went up a notch or two with this.

Thanks!

[Bones]

Wow. Drew got a sticky.

[SirPoonga]

This is a cool idea.

I just wanted to comment that you can get saw fences (the guide, long straight edge) from hardware stores.
Also watch garage sales and auctions for used table saws and such.  My dad got an old 1/2hp small table saw for $12 at an auction.  It's great for doing small stuff, but not a cabinet.

I take it the saw board is so you don't scratch surface of the material you are cutting.  For an arcade that isn't that big of a deal, it's usually plywood or mdf that is being cut.  So just getting some clamps and a fence from your local hardware store would be sufficient.

That's all I used.  I went to someone that had a large table saw to cut down the 4x8 sheets of mdf.  Otherwise I just used a fence and circular saw, or my dad's small table saw.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

BUSH WON!!!!  SAWBOARDS ARE FOR COMMIES!!!!



mrC
"Wherever Drew goes, the awful stink of EE will follow!"

[DrewKaree]

I take it the saw board is so you don't scratch surface of the material you are cutting.

No, not at all.  I thought I said it somewhere up there, but even I can't be troubled to read what I write

The sawboard is to remove any guesswork from the equation when cutting your material.

Normally you'll have to measure the offset of the side of the shoe on your saw.  To use your fence, you'll have to measure your line, and then using the offset measurement of your saw, place your fence that far away from the line, and THEN make your cut (and I have yet to see a saw that has the blade perfectly on the exact edge of the shoe).

With a sawboard, you simply place the edge of the sawboard on your cut line, and run the saw down the sawboard.  No guesswork, no nothing.  Just clamp it on there and your offset is automagically accounted for.  The shoe rides right along the factory edge each time, therefore the edge will always be the cut line

Hopefully these pics will explain what my words might not be doing so much goodly worky worky at on the day after yesterday

[DrewKaree]

BUSH WON!!!!

That's the first thing I don't even have to contemplate as to whether you're wrong or just delusional   I think even Dartful would have to admit that he agrees with you, although you slipped up and were supposed to say "GORE LOST!"

SAWBOARDS ARE FOR COMMIES!!!!

So only Democrats can use 'em?  Remember, conservatives are fascists, liberals are the commies.  Where'd you put your game program?

mrC
"Wherever Drew goes, the awful stink of EE will follow!"

At least decorate if you're gonna hang out here.  Put some curtains up, do some of that fruity "coordinating separates" you dirt-eating commies are so good at....SOMETHING!  This place is so full of testosterone, it's just SCREAMING for your decorator sensibilities.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Put some curtains up...

Window Treatments, you uncultured beast....Window Treatments!!!




mrC
P.S. Like the Sawboard instructions though, kudos!

[Mark70]

Just wanted to offer my mistakes so others don't make them.

1. Make sure that the top part of your saw board (ie the second layer with the straight edge that guides the saw) is long enough that you can have clamps on there and the saw motor will still clear the clamps.  For my saw this means about 4" for the length of the motor plus room for the clamps, so about 7".  I didn't leave enough, so cutting short pieces is very difficult.  I'm often hitting the clamps with my saw.  In a couple of instances I had to screw my sawboard to my work.

Well, I guess that there's only one.

[www]

This is a nice and simple idea. A very worthwhile addition to a cabinet makers forum.

I will be making one first thing 2morrow.

BTW. I have my own method for joining two sheets of material 90 degrees from each other. ( A Corner) But it involves having a 4be2 to screw into, and screw holes through the panel. How do others join their sheets.
Also I have found these plastic caps that you lightly hammer into the heads of the screws to neaten up the screw appearance.
I would prefere to know how to make a strong blind join though.
Please dont tell me glue, it just isnt strong enough or quick enough when sticking to melamine coated material.

[DrewKaree]

BTW. I have my own method for joining two sheets of material 90 degrees from each other. ( A Corner) But it involves having a 4be2 to screw into, and screw holes through the panel. How do others join their sheets.
Also I have found these plastic caps that you lightly hammer into the heads of the screws to neaten up the screw appearance.
I would prefere to know how to make a strong blind join though.
Please dont tell me glue, it just isnt strong enough or quick enough when sticking to melamine coated material.

I'd like to know what a 4be2 is, sounds like if it works for you, it'd be a worthy tip to share with the rest of us.  As for the rest of that stuff, it'd prolly be best asked in a separate thread with a title that reflects it, as I doubt you'll get as much help in this one as you could with a specific thread.  I've got some ideas, the next step is yours 

[danny_galaga]

I'd like to know what a 4be2 is, sounds like if it works for you, it'd be a worthy tip to share with the rest of us.

[DrewKaree]

That doesn't sound right though.  He clearly spelt (",) BE, and his numbers are all catywampus.

It's 2x4.

I think he's referring to some kind of corner brace you nail into, but I dunno.

There's way too many inconsistencies for him to have meant 2x4.  I simply refuse to believe it.  Nuh-UH!

[danny_galaga]

That doesn't sound right though.

[DrewKaree]

remember, everything is upside down and back to front down under (",)

So other than not understanding ftw those little squiggles mean, you prolly wouldn't have any problems reading Hebrew

[danny_galaga]

remember, everything is upside down and back to front down under (",)

So other than not understanding ftw those little squiggles mean, you prolly wouldn't have any problems reading Hebrew

oi vey! you meshuganah...

[Stingray]

Drew's a go-getter with this whole sawboard thing. Who knew?

-S

[DrewKaree]

Drew's a go-getter with this whole sawboard thing. Who knew?

-S

You DAISY!  STOP PIGEONHOLING ME!

Wait....I think that's better than cornholing me.

As you were.  I think

[oldsage]

oi vey! you meshuganah...

Meshuganah would be Yiddish...

Both languages use the same script though (although I'm not that good with my Yiddish so there might be some minor differences I don't know of)...

[DrewKaree]

Meshuganah would be Yiddish...

Both languages use the same script though (although I'm not that good with my Yiddish so there might be some minor differences I don't know of)...

Thankfully we were able to have that cleared up before a full-scale flame war broke out

[teetu]

I finally made a sawboard after using the edge guide + ruler for way too long.  I got one 2X4 ft sheet of 1/2" MDF and made a sawboard for my circular saw and jigsaw.  One could hypothetically make an accurately cut cab out of a $20 jigsaw and one of these- which is pretty amazing.

For those of you who need extra clearance above the guide piece for clamps, I saw a picture of a sawboard with some routered grooves for clamps to fit into so there was 0 interference with the circular saw motor.  I'll try to find this picture again and post it.  I wonder if some people making their sawboards out of material that was really thick, then you would have to set the circular saw depth very deep and the motor would be very close to the sawboard guide. 

[MovingTarget]

For those of you who need extra clearance above the guide piece for clamps, I saw a picture of a sawboard with some routered grooves for clamps to fit into so there was 0 interference with the circular saw motor.  I'll try to find this picture again and post it.  I wonder if some people making their sawboards out of material that was really thick, then you would have to set the circular saw depth very deep and the motor would be very close to the sawboard guide. 

Great idea!  I too made some sawboards and now I cut like a pro except my motor does hit the clamps sometimes, but I can still make a straight cut by slightly lifting the saw while still keeping the front portion of it in contact with the guide on the sawboard.  Was a little nerve racking at first but I haven't screwed cuts up yet. 

Now with the idea of routing out a spot for the clamps, I don't think I'll be doing any more tricks with the saw while cutting.

[DrewKaree]

I'll amend these instructions sometime shortly to indicate a larger top plate to allow for the saw's motor to clear.  Thanks for other tips to make it better too!

*edit*
instructions now amended.

[MYX]

Thanks Drew,
I do not know why I didn't read this sooner. I read this last weekend and built one immediatly. I got to use it this past weekend and it was great for getting straighter cuts without all the guess work.

Now if you could come up with a device to let us measure things accuratly. 

[DrewKaree]

Now if you could come up with a device to let us measure things accuratly. 

I found several things, and in multiple colors too





This last one's kinda old fashioned, but for those small jobs.....




                                    

[MYX]

Yeah, those are them!!! But I make my mark on the line, but then like gravity affects the graphite in my pencil or something because I make the cut and things seem to miraculously shift. It could have something to do with living in Georgia and magnetic fields or something. 

[MikeDeuce]

I was watching one of the vids on the the finewoodworkingnetwork.com and one of the guys made a great modifcation to his... here's a rough sketch:



So yeah, basically the guide piece of wood is shifted over a bit in the earlier steps and you use the bottom piece to clamp down. Would help clear the motor on some of our saws, without having to use more wood or route pits for the clamps.

He also made a 90 degree sawboard which was pretty clever (compared it to a radial arm saw), but I don't think it would help out here too much so I'll not waste space with another drawing

Good videos on that site ($ though) for the budding woodworker!

Thanks again DrewKaree, for sharing such a great tip.

[MikeDeuce]

Oh heck why not, here's a quick sketch showing how he made a 90 degree/RAS version... might help those of us that can't make square cuts consistently.

The reddish stuff is the wood piece you're cutting, to clarify. The top picture is a birdseye view and the bottom picture is the fron view.



So, of course you have to fasten the two pieces at a perfect 90 degrees in the first place, but after that it could theoretically save even more time because you would only have to make one mark for some cuts.

[MYX]

Yeah, that's a great idea. But you would have to really make sure that the 90 was truly a 90 or it would be a tool of destruction.

[MikeDeuce]

Agreed, and a great way to test that is listed at the bottom of this page (under Quick Test): http://www.newwoodworker.com/squrmitrgag.html

You could screw in only a single screw in the corner where the two guide pieces overlap, allow the bottom piece of pivot, align it with a square, and clamp the pieces together tightly and test it out... adjust if necessary and then add a few more screws.

[NiteWalker]

This is a method I've used a few times: Make the sawboard as described excellently by Drew but make it so the opposite side of the saw board (the base part not the guide rail) extends about 6" out. Then use a router and 1/2" or 3/4" straight bit to trim the base piece  by having the router base held against the guide piece just like the c. saw. You're basically replacing the c. saw with the router (but not really in this case as you'll end up with one side for the c. saw and the other for the router). Make sure to mark on the guide which router bit (and router if you have more than one like me, the router freak I am) and size used originally.
Now the way I use it is to first cut *close* to the line (within 1/4"), then flip it over and line the edge of the router side right up with the line and trim the rest away. You could also just make one exclusively for router use and just use a jigsaw to rough cut to the outside of the line and then just do final trimming with the router. I probably use the second method more, but like I said, I'm a router freak. One thing about using saw/router boards is that it's a bit tricky to get beveled angles (like on the front piece of a cp) and when it comes to small parts it's VERY hard to use one of these efficiently. For small pieces I make a template and use a pattern bit on the router. I get the template to exact shape by rough cutting to lines and finish by sanding.

[Tahnok]

I guess I should post a link to this for future reference.

There is a small modification that adds a track to the sawboard. This prevents the saw from pulling away and ruining your cut. Details in this thread:

Modification to sawboard - Add a track

[squirrellydw]

I used this idea on my cocktail table and it worked great.  Thanks for the idea

[fiscap]

Ok - I do own a table saw, but cutting a 4x8 sheet of MDF by yourself is not the easiest thing to do. So when I stumbled upon Drew's idea for a Sawboard, I thought that it would be perfect for making straight cuts with my shaky hands.

Here are some photos of my new Sawboard, but more importantly a photo of what NOT to do when constructing your own. The first two photos show proper layout and setup, but the third photo - oops! I cut the board with the wrong edge of the saw against the rip-rail. The end result is about a two inch lip for the saw to ride on - very wobbly results.

[fiscap]

I did use the short-edge Sawboard to make the straight cuts for the pieces of my new Sawboard - very carefully 

Now I have a true Sawboard with a proper edge for the saw base to run along. Here are some photos of the end result.

[NinjaGumby]

Does anyone have a good method or tips for doing interior angles cuts (like the angles with the arrows in the picture) with a sawboard or router? 

I can't really figure it since if I cut up to the line, then my blade is not deep enough (motor is in the way and can't lower it more) and there a piece that's not cut like in the second picture.

[Cue-Ball]

Cut just as you have been using a circular saw.  Then just finish off the cut with either a hand saw or a jig saw.  Just make sure you support the scrap piece so that it doesn't snap off and ruin your edge.

[Maverick]

Instead of screwing the guide in place you can also cut a few grooves in the boards and attach it with bolts and wingnuts to make the guide adjustable. Just in case you ever need to use a different type of blade. Example... a panel blade is thinner than a carbide.

[fixumdude]

This is a great idea and I'm definitely going to make a saw board as soon as I get a chance!

One tip for guys that already have the guide clamp shown at the beginning of the thread...one thing that helped me a lot was to cut a long strip of 1/2" mdf exactly the distance from the edge of the circular saw shoe to the blade (the right side offset in Drew's picture). 

Then after you mark your line just hold the strip tight to the guide and line it up to your pencil line and lock the guide down.  Remove the filler strip and make your cut. 

It takes a few minutes to get the strip just the right width, but once you do, you never have to do the measure and clamp thing again which saves tons of time in the long run (not to mention frustration).

Great Thread!
-Mike

[TroyO]

Here's one that I use that's similar to the sawboard here. It's kind of nice because the base is locked into a groove and you can't wander away from your cut, and the built in clamps are handy too. I use it most often for cutting down panels and if I have big parts with funny angles. I often find myself using it for big pieces because it's a PITA to use a table saw for big pieces... this way it's stable, safe and quick.

As a bonus (I work on lots of stuff, so I find it handy, anyway) you can hook your router up to it as well... great for making dado's!

Also, I found it a lot cheaper on Ebay.

http://www.eurekazone.com/products/detail/sgs.html

[DrewKaree]

It's not THAT common, otherwise we wouldn't have stories to relate!  It only takes a second to say "hold my beer and watch this!"