Cutting down a wardrobe?

[Captain Nemesis]

The edge of my saw slipped under the ply I was using and messed up the cut. Should I screw the fence in three bits to waste side?

You should stop doing.

 

[Keitai]

In terms of sawing this sort of thing, you can either buy yourself a plunging rail saw and rails (expensive) or you can make yourself up a guide for your saw which can be clamped onto the material. This is basically a piece of 4 or 6mm plywood or MDF with a straight piece piece of 2 x 1 PSE softwood screwed and glued down one edge:

View attachment 233114

Just note that before using it "in anger" you need to make a trim cut to size base exactly to the saw. This type of fence or bridge should allow you to cut fairly uneven stuff with or without non-straight edges but without any need to reference the saw fence which is redundant for this operation as the left side of the sw base (for right hand blade saws, for left blade saws you run the other way with the right edge of the base against the 2 x 1). The guide does need to be clamped in place, though, before cutting

On this jig u said the fence should be 1 inch high and 2 inch wide. How about 5 or 6mm high to allow for the longer side if circular saw not to bang on it?

 

[Keitai]

In terms of sawing this sort of thing, you can either buy yourself a plunging rail saw and rails (expensive) or you can make yourself up a guide for your saw which can be clamped onto the material. This is basically a piece of 4 or 6mm plywood or MDF with a straight piece piece of 2 x 1 PSE softwood screwed and glued down one edge:

View attachment 233114

Just note that before using it "in anger" you need to make a trim cut to size base exactly to the saw. This type of fence or bridge should allow you to cut fairly uneven stuff with or without non-straight edges but without any need to reference the saw fence which is redundant for this operation as the left side of the sw base (for right hand blade saws, for left blade saws you run the other way with the right edge of the base against the 2 x 1). The guide does need to be clamped in place, though, before cutting

On this jig u said the fence should be 1 inch high and 2 inch wide. How about 5 or 6mm high to allow for the longer side (from blade) of circular saw to butt up against it not to bang motor on deep cuts?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

OK. The sizes I gave were starting points and I was assuming (maybe wrongly) that you'd have sufficient depth of cut with that basic set up, as well as 2 x 1 PSE being a fairly widely available material. Naturally, if you have access to thinner, straight material (such as a smooth edged narrow rip of acrylic) then that would be preferable, although it might be more awkward to get it fixed to the main track piece because you'd need to pilot and counter sink it and the screw length would be very short. A viable alternative might therefore be something like 12mm thick stop lath, glued and screwed

 

[Keitai]

OK. The sizes I gave were starting points and I was assuming (maybe wrongly) that you'd have sufficient depth of cut with that basic set up, as well as 2 x 1 PSE being a fairly widely available material. Naturally, if you have access to thinner, straight material (such as a smooth edged narrow rip of acrylic) then that would be preferable, although it might be more awkward to get it fixed to the main track piece because you'd need to pilot and counter sink it and the screw length would be very short. A viable alternative might therefore be something like 12mm thick stop lath, glued and screwed

For the fence for circular saw jig how about a strip of 4mm thick metal or 6mm strip pinewood . Then screw wood against a straight edge so the fence is straight? I guess metal is always straight

 

[big-all]

cut a say 6"/150mm strip [what ever width required ]off 12mm sheet material and then the clamps can be placed clear off the body

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The problem you are going to have with narrow and thin fence material is that it isn't always the straightest so you may well need to use something like a 6ft spirit level, as a straight edge, to ensure that it is straight when you fix the two pieces together.

Another issue with thin materials is the relative lack of material for screws to bite into. Assuming that you use the shortest generally available screws of sufficient strength, say 3.0 or 3.5 x 12mm, you still need to be looking at a 6mm thick base and a 8mm fence to make use of the screws without the ends poking through (and before anyone says it, yes, I know there are such things as #2 x 5/16in screws, but you try finding them in B&Q). Zalso, if you use smaller screws, you'll need a lot more of them.

Timber materials for both the fence and base have a lot going for them - they can be screwed, pinned and/or glued together, for example - if you do need a thin fence to maximise the depth of cut of your saw you may well be better off using a pre-planed hardwood door lipping (maybe 60 x 6mm) glued (D4 PVA) and screwed to a 4mm ply base with smallest screws (e.g. 3.5 x 20mm, pre piloted and countersunk). Thesecscrewsxstick through but are removed once the glue has set. Protect the lot with a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil to protect it when finished