Guide rail for circular saws with their own hands
Every person who has used a circular saw at least once knows how difficult it is to make a straight cut. To somehow simplify this task, some people use a special guide. This design helps to make perfectly straight cuts. The guide for the circular saw is created with their own hands.
Circular saw is often used in households for cutting wood
What is a guide bar?
Before you build such a design yourself, you need to familiarize yourself with its basic features.
A guide rail is a special rail that is responsible for sliding the saw forward and backward. In doing so, it restricts the movement of the tool and so it cannot be steered to the left or right.
This device is used not only to ensure a straight cut. It also helps reduce chips where the saw has contact with the wood you are sawing.
Further information! Sometimes guide bars are included with circular saws from Bosch and Interskol.
A guide bar. what is it?
Essentially, a guide rail is a rail that helps ensure that the handheld circular saw slides backwards and forwards, and at the same time prevents the tool from deviating from the sawing line. But a properly made guide will not only ensure a smooth cut, it will also help reduce the number of chips in the area where the material and the saw come into contact.
- Guide rail, made of plywood.
- Ruler rail made of aluminum angle.
- Rail of profile (made of aluminum).
- Ruler, which is made on the basis of the ruler.
- Extendable type carriage on bearings.
The outrigger saw carriage and the mitre saw are the most complicated of all. A guide rail made of plywood or one that is made of profile will be much easier by design features, but this does not mean that the cut that is made with it will not be of the same quality. The difference between these varieties is, for the most part, how convenient it is to use one or the other.
Materials and tools for making circular saw jigs
To make guide bars and other fixtures for working with a circular saw, you will need:
- Electric jigsaw or manual circular saw for cutting blanks;
- The carpenter’s angle for marking out the workpieces;
- Drill for drilling holes for fasteners;
- electric screwdriver or screwdriver with a set of bits;
- clamps.
Making the various fixtures can be divided into several steps:
- development of the sketch and working out the details of the product;
- selection of materials;
- marking out and cutting the material;
- product assembly and setting up.
Circular saw and parallel stop step by step making:
Cut three strips from laminated chipboard 1.Cut a 1 meter wide and 8 cm wide fixture, and then assemble it together to make a U-shaped profile. According to the inner dimensions of the profile make five blanks-inserts for stiffness and insert into the profile, they will create a square cross section, needed stop. The advantage of this stop is that it can be used on both sides of the saw blade (photo left).
Making a guide channel for the stop.
The guide channel for the stop is made of two slats, has a U-shaped profile and is bolted into the end of the circular table, perpendicular to the saw blade.
So, the circular saw and the parallel stop now have a guide channel. Combine everything together, using a small piece of Fiberboard in the shape of an inverted “T”, it will be screwed to the back of the stop and inserted into the guide channel. The width of the channel, depends directly on the thickness of the T-bar Woodchip board, which will ensure a tight placement of the T-bar in the channel.
Align the positions of the stop, using a metal ruler, this will ensure that the stop is parallel to the saw blade. Join, firmly, together the stop and the T-mount piece. Working with the stop, I learned hardwoods are better than Fibreboard, replacing the T-bar from Fibreboard took almost a day. Any misalignment in the finished setup, will result in changes to the overall setup, be prepared for that.
The slots for the original stopper are used in fixing the stopper. The locking mechanism is simple: bolt with thread and nut, hole in the lower strip of the parallel stop, wooden washer. By tightening the bolt, the block pulls the stop down toward the tabletop and clamps very firmly.
Straightness of cut is a critical issue when working with a hand-held circular saw. There are two concepts for ensuring a straight line:
Circular saw proper fixation on the sawing machine (workbench).
In this design, the hand tool is permanently attached to the table and the workpiece moves along a guide. Quality of the cut is excellent, but there are serious limitations on the size of the material to be cut.
The workpiece is clamped in a stationary position and a guide ruler is set for the hand circular saw.
In this design, the size of the workpiece to be cut can be any size, the main thing is to ensure that the circular saw fixture is firmly attached. Manufacturers of hand tools have taken care of the users, and offer for sale a variety of ready-made devices.
Industrially made rails are convenient and safe. As a rule, they are equipped with a precise marking ruler, some allow you to set the angle of the cutting. Material is chosen in such a way as to avoid jamming and backlash during tool movements.
Groove and runner pair is protected against penetration of sawing products and does not need to be lubricated.
However, all of these kits have a high cost, and many home craftsmen make a rail for.
Let’s consider variants, independently invented and created by homebrew “hobbyists”.
IMPORTANT! Hand circular saw is source of high injury rate, therefore, when making home-made devices on its basis, it is necessary to adhere to safety rules.
Guide types
The entire arsenal of this type of attachment can be classified by several features that ensure the performance of tasks in the processing of workpieces. Most often, the division into subtypes is carried out depending on the design that the guide bar has. Depending on their design, they can be:
In addition to their design, they can be divided according to the following features:
- Depending on the design of the circular saw, its cutting organ, additional functions of the tool. rail type, flat bars, with angle stops, with roller carriage.
- According to their size. short 0,8-1,1 meter, medium length up to 1,4-1,8 meter, long over 1,8 meters.
- Presence of additional devices and functions that expand possibilities of work. ruler for hand circular saw, device for curved cuts, limiter.
- Material. aluminum, plastic, metal, wood.
- The presence of removable additional devices. protractor, limiters, interchangeable bars, guides, locks.
Guide bars are usually designed by manufacturers for their line of circular saws, so it is quite possible that you will not be able to buy a device for a particular model of circular saw in a regular store. In the case of universal guides, the number of operations is usually reduced to a minimum. cutting the material and machining the ends. To work with curvilinear lines or to make a cut of a certain length you will have to use special proprietary guides or try to make them yourself.
The guide rail for the circular saw is a metal rail
Working with a guide rail requires some experience and skill, because you have to apply different forces to the saw body when working: pressing the saw against the template and pushing it forward.
It is also important that the edge of the saw blade is parallel to the disk, which is not always the case, especially if it is a simple, inexpensive tool.
In this case another variant of the guide bar is available. The saw’s movement will be along the metal rail, not against the ruler. That way you can apply a small amount of force just to move the tool forward to make the cut. A metal template, unlike a wooden one, allows a more precise cut and lasts longer.
Diagram of a guide rail for a circular saw.
To make a guide rail you will need:
- 2 aluminum U-shaped profiles: one smaller and one larger;
- Sheets of plywood or Fiberboard 3 and 10 mm thick;
- screws and self-tapping screws.
Preparing the circular saw to work with the guide rail:
Diagram for mounting the guide bar for the circular saw.
In practice this guide rail has proven to be excellent, the circular saw moves smoothly and the cut is straight.
The picture. 2 and 3 you can see the finished construction.
Other types of circular saw guide
Template blanks
If it is necessary to make several identical parts, the first part can serve as a guide template. To do this, cut the workpiece to the required length, and attach a stop rail at one end. It should be the same width as the working distance. It is necessary to ensure that the stop rail fits tightly to the end face of the part to be made. This gives you the necessary number of identical pieces without time-consuming marking.
Cutting angle
This attachment can also be useful. It is made of two solid wooden or plywood slats, held together with an overlap in a T-shape by self-tapping screws.
The length of the protruding parts of the horizontal bar is aligned to a size equal to the working distance of the circular saw. By setting the aligned end of the rung against the marking, you can make the cut exactly perpendicular.
Edge stop
As a rule, a circular saw comes with an edge stop or an angle stop. It enables a parallel cut to be made to the edge of the material. This device, if necessary, can be made by yourself. For this you need 15mm plywood, from which you make a rail and a saw blade base. Use a hand router to make the keyways in the rail and in the base. Make dowels from pieces of hardwood or plywood and insert them into the guide rail grooves. To reinforce the stop, mount another rail at a 90° angle to the stop rail. It will rest on the workpiece to be machined. Adjust the distance of the saw from the edge of the workpiece by moving the guide rail along the guide rails, then fix it with the stop screw.
To install a screw, you need to cut a through groove in the base. To cut as precisely as possible and to make the work safe use 2 screws. In the basement is made a hole under the saw blade and mounting under the saw itself. There can be different fasteners.
Their choice depends on the type and brand of circular saw. But the main thing is that this attachment must be reliable and allow for easy dismantling of the circular saw when the work is finished. To make it easy to set the necessary width of the material to be cut, a measuring tape must be fastened to the front side of the base.
“Saddle” to cut the bars
This device consists of three parts and is U-shaped: two sides and a back. The width of the back should be equal to the width of the bar to be sawn. The width of the sides must be wide enough to support the edge of the circular saw bed until the saw blade enters the beam. The sawblades must have grooves in them to securely clamp the saddle to the cutout.
- mark out the line for the trimmer cut;
- fix the “saddle” by setting aside a distance equal to the working distance from the cut line;
- cut the bar by moving the saw along the side surface of the “saddle.
The main advantage of this device is that when cutting a beam that is thicker than the saw blade’s reach, there is no need to readjust it at all. To do this, make 2 saw approaches from opposite sides of the bar.
The “saddle” design can be improved in a similar way to the upgraded guide bar. To do this, on 1 or 2 sides of the bar, you need to attach bars, giving a distance equal to the working. This gives the circular saw sole a foothold. So the edge of the sidewall will correspond to the cutting line.
As you can see, it is quite possible to make guide bars and various other accessories for circular saws yourself. There are different ways of making them. Some of these require very little time and effort, while others will require more care, skill, and additional materials. But the effort you put in later on will be well worth it, because you can cut accurate and precise workpieces easily and enjoyably, saving time at the same time.
Guide rail for circular saw
The proprietary circular saw guide rail costs almost as much as the saw itself. Nevertheless, the device is very important. Why? When it is used, is it possible to do without it, can it be replaced by something, or can it be made by one’s own hand?? The circular saw guide has many advantages during work. This article describes these advantages, and gives answers to different questions. Here is a look at making a guide bar with your own hands.
Anyone who has ever used a circular saw knows how difficult it can be to get a straight cut. Though you try to guide the tool along the marking it tends to wiggle. If this happens, it turns out that time is wasted and the material is ruined.
Some people get out of the situation by attaching a pair of clamps to the bar on the ruler. But this method is inconvenient with a manual circular saw, because the screw clamps hurt the tool.
Other arguments for the guide rail:
- With the use of the rule you need to tweak it all the time. The tool is set with a small indentation from the cutting line, so that the disc is exactly in line. This method is only suitable for single applications. Takes a long time if many precise cuts are required.
- The guide bar is designed in such a way that its edge exactly matches the cutting line. All that remains is to align the two strips and get to work.
- Quality bars are additionally glued with a soft tape that prevents material chipping, such as fiberboard or laminate.
- It is inconvenient to saw and watch the position of the rule at the same time. Pressing too hard or not pressing hard enough will ruin the material. Circular saw with guide bar only requires the saw to be advanced.
Making at home
The main thing is to keep the geometry exactly right. The substrate can be:
The serious disadvantage of wooden and pressed guide bars is the sensitivity to moisture.
Option 1. Laminate blade.
- Using the ruler, cut two pieces of material of equal length.
- Mill one edge at a time.
- Attach to the base (also laminate) with self-tapping screws.
- The width of the groove can be checked using an A4 sheet of paper with a thickness of about 0.11mm: insert the paper into the device and screw down.
- The guide rail is secured to the circular saw’s underside with a side support bracket. You can drill a hole in the case if the warranty has expired.
- The rail extends as far as possible in front of the handheld circular saw. The nose of the soleplate should overlap the guide rail by a few centimetres. With the disk for sawing laminate we saw off the edges of the guides, so that they coincided with the marking.
This will absorb the depth of cut (about 1.5 cm), but such a device is convenient and easy to make.
Option 2. A building rule serves as a base. The model with grooved handles would work.
- The handles are removed and replaced by spring-loaded, softly clamping clamps. Models with removable tops are also suitable. After removing the upper part, the clamping base is secured to the ruler with an adapter.
- Adapters are made of polypropylene on a milling machine. The result should be parts that resemble the letter “T” in section. They are inserted tightly into the groove for the handles.
- Holes are drilled in the “leg” of the adapters and the screws are screwed on with the clamps.
- The rail is placed on the sheet with the groove down and then clamped well from the bottom. No braking parts for the circular saw from above. Only the length of the rule limits the work.
Option 3. To get an accurate cut, it is necessary that the edge of the tool base, adjacent to the guide, be perfectly flat. Professional tools with molded soles have this feature, but inexpensive stamped bases do not have this feature. That is why we offer the rail version. The tool slides along it without resting against the guide rail. At the same time the effort required to push the saw is considerably reduced. The rail can be made of aluminum U-shaped profile. Two pieces with different cross sections are needed. The smaller profile is inserted into the larger profile without a gap, but it must be free to move.
Now you can make your own rail:
- Screw the larger guide rail to the plywood. The heads of the screws and self-tapping screws are ground so that they can be flush-mounted.
- On both sides of the guide, plates of plywood 0 are pressed tightly together and screwed in place. Plywood can be replaced by chipboard.
Cut off the extra lengths and the rail is ready.
Prepare the hand saw:
- A small profile is inserted into the rail and the height of the “feet” is removed, so that the profile fits flush.
- The profile is cut parallel to the saw blade and fastened to the base plate. A pair of M 4 wing bolts is used for this purpose. If the circular saw’s platform is flat and of good quality, its edge can be adhered to.
- The hand saw is placed on the guide rail by inserting into the guide rail the profile. We turn on the tool and saw off the excess width of the strip.
For a perfect cut, the rail edge is overlaid on the marking and the rail is attached with screw clamps. With the guide rail, the saw moves smoothly and doesn’t wobble, cuts precisely and feeds easily.
Materials and tools required
Before you start making the design, you need to familiarize yourself with the list of necessary tools and materials:
- wood pieces: panels, plywood, laminate;
- bars of wood with a thickness of 10 cm or more;
- Self-tapping screws, screws, bolts or nuts;
- a drill with drills;
- screwdrivers or an electric screwdriver.
information! The above tools should be prepared in advance, so that they are at hand during the creation of the guide.
Detailed instructions for making
To make a tire for a circular saw yourself, it is necessary to familiarize yourself in advance with the basic rules of making it.
From plywood
Plywood is often used in the creation of the tire The plywood construction is made in several consecutive steps:
- Disconnect the circular saw from the power source.
- Measure the distance from the saw blade to the groove, which is on the support platform.
- Cut the plywood strip so that its width is one millimeter less than the distance obtained in the previous point.
- Fasten the strip to a wide plywood piece.
- Attach a second strip parallel to the base of the tool.
Important! Before making the rail yourself, you need to create a drawing with accurate calculations.
Alu profile guide rail
Some people want to make a sturdier, better design. To do this, they use an aluminum profile. The only serious difference between these products and the plywood ones is that an aluminium U-profile is inserted into the guide gap. With its help it is possible to increase the rigidity of the entire structure many times over. This also increases the accuracy of the cut.
When creating aluminum busbars, thick plywood is often used as stoppers. However, it is better to mount several PTFE plates instead. This material is more effective because it has a low coefficient of friction.
Other varieties
The construction rule is often used as a guide rail Making a guide rail for a circular saw with your own hands is possible from a rail saw. This tool is most commonly used when cross-cutting materials. It consists of two angles, which are connected in parallel with each other. Their ends must be attached to an iron or plywood base.
If the guide rail will be used in a circular saw, it must be attached using metal studs or bolts. The structure has to be mounted at a higher height so that it is not in contact with the work surface.
Additional information! Some use a ruler from a building rule as a guide rail. However, this design is not very convenient, as it must be adjusted before each use.
Varieties
The range of circular tools produced by Interskol is impressive. There are many power tool models, including DP 235m 2000m, DP 165 1200, DP 210 1900, DP 190 1600, DP 225. And to choose the best solution, it is necessary to rely solely on the individual needs of a particular customer.
The variety of sawing tools on the market today can be divided into two large groups:
- Manual. From the name it is clear that the work they do by hand. Of the advantages of these devices should be noted high mobility, ease of operation due to well thought-out ergonomics and design.
- Stationary. The main differences between these models are related to their design: these models include a guide rail, as well as measuring rulers, a marking applied to the working table. The main advantage of such devices is that with their help it is possible to ensure a higher precision of cutting materials.
There is also another classification of Interskol saws, where the main feature of division is their scope of use. Depending on the purpose of use, two groups of power tools can be distinguished:
Circular saw guide bar with our own hands
Everybody, who has ever sawed with a circular saw or jigsaw, knows how difficult it is to make a straight cut without a guide rail. No matter how hard you try to guide the tool along the line, it still deviates, and as a result you get an uneven cut.
(Google image)
It is possible to saw straight using the old tried-and-true method by clamping a guide rail, or panel. But it’s not always convenient, especially with a handheld circular saw. The saw’s motor will engage the clamps.
Picture taken: http://al-pascom/70050.html
In power tool stores you can buy guide bars. Their cost is approximately from 2000-10000 There are universal and there are those that fit to specific tools or line of tools of a certain manufacturer. (like that guide rail in the first picture)
Since my next home-built project required straight sawing (and apparently will need it often in the future), and I did not want to spend a lot of money, I came up with the idea of making a handy guide with my own hands.
After a walk through the Moskvorets market looking for something suitable among aluminum profiles, it turned out that there is nothing suitable: Either angles, or swivels, or pipes, or bars, but none of these things fit without substantial and costly rework.
Completely unexpectedly stumbled upon what is needed in a completely different place. At the stall where they sold everything for repairing the apartment, I found this right#769il.
Rule JYC-2000D-2 (a tool used for aligning walls). Only for 400r
The handles slide along the right groove and can be mounted in any position. If it can be removed, it can be replaced by wire clamps.
In Leroy Merlin I bought these handy clamps. Only 98
Unlike classic clamps, these are very easy to clamp the workpiece, quickly moved apart to the required size. And another big plus of this clamp for my task was that it has a removable top. After removing it, you can attach through an adapter to the right.
But of course there are no ready-made adapters. And I made it out of a piece of polypropylene.
Although this design is not very suitable as a milling machine, but while my own milling machine I have not finished yet, I had to mill on what was attached with self-tapping screws coordinate table on the previously made drill stand.
I milled the part step by step to the desired size and shape. Unfortunately at that moment the cutter was shorter than needed. I had to grind in several steps.
(On photo those new machine tool vise, which I bought recently accidentally having arrived on a flea market in Novopodrezkovo)
As a result of the milling process I got the following adapters:
Fits perfectly
Having drilled necessary holes in the adapter, I fastened it to the clamps.
The finished result:
This is how the guide will hold on to the workpiece. And there are no superfluous objects on top that would interfere with the saw’s operation.
Now I can comfortably fix the guide on the panel and saw evenly.