Thread: What to use as a straight edge

G'day.

I went to the local Ali distributor & bought a whole 6M length of 50x25x3 box for $90 & had it cut into 2.5M, 2 M & 1.5M for straight edges.

To stop any unwanted flexing, glue the widest side of the box to a strip of 4mm MDF using a known good straightedge as a guide to keep the Ali straight, EI: the edge of a sheet of 12mm ply. Leave enough overhang each side to suit you fav circ saw on one side & your fav edge trimming router bit on the other side.

Then, once it's set dry & hard, to finish the guide, lop off the extra overhang each side, set you saw square & run it down the 'saw' side & do the same with your router on the ‘trim’ side.

When you want to rip/hack/trim a long edge straight/smooth, clamp the straightedge onto it with the appropriate edge along the line you want to rip/hack/smooth/straighten & plough in.
The guide edge of the power tool base follows the ali straight edge & the tool blade/bit runs along the already trimmed edge of the MDF & there you have it.

This is not a new idea but it is worth following.

Good tip Cliff!

My advice is don't use a banana

Originally Posted by Grunt

My advice is don't use a banana

G'day.

If you live in Mexico that is...
they are actually dead straight before we pick 'em & pack 'em for export to you blokes

A company called A G PULIE in Granville (sydney) makes a range of straightedges up to about 2.5m.

I have had a 2m one for a year or so. It is excellent. Bought it at Mitre 10.

Made from extruded Al, section about 75x20mm. Looks exactly like the better Al levels. Clearly more than a simple box section, but I have not opened it up to find out. Nice sharp corners so you can draw clean lines, or run a blade against the edge without a waver.

Mine has withstood clamping against jobs with no sign of distortion.

Ed T

Cliff,

What did you use for glue - liquid nails?

Mine are the same type, but with250 x 18mm MDF as the straight edge, only I made them 2400, 1500 and 900 long!

They probably won't wear out, but if they do, I'll replace them with the ali ones.

How will you clean up the glued surface when you need to replace the bases?

Cheers,

P

Have a look at page 109 in the Carba-Tec cattledog, the pro grip system looks similar to what Norm uses and is only $39.00 for the 50".