How To Rip A Sheet Of Plywood With A Circular Saw

When you re done ripping just pull the board off the sawhorse flip it over and pound the nail through and pull it out.

How to rip a sheet of plywood with a circular saw.

Adjust your circular saw cutting depth to be just below the material. Adjust your saw blade depth. I slide my circular saw with sled attached onto the guide and set the desired width then flip the tab to clamp in place. I do about 1 4 so for ripping 3 4 thick plywood i set my blade to about 1 depth.

Of all the tips i can give you this one helped me the most. Drive an 8d nail through the board and into the sawhorse to prevent the board from slipping while you rip it. I keep a piece of rigid foam board in my workshop. This guide is designed to rip plywood into strips by running the straight edge along the edge of the plywood while the circular saw cuts a certain distance away.

Lay 2x4s under the plywood perpendicular to the direction of the cut. It s easy to cut plywood with the circular saw by following th. Place long pieces of 2 x 2 lumber in the notches between the two sawhorses so they re flush with the top of the sawhorses. Your cut line will be where you place the edge of the guide.

Next you need to run your circular saw along the edge of the top piece. Start by marking the outline of the square or rectangular hole onto the plywood sheet. If you re without a table saw and need to rip boards with a circular saw here s a tip to make the job a lot easier. Raise the lower blade guard out of the way while keeping a firm grip on the saw.

Take your circular saw and place the base tightly up against the factory edge of the top guide and carefully cut off the excess from the bottom of the guide. If you need to cut plywood down to size but only have a circular saw or skilsaw don t worry. Set the depth of the circular saw blade so it cuts through the plywood but not too deeply into the sawhorses or supports. Use an 8d nail as a third hand.

You now have a circular saw guide that will allow you to rip a full length sheet of plywood. I made mine 4 feet for crosscuts and doors. This will rip the bottom piece to match the bed edge to blade distance of your saw. Next lift the rear of the saw but keep its front edge pressed firmly down on the sheet.

Use the circular saw to rip or crosscut the plywood. The system works well for both rip cuts parallel to the grain and crosscuts perpendicular to the grain.