Simple SHopmade Crosscut Jig for beginners

[NewLou]

Gidday everyone

Just thought I'd do a post on a simple crosscut jig I made up for my circular powersaw.................For a beginner like me I found this jig easy and fun to make. Best of all consistant n repeatable crosscuts are now achieveable from a $20.00 sheet of 16mm mdf a few offcuts of pine glue and some dowells. As with all jigs this helps me to get the most out of my hitachi circular saw.

I've sealed the edges of the MDF with a fifty/fifty mixture of PVA glue and water which is commonly referred to as glue size i'll do a final finish with lacquer providing an effective moisture barrier minimising any movement in the JIG which would mean my crosscuts will go out. (Don't want that) Also going to rub a bit of wax into the rails to help the foot of the saw run smoothly.

The only addition i'm thinking of making is drilling some dog holes for some veritas style wonder pups so that i can push the stock firmly up against the fence.........................any further ideas on how to keep the stock firmly pushed up against the fence to ensure accurate crosscuts appreciated.

Regards Lou

[CHJ]

I would make the Back Fence the reference fence, then the natural pressure of cutting action will hold wood against fence.

[sjm]

Agreed.
It would also help to reduce tearing/chipping as the blade breaks through the trailing edge of the timber.

steve

[Sturdee]

Lou,

Firstly congratulations on building another jig to make things easier and accurate for you and sharing with us.

Some observations for you to consider that may improve your jig.

1. I agree that the back fence should be used for holding the timber against.

2. Instead of dog holes & wonderpups I would use my holddowns http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=7990 or toggle clamps. They will hold the work firmly against the fence and are easy to use.

3. For safety reasons I would fully enclose the saw blade at the end of its run after it has passed through the fence by boxing it in. Especially as you haven't got a dedicated workshop.

4. You may want to incorporate a flip up /down moveable stops for repetition work and glue on a tape measure on the fence.

Of course if you incorporate these it is no longer a simple jig and you may want to protect it by putting in a sacrificial base of say masonite so it does not cut your good jig. :D


Peter.

[NewLou]

thx for the advise fellas,

Unfortunately the top fence is a little bit out of square so i loath to use it as the reference fence.................in addition you'll notice that the present reference fence is twice as thick spot on square and dressed with some sacrificial pine for clamping.

As you can see theres cuts in the reference fence either side of the sled to allow downward clamping. its some kind of clamping pressure that I require to incorporate into the present Jig to push stock up against the reference fench that i need help with..................thus the idea of dog holes and wonder pups to push the stock up against the fence.

I'm open to any other ideas particularly better ones!!!!!! Sturdee your spot on with boxing up the blade as it finishes its run i've posted a pic of a clamp that i accidently left in the road and managed to guage out a great piece of thread (lucky wasent a major disaster).

Sturdee what are your ideas on the flip up down stops? as per point 4. I think this would be a great idea!!!!!

I'm toying with the idea of making a sled for the foot of the circular saw which rides on full extension drawer slides ideally the ball bearing type that runs as smooth as butter. these are often found in commercial high end tool cabenet drawers.....................do you guys think this would work ??? all ideas and suggestions appreciated.

Would appreciate more feedback from all the jig builders .................. I reckon we can come up with a Ripper of a crosscut Jig for the fraction of the cost of a power mitre saw!!!!

Regards Lou

[gatiep]

Lou


Congratulations on a very simple BUT effective jig.

I think that you are looking for trouble with the RSPCA if you use dogs and pups, ;) , but they will always be in the wrong place because Murphy is the most active person in the universe.

I would suggest a few different size wedges. Place ur wood inbetween the fences, slide in two opposing wedges and " Hey presto" they push the wood against the front fence.

QED


Ragards

:)

[Sturdee]

Lou,

The nick in the clamp wasn't what worried me about the saw being unguarded. Clamps are cheap enough but if you have young kids and they manage to touch the spinning blade :eek: especially as it must be difficult to keep them away when working outside.

The moveable stops are shown in the photo of the extension fence to my SCMS. http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=5386&page=2&pp=19 They slide in that famous sailtrack and the stop flips up and away when not needed.

Peter.

[NewLou]

yER the kids are locked in when the sharps come out!!! (Always safety first
) AFter a bit of looking round and trying to come up with a solution I thought that some kind of cam locking set up might be the go.............Just something along the lines of a tear drop type shape held with a short handle (thin end) held in by 19mm drog hole! ............I'll post a drawing once i work out how to draw it

regards Lou

[LineLefty]

Lou,

I too am restircted to a circular saw and have read this post with some interest. I've tried - and failed - to make a similar jig for ripping with the saw guided from above on steel angle. I just couldnt find a way to raise/lower the guide rails to sit on top of the timber. When your cross cutting its OK to have a gap between the sawplate and the timber but not when ripping a long cut :(

Now I havent built your jig so my comments might be out of line but:

It seems to me that your concentrating too much on clamping and smoothly guiding the saw. What matters the most getting the fence and the rails dead set absolutely square.

How did you do this? Did you simply draw a line with a trisquare and then glue/screw to that? I had a ***** of a time trying to get my fence square for a shooting board using that method, but I couldnt think of anything else.

With regards to your good fence being the front one, why not just turn jig around and run the saw the other way?

Another point, rather than drilling dog holes and using wonderdogs, you could simply drill two holes in your 'bad fence" whack a T-nut in and use some threaded rod to secure the stock against the good fence.

[LineLefty]

Another thing, rather than gluing and screwing a two pieces to form your guide rails, why not just cut a rabbet on each to form your guide rail. It removes one more source of error (if you have a router)

[NewLou]

Gidday LineLefty

These are great questions for those of us who haven't got a fully decked out workshop .................. I'd love to get some feedback from forum members bout making an intermediate crosscut cut Jig........................A project I'll do once I get a router............

Heres a forum link to a post I started some weeks ago now shows pics of how I put the Jig together:

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=13045

For Ripping I'm going to go with the EZ smartguide till I can afford a high quality table saw keep an eye out on Dean's Website:

http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com/toolreviewindex.htm

Theres a whisper that he may be posting a review in the next month or two

......................For me to it was a real challenge to get everthing as close to perfectly square as I could (In the end I think I was using three squares to finally get it right (And I'm sure you'll agree that the picture of the blade kurf [cut line] in the bottom of the Jig looks true.............Regardless I agree its a real hassle an pain to get right.......but at the same time worth the effort.

I agree the importance of getting the fence and rails true.............also though I think that its real important to get the foot of the saw running through the rails as smoothly as possible. I'm experimenting with some T - Track ideas and would be great to get some feedback about this from yourself and other forum members.

Thx for the feedback on the Jig I'll make a few Mods and do some posts once shes done................................The good fence is at the front so that I can clamp the Jig where ever I want if its at the back it restricts clamping options to straight flat surfaces.

Perhaps you could make a similar Jig Lefty then we might combine the best features of both Jigs :confused: Hopefully some of these Old Jiggers I'll get in on the act soon.....................Heres hopin

Regards Lou

[bsrlee]

I hope I'm wrong here, but it looks like you are cutting towards the open end of the rails? And the saw is dragging itself into the wood to be cut?

What is there to stop the saw rearing up & taking off if something goes wrong? I was under the impression that it was preferable for the saw to push itself back towards the operator and push the cut timber away from the operator.

Anyway, I am going to have to build one of those as my Triton won't cut more than ~14" in overhead mode, and I use 16"/40cm wide panels a lot.

It looks like your saw would throw any cut off bits back towards you if the clamping failed (or the timber split on a hidden fault)

[NewLou]

Gidday Bsrlee :)

Yer good points particularly in regards to the issue of kickback and safety...........I'm no expert so not sure how you would go about addressing these issues..............let us know how your design goes when you knock one up [solutions]!!!!..............I guess at the end of the day to make the Jig super safe the best way would be to create some kind of barrier between the stock and the user...............perspex, plastic,flywire etc etc etc All feedback appreciated!!

Regards Lou :)

[LineLefty]

Lou,

A question on this EZ smart Guide. Have you got one yet?

Circ saws and guide systems are great for cutting panel and shet goods, but what about for ripping smaller stock say a piece 70mmx30mmx1m. Theres not enough surface area to rest the gudie on let aloen the circular saw base.

I've mused and thought over this and I've got a few ideas. Obviously the first one didnt work! But wait theres more!.........soon.

[NewLou]

Gidday Lefty,

Haven't made the final purchase of the EZ smart guide yet as I've decided to purchase a router first (Lack of Coin :o ) have a look at this link to see how the Ez Smartguide gets round your issue:

http://www.eurekazone.com/images/gallery/smartclampingsystem.html

Regards Lou

[LineLefty]

Ok Lou, I've been procrastinating, rather than working and this is what I've been thinking of for ripping timber - not sheetgoods - with a circular saw.

What it involves is the standard circular saw straight edge guide from two sheets of Mdf, say 12mm.

The problem is if you cant just whack a 50cm wide guide on a 70mm piece of timber.

One option would be to place the edge of the guide on the cut line and support the other side with stock of the same thickness. Thats possible but then the guide is not actually 'pressing down' on the timber meaning that if the timber is hanging half over the workbench it wont be secure.

So I've thought whackign a T-nut onto the mdf on the top of the guide at each end as shown. Thread an eye bolt through the holes and drill corresponding holes through the workbench. (My benchtop is only MDF). continue the eyebolts through these holes with a nut either side to the workbench.

This assembly can the be adjusted by simply holding the nut on top of the bench, turning the eyebolt till the jig is level when sitting on the soon-to-be ripped timber. Then tighten the other nut (wingnut?).

Now, to get some clamping pressure to make the stock secure I thought about coutersinking a flathead bolt on each side of the guide as shown. Tighten this down with a nut under the workbench and Robert's your fathers brother.

Rather nthan hanging it of the side of the workbench you could use a sacrificial table grid style table thats been described a million times. The botl hoels would just need to be lined up with the grid members.

See my attached powerpoint mostrosity.

A bit fiddly to be sure but pretty simply to construct.

[NewLou]

Thx for the post Lefty ;)

I hope you follow through with your design and development and post your outcomes...............I'm really interested in how you end up going n hope you get cranking again with it. Heres a few links that you may find handy:

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p=Build/RipCirc.html&rn=RightNavFiles/rightNavTools
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?&cookietest=1&&offerings_id=10548
http://www.benchnotes.com/Skillsaw%20Guide/skillsaw_cutting_guide_boa.htm
http://www.sawdustmaking.com/Circular%20Saws/circular_saws.htm
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/printable.asp?id=1104
http://www.backissuestore.com/sn056.html
http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip021129ws.html
http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip040220sn.html

Hope these help :)

Regards Lou

[LineLefty]

Thanks for those links Lou,
As usual, they all refer to cutting large sheets of plywood, rather than real timber boards.

[Glen Bridger]

Hi Lou,

Well done with your design.
What I think you need to do is take all the ideas onboard and incorporate the ones that suit your requirements. Make sure the improvements work well, and when you're happy with it take the time to build the "perfect" version. Like all great jigs most are preceeded with a pile of prototypes.

Glen.

[NewLou]

Gidday all

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread............After some thought what I have decided to do is do a post on another design quite different to the Sled type Jig we have been recently toying round with. Then do a head to head comparison.

Of note is that its Important with the Sled type crosscut Jig as per origionally posted here to make sure that you use matierial that won't move around with changes in humidity etc. I went to do some crosscutting yesterday and found that the sled for my Jig had moved round a bit (To the point that the foot of the circular saw would nor run along the sled. Now i got to do a bit of paring to get her right..................Not a huge Job but nevertheless a pain and inconvienence (Something you dont want from a JIG!!! my fault as i havent yet sealed it with lacquer or shellac)

To address this issue use:

1. Plywood for construction (Considered seasonally stable)
2. When using MDF use Glue Size a 50/50 mixture of PVA and water to seal the MDF and apply a Final finish of Shellac or Lacquer to provide an effective moisture barrier to your Jigs.

What I hope to achieve is a post for a few Jig options for all us newbies that havent got the luxury of owning a table saw or triton. Hopefully together developing an advanced Jig for Crosscutting with a circular saw. So all you would be Jig builders keep on posting

Regards Lou ;)

[LineLefty]

Lou,

Well, I had 5hours of uninterupted shed time yesterday. Just a pity it was 35 degrees and 50 degrees in the shed. Anyway. I managed to build me a crosscut jig. Sorry I dont have any pictures yet the digicam was out of the house with SWMBO and the little lefty.

Anyhoo, It's basically the same as yours. The front and rear fences are 70x25mm pine. The base is 16mm MDF, but it's much longer than the fences, about 1m in total.

The rails for my GMC platinum saw are two pieces of construction pine. the left rail is 70x30 whiel the rightside one is much wider at 200x30. These were planed perfectly flat and equal thickness.

I screwed the rails onto the fences ad then ran a 12mm wide rebate down both rails for the saw to glide on. I kept deepening this rebate until the saw blade just-just scored the MDF base at full depth (its a 235mm inch saw).

This is where I hit snag. The back fence was screwed at each end. After the first cut it was sawn clean in half allowing it to pivot. I had to painstakingly realign it and screw it down again ad 90degrees.

It work fine for crosscuts perfect 90 degree cuts with the work simply clamped to teh fence. I then tried to cut a small piece 3mm mdf. I couldnt clamp it down and as soon as the saw touch it WHOOSHKA! it was picked up and slammed into the rails. Scared the hoboojeebees out of me.

Ok so now I had to work out a way to keep this type of stock down. I simply put a T-nut in the top of the wider rail and screwed some threaded rod through it with a piece of wood on the end similar to our homemade wonderdogs. Now I know the T-nut should be on hte underside because the clamping action forces it out but it was retro fitted so I had no choice. I had to drill a hole in a small square of mdf and glue it on top of the T-nut to capture it.

Now, safety concerns.
1) The guard lifts nicely when the saw is slid thru but the blade is exposed on the outfeed side. The box-type guard as suggested above would probably be a good simple idea.

2) More worrying though is chance of blade/thumb contact while hold the stock against the fence. For a quick cut you dont bother to clamp and you simply hold the stock with on hand against the fence. In this position my thumb will point towards the blade increasing the likelihood of it being lopped off.

So I need to either ensure that I always clamp the board and use two hands on the saw or create some sort of guard that sits eiter side of the blade and but doesnt get in the way of the stock.

3) Like you I need a place to land the beast so, as my MDF base is over 1m wide I'll make a little cradle to sit my saw with the guard down while it's still spinning. At hte moment it's either lying on it's side of balancing on the end of the bench.

A picture tells a thousand words so I'll post one asap. I was also think of adapting this to ripping. As I said I've tried it before but holding the stock down was the biggest problem..........................

[NewLou]

Can't wait to see the pictures Lefty....................check out this link for my circular saw journey to date You might be interested in the docking bay I made for my saw:

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=13045

I've come across a few interesting designs for crosscut Jigs and I'll do a post once I knock them up. There are an alternative to the Sled Type design and simpler to construct (I Hope :eek: )

Regards Lou

[NewLou]

Gidday Everyone :),

As promised heres another version of a Crosscut Jig for Beginners with a circular hand saw that is easy to make and has the added advantage of being able to cut at 45 degree Angles.

Its made of masonite and a few scraps of Pine............. The guide rails of the Jig are made from laminated masonite and the cleats with Pine.

With this Jig seasonal movement is not an issue shes simple quick and easy to make n most of all allows a dolt like me to get consistant accurate crosscuts!!! :cool:

I'll post a few pics of this Jig in action.....................By far the easiest Crosscut Jig to use and make that I have come across to Date!!!!...............ENJOY!!!!!!

REgards Lou :D:D:D:D:D

[NewLou]

And here's some results after doing 90 degree crosscuts on some scrap ;)

REgards Lou :cool:

[SilverSniper]

hi all,

thanks for the great ideas, I though I'd post a few pics of my sled type jig which used the same basic idea I found on this thread (thanks Lou).

I initially tried cross cuts using a sawboard but found it didn't give enough accuracy - the saw would tend to tip because of the big motor hanging off the side, and there was basically too much room for error to trust the jig for those big jobs.

I used aluminium angle for the rails, and it works really well - it slides smooth and straight, as you can see from the pics of the end result.

The base and sides are particle board, and the rails under the aluminium angle are scrap hardwood.

The jig is slightly shallower than was intended - only 40mm, but if I need to I can always clamp a thicker board (up to about 50mm) on the outside of the sled's side wall.

One big tip for others making similar jigs - your saw should have a small adjusting screw which lets you set the angle of the blade to the base plate - all my cuts were off until I figured this out.

One more plus, i found a use for the hopelessly-out -of alignment red eye laser! I use the first .000001mm of beam in front of the baseplate that actually matches the cut location, to line up the work while I'm clamping it. Works a charm.

[bpj1968]

This post has my version of the EZ smart guide, and several others.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=55691&highlight=jig

As with most others recomendation I would put the piece being cut at the back fence. The same cutting action as you get on a SCMS, and the Triton in crosscut mode.

[martink]

Onte thing you might want to also get your hands on is a proper crosscut blade (the ones used in SCMS for example). The reason for this is that the teeth will actually pust the material against the fance and down so the bugger doesn't kick up at you. Not only is this safer, but also yeilds a better cut and it requires much much less force to hold the wood to be cut all nice and steady.

Ciao,

M.