straight cuts on wood?

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

whats the secret? i dont really have a steady hand, or the space to put a table saw in me casa... so aside from visiting someone who has a table saw, how do you get the straightest cuts?

ive got some thin (bout 1/4" thick) oak i bought from lowes for another project i finished. i have a good chunk left over. i wanted to build a basic square canopy for my 10 gallon tank that i just set up.

can i take the wood back to lowes and pay them to cut it? i already have the wood glue to put it togeather, as well as primer and paint for the finished product.

many thanks for your advice!

[hobogato]

you can buy a small board, clamp it on the board you want to cut so your circular saw will ride along side of it and cut the board where you need to cut it. then, just run the circular saw straight down the clamped board and you should have a very straight line.

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

thats actually a really good idea. i guess i never thought of it because all i have is a dremmel. i shall head to lowes and see if theyll cut it. if not, ill give your idea a whack

[hobogato]

..all i have is a dremmel....

i dont think that will work very well, even if you have a guide board.

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

i dont think that will work very well, even if you have a guide board.

hah!

ill buy a circular saw if needed is what i was getting at :P

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

thought just occured to me. would a jigsaw with a fine blade work the same?

[hobogato]

jigsaws tend to make a mess of plywood - especially if you are cutting across the grain. you might get it to work ok tho.

[glennr1978]

honestly, since it's just a canopy for a 10g, why not just use a fine tooth hand saw. You can get a decent one for $20 that will make cuts so clean you could eat off of them!!

I have a table saw, and a hand held circular saw, both of which have proper precision cut blades. If I need to make a cut that must be exact I still use the handsaw.

[coraline79]

lowes or home depot will not garauntee that the cut will be within 1/4 inch of your actual measurement.

[captexas]

No matter what saw you use, you need a decent blade made for thin paneling/plywood, otherwise it will rip it up rather than give you a smooth cut.

[aquasport24]

No worry, you can always use wood trim or crown molding to cover it up. That's what i did when i built my canopy.

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

hm 20$ hand saw you say? ill have to give that a peek tomorrow. i ended up working early morning today, got tired and slacked off the rest of the day. since im starting this tank from scratch, im not in a big hurry.

[TinyTanker]

if its 1/4 inch board, you put masking tape on the finished side and draw the line to cuto on the atape and if your real good, you take a straight line from a level or something metal and score the cut with a razor knife, that is how to professionally cut the edge. If you want to, I would also angle cut the edge if trying to hide the edges 45 and 45 make a 90 corner

[lessQQmorePEWPEW]

yeah its 1/4" thick oak. thats the only thing thats keeping me from using a razor knife (have one). itll take a good while to cut through that board with just that.

i think im gonna go to lowes and get a fine tooth hand saw and take my time with it.

[sampsonndelila]

lowes or home depot will not garauntee that the cut will be within 1/4 inch of your actual measurement.

Aw... A 1/4 inch isn’t that noticeable... lol. I have them cut mine just this week. It all came out ok. They do however now have the table saws with folding legs, even a table top unit I “saw” the other day... cool

[brewercm]

I think what he meant by using the razor knife was just to score it to give your saw the line to ride on. This will also keep the cut a little cleaner and your saw from drifting too much.

[glennr1978]

a good saw, patience, and a steady hand will work wonders....