How to make a ruler for a circular saw

Homemade circular saw with a direct drive

Stationary circular saw. this is the machine, which should be in the workshop of every craftsman working with wood. With its help you can quickly and effortlessly saw a board, cut billets of required dimensions, saw firewood.

Home handyman just have to get such a machine. It is not necessary to buy it, a homemade circular saw is guaranteed to cope with the volume of work of the home workshop, while costing significantly less.

Working element

Special discs for cutting wood are used as a working element. They look very similar to stationary wood saw blades. Their difference is the diameter of the landing hole. They are inexpensive and can be bought from almost any construction store.

Such a disk is mounted like any other disk. it is put on the spindle and tightened with the securing nut.

We also recommend reading this interesting article with 10 tips to help you choose a hand held circular saw. circular saw.

Desktop small circular saw

A manual circular saw can easily be converted to a table-top design of small dimensions.

To do this, you need to make a U-shaped frame from a pipe or rod 15-20 mm and attach the lever. The lower part of the frame must be bent along the cutting direction until it is horizontal, and then fastened to the table with self-tapping screws. To make the construction stable you can install additional brackets.

On the horizontal crossbeam you need to put a rotating arm made of a T-shape pipe.

Scheme for checking the functionality of a circular saw.

It is necessary to cut the transverse part of the element into two parts. Once the structure is installed, you will need to fasten the elements with clamps. To the end of the vertical part of the clamp to tighten the hand saw, which was made.

A similar design can also be used as a cutting device, for which you will need to install a standard cutting wheel in the angle grinder. However, in this case, the thickness of the cut will not exceed 70-80 mm, everything will depend on the diameter of the working element. In order to be able to process large thicknesses of lumber, you will need a full-fledged circular saw.

Miniature machine from the engine from a washing machine

The circular saw is characterized by extreme simplicity and the availability of materials for its manufacture. Perhaps the only expensive part is the electric motor. Stationary machines are equipped with a powerful asynchronous motor, which provides a cut of thick wood of any species, but in the home workshop you can be limited to a smaller capacity.

Note! For sawing boards of average thickness, it is enough to make with your own hands a circular table with a drive from the engine of a washing machine.

This design has several advantages. The engine from an old washing machine is inexpensive, moreover, such a unit will probably be found in the household of a household handyman. Wiring of this motor is not especially difficult, there is no need to look for schemes, no need to deal with soldering. With all that, the power of such a machine is quite enough for most types of work.

The machine layout can be simplified as much as possible by eliminating the belt drive. In this variant the cutting tool will be attached directly to the motor shaft. The mini table saw is based on a frame made of 40 x 40 mm bars. If desired, it can be welded from an angle or profile pipe.

As a support (table top) of the circular saw, a part of an old TV set, coated chipboard, and a piece of wood will work perfectly. As practice shows, this part is characterized by sufficient strength, and thanks to the lacquer coating does not prevent the workpiece from sliding.

In the table top with the electric jigsaw perpendicular to the notch under the disk make two parallel cuts. A sliding angle will slide along it, acting as a side stop. It will help to make an even cut, if necessary, at a given angle.

Stationary machine

Those who plan to seriously engage in woodworking should think about the manufacture of a full-fledged stationary circular saw. It must be a separate unit mounted on the workbench, equipped with a powerful motor, with the ability to quickly replace the disc. On making their own hands such a circular saw will have to spend time, but it is sure to pay for itself.

Despite the apparent simplicity of this device, it is worth creating a drawing of the machine before starting work. This will allow you to visually see the future machine, choose the optimal configuration.

Stand

The basis of any machine is the base, the frame on which all the main parts are mounted. The bed of the circular saw must be stable and reliable, so it is made of metal. It is preferable to use a profile pipe or thick-walled angle. To connect the parts use welding. If demountable construction is planned, the connection on the bolts will do.

Buy the right material is not difficult, in any specialized hardware store can pick up and pipe and angle. Those who want to save money can be recommended to turn to scrap metal dealers. From them you can buy the same, but cheaper.

Tabletop

The best material for the manufacture of the table top of a professional circular saw is metal. Steel and aluminum-based alloys are excellent. For budget variant it is possible to be limited by thick plywood, upholstered with sheet iron. In any case, the surface of the tabletop must be smooth, resistant to friction and not sag under the weight of 50 kg.

On the table top make a groove under the disk. It can be made in two ways. You can make a kerf in a solid sheet, or you can assemble a tabletop of two halves. The second method is preferable for metal worktops, which is difficult to make a cut at home.

Attach parallel stop on table top. The best material for this, regardless of the table material, is steel angle. To fix it, make grooves or use heavy-duty clamps.

Motor

The motor of the future circular saw is chosen depending on the available disc. If you plan to work with small disks, with a diameter of 150-170 mm, you can be limited to the electric motor power of about 0.5 kW. For disc diameters of 350 mm and more you need to look for a unit of 1 kW or more.

If desired, you can make a sawing machine for work outside the workshop, for this it is enough to provide the possibility of installing a gasoline engine of small power, it can be removable.

Turning gear

Optimal drive for the circular saw is V-belt drive. Two pulleys are used, one on the motor and one on the drive shaft. It is convenient and safe. There is no direct connection between motor rotor and blade, in case of tool jamming the belt will slip signaling the necessity to switch off the power supply. Also, using pulleys with multiple arms, of different diameters, it is possible to adjust the speed of the saw, choosing the best mode for different wood.

Rotation from the motor rotor is transferred to the shaft. This is one of the most critical parts of the circular saw. It is hardly possible to make the shaft by yourself, it is better to buy ready-made or order from the turner.

The shaft is mounted on bearings. They should be of the closed type: circular sawing place and open ones will not last long.

Guide

For cuts of large-sized and long timber on the table, a long guide rod for the circular saw, made by hand, will be used.

The basis in this case is (8-10 mm) plywood strip longer than the size of the cut sheet. The bar itself can be made of wood (bar thickness of 15-20 mm) or U-shaped profile metal. The guide bar is fastened to the base plate with glue or screws. On one side of it should be a narrow edge of the base, enough to fasten it to the sheet with clamps. On the other side, the first cut is made with the saw on the base. After that, the edge of the base will coincide exactly with the place of the circular disk passage. When working, it is combined with marking on the sheet, fixing the stop and sawing the sheet.

Easy steps for setting up the circular saw

The circular saw is the basic equipment for lumbering. When sawing precise pieces of wood, a quality cut is very important. If significant errors are made during the processing of the lumber, the workpiece will be crooked and the product will be sloppy. Every carpenter should know how to properly set up a circular saw in order to assemble truly quality woodwork.

Adjusting the guide slot on the table and the blade

The first thing to do to properly set up the circular saw is to align the guide grooves on the tabletop strictly parallel to the cutting disc. For this, it is necessary to have a caliper handy. It is easy to achieve a perfect alignment of guide bar and cutting tool. The error should not be more than 0,05 mm. Otherwise, even a slight deviation will be detrimental to the processing of the lumber.

Checking the parallelism of the saw stops

Now you need to adjust the parallelism of the stop with the slot or spline. As in the previous setting, the maximum permissible error should not exceed 0.05 mm. When the block stop is not parallel, the board will move too much to the side when cutting, resulting in a very jaggy finish and a neat finish in the sawblade.

Adjustment of the riving knife

It is very important that the riving knife is in line with the blade. Adjustment of its position is carried out by placing U-washers under the mount on the side where the knife is displaced. If there are no U-shaped washers in the equipment set, they can be made by yourself from sheet steel.

If it is necessary to remove the riving knife, it is advisable to remember which washers are located on different sides of its holder. This prevents you from having to adjust the machine all the time.

Reliable locking of the machine settings

Once the circular saw adjustment is completely finished: circular saw blade is correctly aligned, parallelism of guides and table top is set, fixing bolts must be tightened reliably. The machine emits a lot of vibration in the course of operation, which can cause a loose fit and result in settings getting out of alignment. This can cause damage to the workpiece.

All of these setup procedures can be done in a few minutes. It is desirable to carry out from time to time diagnostics of the adjusted settings of the equipment, so that the timber blanks are always of high quality.

Circular saw and parallel stop step by step making:

Cut three strips of laminated chipboard 1.1 m and 8 cm wide, and then assemble them together to make a U-shaped profile. According to the inner dimensions of the profile make five blanks, inserts for rigidity and inserted into the profile, they will create a square cross-section, the required 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.

So, the circular saw and the parallel stop now have a guide channel. Put 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, directly depending on the thickness of the T-shaped piece Woodchip board, which will ensure a tight placement of the T-shaped piece in the channel.

Slots for the original stop are used in securing the stop. The locking mechanism is simple: threaded bolt and nut, hole in the bottom strip of the parallel stop, wooden washer. Tightening the bolt, the block pulls the stop down to the table top and clamps very firmly.

For the prize of the most beautiful design emphasis does not stretch, but it is made from wood waste and laminate, came in and unused from the factory devices bolts, nuts. Changing the kerf dimensions is now quick and much easier compared to the original stop system. The resulting recesses in the stop “s” I use to store pencils, tape measure, ruler and other necessary tools, as they say, they are “always on hand.

How to make a ruler and stop on a circular saw

But the same devices can be made or improved with your own hands.

And experience will sooner or later lead to completely homemade devices (as they are called) that, for all their simplicity, can make sawing much easier and save time.

Parallel stop

The common parallel stop for a circular is a good example of how a small addition can make a big difference. Almost every handheld circular saw is equipped with a parallel stop to cut a set width longitudinally. This is a really useful device.

One staff stop has one disadvantage. For safety reasons it is set at values that allow a cut of less than 20-25 mm in width.

This is done so that the stop does not interfere with the movement of the saw fence.

But it is enough to attach the wooden block to the parallel rod of the ordinary stop, and its possibilities will be increased, and the minimum width of cutting will not be limited in any way.

Note! Keep safety in mind. when making cuts of less than 15 mm the rod does not allow the guard to cover the saw blade.

Support for cross and angle cuts

Also often used for cross cuts. With it, cut-off saws pass quickly and accurately at a 90° angle. This Accent is also used for cutting boards.

Its base is a 10 mm thick sheet of plywood. On it, glue or screws fix a guide bar or rail at least 20 mm high.

An abutment, perpendicular to the guide rail, is attached to the underside of the base and made of the same rod.

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The excess part of the base (from the rail to the saw blade) is cut off. Since this distance is different for each handheld circular saw model, adaptations are always made individually. Clamps are usually attached to the material to be worked.

Advanced craftsmen make their fixtures from wooden washers, one of which is shaped like an eccentric. Clamping is done with the wing nut on the screw. Such a clamping device allows you to very quickly fix the stopper on lumber of different widths.

If you install the same rod on the other side of the guide, but clamp at a 45° angle to the first, and then cut the base part at a 45° angle, then you get an angled universal stop for both 45° and 90° cuts.

A more versatile angle stop design will be obtained if the rod is turned. And to observe the angle, you can follow the protractor attached to the apex. It should be noted that to make a protractor for circulars with your own hands.

Stopping the saddle

If you have to abruptly copy a lot of identical bars, then it is worth taking the time to create a simple saddle fence. its use is more than the return on the minutes spent. The saddle stop is particularly effective when cutting thick beams, for which the saw blade requires two cuts from different sides.

Simple parallel stop (ruler) for the circular saw

Simple parallel stop (ruler) for circular saw. Ruler on the circular saw (variant from AlfFisher):.

Quick-fixing clamping ruler support for saw table with your own hands

Any carpentry shop is not without a circular saw with a sawing table, and a sawing table is not.

U-shaped stop. Base. The board is 25 mm thick, its width is exactly the same as the thickness of the lumber.

10-mm plywood sides attached to the base. The width of the sidewalls must be wider than the width of the bar to support the circular spacer until the saw blade makes contact with the bar.

The saddle is placed on the beam at a distance from the mark of the cut, which corresponds to the working distance to the blade of the saw, and through the side walls are clamped to the beam. Using the sidewall as a support for the saw area, the cut is made. If the thickness of the beam is such that one cut is insufficient, it is reversed and the other cut is drilled out. The stop position is not changed at all.

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Guide

For cutting large-sized and long lumber on the table, a long guide rod for the circular saw, made by hand, will be used.

The base in this case is a (8-10 mm) plywood strip longer than the size of the sheet to be cut. The guide rail itself can be made of wood (bar 15-20 mm thick) or U-shaped profile metal. The bar is fastened to the base with glue or screws.

On one side of it should be a narrow edge of the base, enough to attach to the sheet with clamps. On the other hand, the first cut is made with the saw on the base. After that the edge of the base will be exactly aligned with the place of the circular saw blade.

When working, it is combined with marking on the sheet, fixing the support and sawing the sheet.

Edge guard

This is already quite a complex device, requiring time and precision in production. This allows you to cut parallel to the edge of the cut material. It will be helpful to make a drawing before starting work, so as not to miss the dimension.

Generally speaking, such an Accent is made on a set of circular saw, but its short length does not always ensure an even cut. Large size and desired strength requires making a support base, made of plywood with a thickness of at least 15 mm.

You can also make a rigid bar out of it.

• Longitudinal slots are made in the base for keys;
• Solid wood keys are attached to the table;
• between the longitudinal grooves, another through-hole is made to secure the stop bar while working;
• A hole is cut in the base under the circular circular saw blade;
• on the sides of the base there are limiting rods for the installation of the round section, and clamps are provided for its secure fixation.