Who needs a table saw?

[shardian]

I started a project yesterday to make window flower boxes for the wife. The instructions I had required alot of rip cuts on plywood sheets and 1x4,1x6 stock. I don't have a table saw, so I figured I would take it all into work and get our maintenance guy to rip the wood for me. As I was looking at a pocket hole jig though, my eyes fell on a fancy circular saw rip guide.
I thought $30 was worth the chance, so I got it. It was pretty easy to attach to the saw, and set up for accurate cuts. It could make accurate cuts from a little over 2 feet all the way down to 1/16th inch.
I swear, this thing made the whole job dummy proof. All of my cuts came out darn near perfect.
I can't remember the name of the guide off-hand, but it was at Lowes. I'll add the name of the thing tonight if my internet is working.

Long story short, a good circular saw rip guide is a safe and effective replacement for a table saw.

[ChadTower]

The DIY sawboard that Drew posted is pretty damn good for that, too, and doesn't even require offset measurements.  At $30, though, a quality off the shelf solution can't be beat.

How does it do with crosscuts, particularly in small material?

[shardian]

The DIY sawboard that Drew posted is pretty damn good for that, too, and doesn't even require offset measurements.  At $30, though, a quality off the shelf solution can't be beat.

I would use a saw board for cuts farther in on a sheet than the rip guide could go for sure. cuts within 2' of the edge though, it is alot quicker to reset the guide to the measurment needed and then start cutting. The big kicker though, you can't use a sawboard on board stock.

....well I guess you could if you had an elaborate guide setup, but it would be far more work than needed.

[IA1NY]

The big kicker though, you can't use a sawboard on board stock.

Been there. Done that.   Not for the inexperienced, or the weak of heart.  I only do it when necessary.  Use carpet tape to stick the guide down.  Support the fence side, and you're cutting.  A saw guide IS faster to set up for thin stuff though.

[ChadTower]

I've done it.  It's not exactly intuitive, though.  I ended up screwing the workpiece to my picnic table past where the cut line was, then supporting the backside of the sawboard with another piece of the same board stock.  Then put two 45lb plates on top to keep it from moving at the far end.

[shardian]

I've done it.  It's not exactly intuitive, though.  I ended up screwing the workpiece to my picnic table past where the cut line was, then supporting the backside of the sawboard with another piece of the same board stock.  Then put two 45lb plates on top to keep it from moving at the far end.

I would have paid to watch that.

I had to rip a 1x6 twice at 2". I set the guide, then supported the guide and held the wood with my left hand and pushed the saw with my right. It was frikkin easy. I did clamp down the 1x4 to the saw horse just to keep it from sliding around.

[ChadTower]

That's one thing I won't do - support a workpiece with my hand while using a power hand tool.  Every one of the old woodworkers I asked said the same thing about that:  that's how kickback injuries happen with hand tools.  They all said that about circular saws especially.  The saw kicks, your one hand isn't enough to keep the saw in place, and it walks over the hand you have supporting the piece.  That's why I go to those lengths to secure the workpiece and keep both hands on the saw.

I find weight plates to actually be pretty good for places where you can't get a clamp.  You can almost always clamp one side of a piece, and if you put enough weight down on the other side, it's not going to go anywhere. 

[shardian]

My hand was never in the path of the blade. The cut is on the far side of the piece, and the guide is on the near side of the piece.

[ChadTower]

I'm sure that was fine but their point was that kickback doesn't always follow the path of the cut.  It goes wherever it feels like going if it gets up on top of the piece.  One of the guys showed me a really nasty 7" scar on the inside of his left forearm and demonstrated how his pinky and ring finger on that hand don't do much anymore to get his point across.  A circular saw kicked on him and actually went up and way left before it came down again.  He said it hit a ply void.

[IA1NY]

That's one thing I won't do - support a workpiece with my hand while using a power hand tool.  Every one of the old woodworkers I asked said the same thing about that:  that's how kickback injuries happen with hand tools.  They all said that about circular saws especially.  The saw kicks, your one hand isn't enough to keep the saw in place, and it walks over the hand you have supporting the piece.  That's why I go to those lengths to secure the workpiece and keep both hands on the saw.

Yeah I'ts best to hold the saw with two hands.  Let your table hold your board.  If the saw does kick, you at least have a chance of holding it down or deflecting it away from you.  I've bogged a saw down before when it kicked, but I have a buddy who cut the @#%%& out of his inner thigh while working alone and had to crawl into his house to call 911.  It didn't hit the artery; he got lucky.  Don't mess with the tools.  Always make sure that you can count to 10 at the end of the day.

[ChadTower]

Always make sure that you can count to 10 at the end of the day.

Even better if you can still count to eleven!

[IA1NY]

Even better if you can still count to eleven!

LOL...Yeah, being polydactic can be handy.  Me personally, I always wanted a prehensile tail.

[ChadTower]

Actually, I'll settle for still having all ten fingers and my schlong when the cuts are finished.   

[IA1NY]

Watch out for that tablesaw kickback.

Reminds me of the time a guy at one of the scenic shops in the NY area decided that it would be a good idea to put his router workpiece in his lap.  Because of the bit, he also needed the motor out of the base as far as he could get it.  You can probably see this coming, and yes, as he was doing his work the motor popped out of the base and flipped bit first into his crotch....

It ripped a large hole in his pants and ripped his underwear right off him, then bogged down, thus sparing his manhood.  Of course you know what this teaches us:  Always wear clean underwear!

Sadly and strangely, it is indeed a true story but I won't say the name of the shop because I might end up working there sometime and don't want to jinx that.