I sell wooden products online in my city. About 7 years ago I bought a good set of hand-held circular saws. There were a bunch of stops in this set; I also purchased several over the years. Now I realize that they have fallen into disrepair, and the circular itself is not in the best condition. I decided to order a new one and make the stops myself. So to speak, to check, at the same time, what I have learned over all these years. Having finished, I decided that it would be useful for you to learn about how to make stops for a circular saw.
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How to make a rip fence for a circular saw with your own hands?
- Peculiarities
- First execution
- Second design solution
The rip fence is an important tool when working with a circular saw. This device is used to make cuts parallel to the plane of the cutting saw blade and the edge of the material being processed. Usually, the manufacturer supplies one of the options for this device with a circular saw. However, the manufacturer’s option is not always convenient to use and in most cases does not satisfy the consumer’s needs. Therefore, in practice, you have to make one of the versions of this device with your own hands according to simple drawings.
There are several options for a constructive solution to this seemingly simple problem. All options have their advantages and disadvantages. You should choose a suitable design based on the needs that arise when processing various materials on a circular saw. Therefore, choosing the right solution must be taken seriously, responsibly and creatively.
This article discusses two of the simplest design solutions for creating an angular parallel stop for a circular saw with your own hands using existing drawings.
Preparing for work
Before you begin, you need to decide on the necessary set of tools and materials that will be needed during the work process.
The following tools will be used for work:
- A circular saw or you can use a jigsaw.
- Screwdriver.
- Grinding machine.
- Grinder (Angle grinder).
- Jigsaw.
- Hand tools: hammer, pencil, square.
During the work you will also need the following materials:
- Chipboard.
- Plywood.
- Solid pine.
- Steel tube with an internal diameter of 6-10 mm.
- Steel rod with an outer diameter of 6-10 mm.
- Two washers with an increased area and an internal diameter of 6-10 mm.
- Self-tapping screws.
- Wood glue.
Rip fence
A regular rip fence for a circular saw is a good example of how a small addition can make a big difference. Almost every hand-held circular saw is equipped with a rip fence for longitudinal cutting of a given width. This is a really useful device.
The standard stop has one drawback. For safety reasons, it is set to values that allow it to be used to make cuts less than 20–25 mm wide. This is done so that the stop does not interfere with the movement of the saw guard. But it is enough to attach a wooden block with self-tapping screws to the parallel strip of the standard stop - and its capabilities will increase, while the minimum cutting width will not be limited in any way.
Note! We must remember about safety - when making cuts of less than 15 mm, the block does not allow the protective casing to cover the saw blade.
Step-by-step instruction
So, the design details and the necessary tools have been selected, you can begin assembling and subsequent installation of the homemade carriage.
Step 1: Attaching the aluminum profiles
Since the carriage will “run along the saw table,” the first thing to do is guide grooves. To do this, take two U-shaped profiles, approximately equal to the length of the table. You can adjust the dimensions using a grinder.
At the same distance from the location of the cutting disc, circular saws draw two lines parallel to it. Then, using a hand router, U-profile holes are cut out along them, chips are blown out of them, and the corrugated pipes are secured in them using glue. After the glue dries, the grooves are ready.
Step 2: Making the carriage base
Next, the mobile base of the cross-cutting carriage is constructed. To do this, take two strips, which in thickness fit freely into the U-shaped groove. But there is one point here - the carriage will have to “slide” freely on the table, and for this it is raised above the table by 2-3 mm. To do this, nuts of equal thickness are placed into the profile grooves at equal distances, after which guide rails are laid on them.
Then glue is applied to them, which fixes the plywood base strip. To press it tighter, you can attach clamps on the sides.
When the resin has dried, the nuts are removed from the profile grooves and the master checks whether the carriage moves freely on them. After this, for ease of further use, the carriage is cut off on the sides along the table profile.
Step 3: Installation of walls
So, the base is ready and then the thrust walls are installed on it. To do this, take two wooden blocks: one of them is rigidly fixed, using self-tapping screws, along the edge closest to the master so that it is strictly perpendicular to the cutting edge of the saw blade; the second is secured along the top edge, but only on one side. This is necessary so that the master can align this wall strictly parallel to the bottom. The operation is performed using a square.
After the walls are leveled, a test cut is carried out. It has two purposes - it is used to saw holes in the walls and base of the carriage, and then by measuring the sawn workpiece, they check whether the right angle of the cut is correct.
Important . The height of the walls must be sufficient so that the cutting edge enters no more than half of it, otherwise the carriage may break during operation - and this is an unjustified risk when working with a circular saw.
Step 4: Making a Combination Square for Miter Cutting
So, a regular straight broach carriage is ready, but what if the cutter needs to cut something at a different angle, such as 60, 40 or 30 degrees? For such operations, you will need an additional structural element, which is called a “combined square”.
The name is put in quotation marks for a reason - the fact is that the base of the workpiece is really a square wooden platform. It is cut out so that it fits freely between the stops of the main carriage and one of the sides is fixed at the bottom wall.
Guide rail
For cutting large and long sheet lumber on the table, a long DIY circular saw guide bar will be useful.
The basis in this case is an (8–10 mm) plywood strip with a length exceeding the dimensions of the sheet being cut. The tire itself can be wooden (a block 15–20 mm thick) or metal from a U-shaped profile. The tire is attached to the base with glue or screws. On one side of it there should be a narrow edge of the base, sufficient for fastening to the sheet with clamps. On the other side, the first cut is made with a saw along the base. After this, the edge of the base will exactly coincide with the passage of the circular disk. When working, it is combined with the markings on the sheet, the stop is secured and the sheet is sawed.
A simple carriage for a homemade circular saw
I will consider this option using the example of manufacturing a carriage for a desktop mini-circular machine J1F-DS100, which was previously converted. About this in this article
Considering that most craftsmen will make similar devices for other saws, in this case the manufacturing process itself and the design of the device (it is typical and common), and not the dimensions indicated in the attached drawing, are of interest.
Manufacturing sequence
So, in the manufactured machine we have a tabletop made of ordinary plywood.
(Don’t be confused by some difference in the size of the table top in further photos - I simply replaced the plywood with a slightly larger one, because I realized that the dimensions of this one were somewhat small)
Marking guides
In order to obtain a more or less usable tool in the future, it is necessary to accurately mark and mill the parallel grooves into which the carriage slides will be installed. The first necessary condition here is their parallelism to the plane of the saw blade . To do this, you need to “beat off this line” on the surface of the tabletop as accurately as possible. If there is no play or wobble in the disk fit, then it is enough to firmly attach a metal ruler to the disk and draw the desired line.
Milling grooves for runners
Now, parallel to this line, you need to mill two grooves on either side of the saw blade.
As a rule, craftsmen insert U-shaped metal profiles into these grooves to prevent wear of the grooves during operation and for better sliding of the skids.
To ensure a more or less stable position of the carriage, I approximately divided the tabletop into three equal parts and drew the required two lines. Parallelism is the most important condition here. You need to mill along the stop using any router. For this micro-machine I used an edge router.
Making runners
The runners can be made from hardwood, such as maple. I had oak on hand and sawed the slats from it. In general, if an aluminum U-shaped profile is inserted into the grooves, then the wear of the slides will be much less. I did without a profile due to the fact that I plan to buy a Proxon machine and the resource of this homemade product, provided that it is used infrequently, will be enough for me. Those who make homemade products “seriously and for a long time” keep this aspect in mind.
The slats should fit tightly in the grooves, but slide freely and not dangle in them. Otherwise, the carriage itself will dangle. The slats should be flush with the surface of the tabletop for ease of installation of the carriage platform on them.
Mounting the carriage base onto the skids
The next step is to install the carriage base on the skids. For this machine I take a 7 mm thick MDF sheet. Since I use PVA to install the base, I first stick masking tape on each edge of the slide to protect the surfaces from excess squeezed out glue.
Next, you can apply glue to the runners
and place the base blank on top of the runners, securing it with clamps at the gluing points
After the glue has dried, remove the carriage, remove the tape and check its sliding in the grooves
Marking the corners of the carriage
The carriage is installed in the grooves, the saw is turned on, and a cut is made in the front part of the base.
And relative to the line of this cut, the required 45 degrees are struck on both sides. This allows measurements to be taken from the actual position of the saw blade in the carriage cut.
Next, we cut down the corners and get the result as close as possible to the result.
Correction of carriage angles
We set the emphasis at any arbitrary distance from the disk and file 4 rough blanks
Putting them in a frame, we check the accuracy of the connection
At the slightest deviation from the correct angle, we trim the edge of the carriage on the desired side and again make a test fit, thus bringing it to the exact angle of 45 degrees.
After this, you can install the sides of the carriage flush with the cut of the base. From the rear side, we bring the edge of the carriage at a right angle to the saw blade, thereby ensuring the possibility of trimming parts at 90 degrees.
First execution
A rail is taken from the above-mentioned corner with a length of 450 mm. For correct marking, this workpiece is placed on the working table of the circular saw so that the wide bar is parallel to the cutting saw blade. The narrow bar should be on the desktop on the side opposite the disk, as shown in the figure. In a narrow shelf (41 mm wide) of the corner, at a distance of 20 mm from the end, the centers of three through holes with a diameter of 8 mm are marked, the distances between them should be the same. From the line of location of the marked centers, at a distance of 268 mm, the line of location of the centers of three more through holes with a diameter of 8 mm (with the same distance between them) is marked. This completes the marking.
After this, you can proceed directly to assembly.
- 6 marked holes with a diameter of 8 mm are drilled, and the burrs inevitably created during drilling are processed with a needle file or sandpaper.
- Two 8x18 mm pins are pressed into the outer holes of each triple.
- The resulting structure is placed on the work table in such a way that the pins fit into the grooves provided by the design of the circular saw table, on both sides of the saw blade perpendicular to its plane, the narrow angle bar is located on the plane of the work table. The entire device moves freely on the table surface parallel to the plane of the saw blade; the pins act as guides, preventing the stop from skewing and the violation of the parallelism of the planes of the circular disk and the vertical surface of the stop.
- From the bottom of the work table, M8 bolts are inserted into the grooves and middle holes between the stop pins so that their threaded part fits into the slot of the table and the holes of the rack, and the heads of the bolts rest against the lower surface of the table and are between the pins.
- On each side, over the rail, which is a parallel stop, an M8 wing nut or regular M8 nut is screwed onto an M8 bolt. In this way, rigid fastening of the entire structure to the desktop is achieved.
Operating procedure:
- both wing nuts are released;
- the rack moves to the required distance from the disk;
- fix the rail with nuts.
The rack moves parallel to the working disk, since the pins, acting as guides, prevent distortions of the rip fence relative to the saw blade.
This design can only be used if there are grooves (slots) on the work table of the circular saw on both sides of the disk perpendicular to its plane.
Making a stop for a circular saw
There are 2 types of cutting stop: parallel and angular. Each option has its own characteristics that you need to know about before manufacturing.
Angular
The angle stop for the machine is used quite often. With its help, boards are cut accurately and quickly at right angles. It is also used for trimming boards from which the stop is made. You can easily make a device for sawing at an angle with your own hands.
- Take a sheet made of plywood for the base. Its thickness should not exceed 1 cm.
- Attach a guide bar to the base, the height of which is no more than 2 cm.
- It is recommended to fix the stop at the bottom, which is perpendicular to the guide. It must be made from the same piece of material.
- Separate unused parts of the bar. The distance from the guide to the saw blade is calculated individually each time, so it is recommended to attach it to the material being processed from the corner with clamps.
- Use fastening devices made of wooden washers.
- Press the wing nut onto the screw.
Using a rail miter box
The use of a rail miter box is advisable if you need to quickly and efficiently process a large number of boards. Used in production:
- two identical metal corners;
- Chipboard or plywood sheet at least 1.5 cm thick for the base;
- four pairs of bolts.
Metal corners are installed on a plywood base.
The corners are fastened with bolts - which act as studs - at the corners of the base. The corners are placed on the same plane strictly parallel to each other. This is necessary so that the circular saw slides freely along the rail during operation and does not jam or slide off it. Using pins, the fixing height of the corners is set, which is necessary for the free movement of the processed material between the base and the rails. In this case, the edge of the cutting circle should not be too high from the base, while at the same time eliminating the possibility of damage to it. To make the saw glide easier, fluoroplastic strips are glued to the corners or a frame with wheels is made for it, which is preferable.
The source material is cut into workpieces using a rip fence for a circular saw during operation. You can easily make it with your own hands from a wooden plank or a metal corner, securing it to a workbench with clamps.
Having made the markings on the workbench, the tire is set at the required distance from the stop and, resting the end of the board against it, the workpiece is cut off.
If it is necessary to cut the workpiece at an angle, it is fixed using a stop made of a pair of screws screwed into the base, and the angular inclination of the cut is set using a protractor.
In what cases is it used?
It is a mistake to think that the device was invented solely for cutting corners on a baguette. The must, on the contrary, came from other areas of carpentry in the decoration of walls and ceilings. This construction tool is actively used for:
- production of door frames;
- installation of door and window frames;
- production of glazing beads for fastening window glass;
- preparing strips for frames for photographs and paintings;
- cutting cable ducts;
- cutting corners at floor and ceiling plinths.
Using a miter box as a device for working with fillets allows you to file down the ends so that they touch at the corners without gaps.
DIY table for router and circular saw
Where to start making a table? Like any other design, it must start with a working sketch. It is this document that will give a clear idea of what exactly the table will be like and what is needed to make it. The drawing is developed indicating the actual dimensions, which in the process will make it possible to calculate the required amount of materials.
Basic requirements for the working surface of joinery machines
The first thing that a milling machine and a circular saw have in common is the need for a working surface or, in other words, a table top. She must be:
- flat and smooth. Otherwise, deformation of the workpieces is possible;
- tough. Deflection of the working surface during use is not allowed. This may lead to a change in the specified processing parameters, which will lead to defective parts;
- made of material that allows you to easily install stops, clamping strips, combs, shields and guard casings to maintain safety during work;
- made in accordance with the dimensions of the workpieces intended for processing. All operations must be carried out without constraint or restrictions.
Basic requirements for table design
A standard table for a circular saw has dimensions of 1.2x1.2 meters.
In certain cases, the size can be changed by the user to accommodate non-standard workpieces. The height of the working surface is 0.85 meters. It may be more or less, depending on the growth of the service personnel. As a basis for a universal table, you can use the tabletop of a machine for a circular saw. Since the saw blade is located on the left side of the table, the router can be placed on the right. It is installed taking into account the space for the workpieces being processed. It should be remembered that the master performing the milling should be at the end on the right side of the table, and not in front of the router. This requires the installation of maximum guarding of all moving parts to prevent human contact.
Second design solution
The DIY design solution for a rip fence for a circular saw proposed below is suitable for any workbench: with or without grooves on it. The dimensions proposed in the drawings refer to a specific type of circular saw; they can be proportionally changed depending on the parameters of the table and the brand of the circular saw.
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A 700 mm long strip is prepared from the corner indicated at the beginning of the article. At both ends of the angle, at the ends, two holes are drilled for M5 threads. A thread is cut in each hole with a special tool (tap).
In accordance with the drawing below, two guides are made of metal. To do this, take a steel equal angle corner measuring 20x20 mm. They are turned and cut according to the dimensions of the drawing. On the larger strip of each guide, two holes with a diameter of 5 mm are marked and drilled: in the upper part of the guides and one more in the middle of the bottom for an M5 thread. The threads are cut into the threaded holes using a tap.
The guides are ready, and they are attached to both ends with M5x25 bolts with a cylindrical hex head or standard M5x25 bolts with a hex head. M5x25 screws with any head are screwed into the threaded holes of the guides.
Operating procedure:
- loosen the screws in the threaded holes of the end guides;
- the rail moves from the corner to the cut size required for the job;
- By tightening the screws in the threaded holes of the end guides, the selected position is fixed.
The movement of the stop rail occurs along the end planes of the table, perpendicular to the plane of the working saw blade. Guides at the ends of the rip fence angle allow it to be moved without distortion relative to the saw blade.
To visually control the position of the homemade parallel stop, markings are drawn on the plane of the circular table.
To learn how to make a parallel stop for a homemade circular table, see the following video.
It’s hard to imagine a carpentry workshop without a circular saw, since the most basic and common operation is longitudinal sawing of workpieces. How to make a homemade circular saw will be discussed in this article.
Last checks
The previous operations performed will improve the quality of work on the circular saw, but it is also worth taking care of safety. Take a look at the riving knife, which should be in the middle of the disk and at right angles to the plane of the table. This is checked with a flat bar and the same drawing square.
The principle of adjusting the riving knife is similar for most sawing machines: loosen the nuts or screws, change the inclination of the stand and the outlet of the angle, then tighten the fasteners.
All that remains is to check the side wing extensions and, if necessary, align the parts at table level. Try to carry out such maintenance at least once a year and your “circular” will always be in good working order. And for cheap machines, such a check is recommended immediately after purchasing the equipment.
