Thread: Im curious

Personally I normally avoid full size sheets but just struggle on my workbench which it 1.8 metres or so long.I cut using a festool track saw with home made track.
I dont have the room for a panel saw nor can justify the expense.

I can't justify the price either. I bought plywood tonight , 26 bucks. I went back and bought a half sheet, 20 bucks. I done that because it's easier to handle but I'm throwing money away

G'day Fozzy,

a frame sitting on saw horses should do the trick, do a google search for "cutting plywood" and then click on images,
this will show you how some people handle this problem.

Another approach is to make a special sawhorse just for the purpose - found this in the festool forum.

Sawhorse fix_04.jpg

regards, Jeff

i have a panel saw

but when im not in range of a panelsaw i just setup 2 sawhorses and lay some sacrificial timbers on it, something that i dont care about cutting 5mm deep into such as wall studs. then i just lay the board down and cut with a circular saw without having to support the offcuts, or worry about what im cutting through beneath the board.

Originally Posted by Jeffen

G'day Fozzy,

a frame sitting on saw horses should do the trick, do a google search for "cutting plywood" and then click on images,
this will show you how some people handle this problem.

Another approach is to make a special sawhorse just for the purpose - found this in the festool forum.

Sawhorse fix_04.jpg

regards, Jeff

My arrangement is similar to the above photograph. I used some 70 x 35mm Pine that I salvaged from a building site (with the builder's permission) to make the grid. The grid locks together with half lap joints, and breaks down for storage. My shed floor is in pretty bad shape with concrete cracks and sunken uneven concrete in places, so I put some adjustable feet on the legs of the saw horses so that I can stop the saw horses from rocking on the uneven concrete.

I also built a torsion box bench top that can sit on top of the grid on the saw horses when I need a 2400 x 1200 assembly bench. I copied my saw horses, grid and torsion box from designs on the Wood Whisperer web site.

Rather than making the grid timbers sacrificial by cutting into them each time I break down a sheet of Ply or MDF, I use a suggestion from Popular Woodworking and bought some cheap 30 mm thick rigid foam insulation from Bunnies. I put the insulation material between the grid and the ply or MDF and when I cut the circular saw cuts into the foam material rather than the grid timbers. The insulation I'm using comes in 600 x 900 sheets, and the four sheets I bought have lasted over a year so far - I usually set the saw so that about half a tooth is exposed under the ply cutting into the foam.

I use a cheap Hitachi Circular Saw in combo with a 50 inch ProGrip Fence from Carbatec (http://www.carbatec.com.au/progrip-fences_c8370) which works well and is a bit cheaper than some of other commercially available circular saw cutting guides out there. There are lots of different workshop built sheet goods cutting guides on the web, if you don't want to buy one. I have thought about buying a Plunge Cut Circular Saw for breaking down ply and MDF, but so far the $100 Hitachi Circular Saw with a good Freud blade does pretty well.

Regards,

Roy

I used this table for a long time. It was made of non structural pine and a couple of cheap folding trestle table legs I got from Crazy Clarks at the time. Top size was 2100x900.

This was easy to fold up and easy to store against the timber rack. With the grid layout it was easy to clamp just about anything of any size and shape together with a batten to run the circular saw against. It got used for a lot more than just breaking down sheet goods. The studs were sacrificial, just cutting a couple of mm into them they were clearly going to last a lifetime of hobby work. I eventually got rid of it after acquiring some full size machinery, principally because of space issues, but I still occasionally wish I had it because of its flexibility.

cuttingtable.jpg

I have cut sheets of ply just on two saw horses - but it depends on how much you are cutting off.
I use a Festool tack saw and tracks, straight cuts with minimal splintering on a sacrificial door or board on two saw horses.

Sometimes it is easier to get the store to cut the sheets down if only to make them more manageable to transport.

G'Day Mick,
I've just used a couple of saw horses with a few lengths of 4x2 across them to support the ply [1 adjacent to the cut line] ,
I use a 2.5mtr length of 25mm RHS Aluminium [square edged] as a straight edge clamped off and run the 7" circular saw along the ply...
Simple and works for me......
Cheers, Peter

Horses, track & saw, sacrificial timber. Smaller pieces I do on the bench with a smaller length of track, and an MDF sacrificial sheet.

A CNC router does away with the need for a panel saw

I built a Paulk workbench which is great for breaking down full sheets of ply/MDF.
I have a cheap track saw but I've also cut sheets on the work bench using a hand-held circular saw and a home made straight edge.
If you don't have enough space to leave the bench set up, it breaks down into 2 smaller, easier to store pieces.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm digging the saw horse one and the one with foldable legs. I have a tool cart I have considered making a box to sit on. I'm thinking in gonna go with the one with foldable legs. I'm a toy maker more than larger items. It seems I have been doing a bunch of larger jobs as of late. I have a facebook page called retro insanity I have started to boost the job hunt

Currently I have not needed to cut sheet goods down but I have a few things coming that I need to cut sheets in half. The saw horse is some thing that I am going to use in the back yard.

I use a couple of the adjustable height 'painter's platforms' that Bunnings sell (also on special this weekend from Aldi in a lighter duty version). set up at least two of them, heave the sheet up on top, rest, get out the Festo rail saw (Aldi and others sell an Asian knockoff from time to time with short rails), cut, reposition, repeat as needed. The wide top of the trestle helps stop the cut panel/s from plummeting onto the concrete when I cut through, and they are also handy for assembly work, painting, hedge/bush trimming and all sorts of other tasks.