Every person who has used a circular saw at least once knows how difficult it is to make an even cut. To somehow simplify this task, some use a special guide. This design will help you make perfectly straight cuts. Create a guide for a circular saw with your own hands.
A circular saw is often used in the household for cutting wood.
Guide bar - what is it?
Before you create such a design yourself, you need to familiarize yourself with its main features.
A guide bar is a special rail that is responsible for sliding the saw forward and backward. At the same time, it limits the movement of the tool and therefore it cannot be directed to the left or right.
This device is used not only to ensure an even cut. It also helps reduce the number of chips in places where the saw came into contact with the wood being cut.
Additional Information! Sometimes guides are included with circular saws from Bosch and Interskol.
Guide rail functions
There are several main functions that these structures perform:
- increased accuracy when sawing large materials;
- improved quality when creating a curved cut;
- simplifying the creation of parts in accordance with a certain standard;
- the ability to manufacture several parts using one template;
- increasing safety when using circular saws.
Also, with the help of guides, it will be possible to make cuttings with high accuracy.
Advantages of a homemade guide bar
The guide allows you to make straight cuts.
Many people think that homemade splints have no advantages. However, in fact they have a number of advantages:
- ease of use;
- repeated use;
- durability;
- versatility.
Homemade designs also have their drawbacks. The main disadvantage is that they are not easy to make. Therefore, to avoid problems, you need to figure out in advance how to make guides for a circular saw with your own hands.
What is the use of stops
A self-made guide for a circular saw will save the craftsman from many problems when operating a complex and dangerous tool. Working with the disc is not always carried out exactly along the marked line and without chipping. Whatever the reason for the defect—lack of plumbing skills or experience in handling a saw—everyone wants a result without damaged materials. Arguments proving the benefits of homemade devices:
The name of the guide indicates its purpose - to move the saw smoothly to a given position.
Regardless of what materials the production will be from:
Pressed and wooden stops have a significant drawback:
If they place a loose stop, they create uncomfortable conditions with simultaneous cutting and control of the position of the rail. You need to monitor the force of pressing on the rule so as not to spoil the base.
Required materials and tools
Before you begin manufacturing the structure, you need to familiarize yourself with the list of necessary tools and materials:
- wooden blanks: boards, plywood, laminate;
- wooden bars with a thickness of 10 cm;
- self-tapping screws, screws, bolts or nuts;
- drill with drills;
- screwdrivers or screwdriver.
Additional Information! The above tools must be prepared in advance so that they are at hand while creating the guide.
Detailed instructions for manufacturing
To make a circular tire yourself, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic rules for its manufacture in advance.
From plywood
Plywood is often used to create a tire.
The plywood structure is made in several sequential steps:
- Disconnect the circular saw from the power source.
- Measure the distance from the saw blade to the groove located on the support platform.
- Cut the plywood strip so that its width is a millimeter less than the distance obtained in the previous step.
- Fasten the strip to a wide piece of plywood.
- Attach the second strip parallel to the base of the instrument.
Important! Before you make a guide yourself, you need to create a drawing with accurate calculations.
Aluminum profile tire
Some people want to make a more durable and high-quality structure. For this they use an aluminum profile. The only serious difference between such products and plywood is that a U-shaped aluminum profile is installed in the guide gap. With its help, it is possible to significantly increase the rigidity of the entire structure. Thanks to this, the cutting accuracy also increases.
When creating aluminum busbars, thick plywood is often used as restraints. However, it is better to install several fluoroplastic plates instead. This material is more efficient because it has a low coefficient of friction.
Other varieties
The construction rule is often used as a guide.
You can make a guide bar for a circular saw with your own hands from a miter box rail. Most often, this device is used for cross-sectioning materials. It consists of two corners that are connected in parallel to each other. Their ends must be attached to an iron or plywood base.
If the rail miter box will be used in a circular saw, it must be attached using metal pins or bolts. The structure must be installed higher so that it does not come into contact with the work surface.
Additional Information! Some people use a ruler from the building code as a guide bar. However, this design is not very convenient, since it must be configured before each use.
Additional guide bar functions
Using a guide bar, it is extremely difficult to damage the material being cut.
Such designs have a number of additional functions that you should familiarize yourself with before using a homemade guide bar for a hand-held circular saw:
- protects the sawn material from damage;
- allows you to adjust the exact length of the cut;
- significantly speeds up the process of sawing wood;
- securely fixes the wood to the work surface.
Additional Information! Both branded guides and homemade designs can boast of the above additional functions.
Bosch
4 tire sizes for Bosch tools : 800×142 mm, 1100×142 mm, 1600×142 mm and 2100×142 mm. The additional adapter FSN VEL Professional allows you to connect the slats lengthwise without gaps.
To perform angular adjustment of the guide, you can use the FSN WAN Professional . The equipment is equipped with anti-slip rubber bands and protection against chipping of the cut on the edge.
We invite you to watch a visual video:
Many large manufacturers produce guides for their own circular saws. Among them are representatives of the DeWalt, Elitech and Hitachi brands. Some companies specialize only in the production of equipment: Skil and Rocket.
How to adjust correctly
Before you start working, you need to properly adjust the structure. You will have to independently choose the optimal location and point for further fixation.
It is necessary to position the device so that its edge lies flat against the cut line and without distortion. After this, you need to adjust the placement of the saw blade. It must be torn off from the casing and aligned perpendicularly to the cutting line.
When the disk and guides are adjusted, the structure is fixed with clamps. This is done to minimize vibrations that may occur while the saw is running.
Important! To cut wood at an angle of 45 degrees, you will need to adjust the saw blade or adjust the angle on the bar itself. This must be done very carefully to avoid mistakes when adjusting the tilt.
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.
Useful tips
Blank templates make the work much easier.
There are several useful recommendations that will help beginners use a circular saw with a guide:
- It is necessary to use special blank templates. With their help you can quickly make identical parts.
- Before starting work, you need to adjust and configure everything in advance. Only with a properly configured tool will it be possible to cut wood efficiently.
- Do not work at the circular saw for too long. The tool must be turned off periodically to prevent it from overheating.
- The tire must be securely attached. It must not slide on the work surface. Bolts or screws can be used as fastenings.
- If, during sawing, the circular saw begins to sharply slow down, it must be turned off. This often happens when a tool works continuously for a long time and begins to overheat.
Important! If you need to cut an even cut, you must use a guide. Without it, it is quite difficult to do this.
A circular saw is an indispensable tool that allows you to quickly cut wood products. People who want to do quality work should use special guides. Such designs can be purchased or made independently.
Table saw
When choosing a circular saw, you need to be guided by the following characteristics:
- Saw power. If the amount of work is quite large, it is advisable to take a tool with a power of at least 1.2 kW.
- Cutting depth. The thickness of the material to be processed depends on this parameter. For hand saws it is 40–70 mm. But when installing it in a table there will be a decrease of around 10 mm.
- Button placement. The design of the sawing table must provide free and safe access to all control buttons, otherwise it will be necessary to modify the control system yourself.
- Rotational speed. For cutting wood, high rotation speed is preferred. This affects the cutting quality. For plastic, for example, this is not very good. Due to the high rotation speed of the circle, the plastic heats up. You need to choose average characteristics. 3-4 thousand rpm will be enough.
