Hi Bob, Yesterday I used one of those aluminium guides to make the long rip cuts, it is a little over 8 feet long with a length of metal which slides between the two 4 and a bit foot long lengths to key them together. Although the guide is extruded with some ribs on the under side to make it more rigid I find that it does have a little deflection by the middle to fairly modest pressure. When cutting with the blade to full depth though there is about 5 or a little better linear length of blade in the wood so once you get started you would have to work at deflecting the saw. At shallower cuts though it is a bit of an issue.
I keep meaning to build me one of those saw guides, the sort with a fence and a shoe you cut off with the saw which makes measuring so much easier since the shoe is exactly where the blade will cut. There are two problems for me though, I often do make deep cuts so, with the fence on the motor side of the saw unless I use very thin fence stock I won't be able to lower the saw to full depth. The other issue for me is that I prefer my guide on the blade side but that leaves too thin a strip to keep the saw level. Doubtless I will make a couple of those guides though, they will be useful for shallower cuts and there are plenty of those, I'll be ripping up some quarter inch soon for example. I also want something like it for dadoing with my router. I do have one of those AcuRip guides but I don't like it a whole lot. This is the sort something like the rip guides they often include with a circular saw only on steroids. It bolts with clamps to the front of the saw running perpendicular to the blade out to the left of the saw and it has a fence that slides along it out to just a touch over 24 inches. If correctly registered there is a scale which would make setting the fence very convenient for the sighted but the blind can measure from the inside of the fence to the near side of the blade. It works well enough if you are careful to ensure that it is sliding along the edge of your board but if it snags for any reason or if the edge is problematic for any reason it causes trouble. With care this can be easily enough overcome. My main dislike is that it gets in the way and removing and reinstalling it I find awkward. It gets in the way if you are cross cutting anything beyond it's 24 inch length so for those jobs it has to come off though I don't do much of that now that I have my sliding mitre saw. I am considering leaving it attached to my old Sears saw, poor old thing is pretty battered up now but might do for such a dedicated service or I might give it to my son, he doesn't do any woodwork but it can be handy to have a saw around. Finally I will often just lay one sheet of plywood over the one to be cut, measure and clamp it down and cut. I have used strapping in the past too but getting a straight piece is rare. I usually have a 4 foot length of strapping around too for extending the reach of tools like yard sticks or the roto ruler but they do have a habit of disappearing. Yesterday I finished some of my cross cuts using a beautiful piece of machined steel I bought from Lee Valley as a straight edge usually used for truing up my jointer or table saw but at 3 feet long and weighing maybe 8 or 10 pounds it is plenty straight for a saw guide and short enough to swing about inside my shop space.Again I should make a 'T' style square guide for that purpose and some day I guess I will. Well, that is what I do. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob Kennedy To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 4:36 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] My new MAG 423 circular saw. I'm always interested. What does everyone use for a saw guide when cutting sheets of plywood.? I have the left hand version and love it too. I had made a set of cabinets using a 40 tooth blade and the finish cut was as nice as a table saw. It has a 15 amp motor and it's hard to stall it. Mine is a bit older so I have to use a wrench still to change the blade. ----- Original Message ----- From: Dale Leavens To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2007 10:44 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] My new MAG 423 circular saw. Finally I have used the Porter Cable MAG423 right bladed circular saw I bought this summer while on holiday. I was cutting up some 3/4 inch hardwood veneer plywood. Actually I stacked three sheets and cut them together as I wanted a number of identical parts. This light, only 10 lb. saw just walked through the work. There is a dust shoot which can be directed to blow the sawdust most anywhere and I really like the tool free blade change or I will anyway when I want to change the blade. Not a bad price either, I believe I paid a hundred and twenty-five bucks for it in July. The toughest part was working outside, it was only about minus 5 C but a strong north wind and some ice pellets in it. My rotorule and aluminium straight edge and clamps coming out from inside were just warm enough for the ice pellets to stick. Fortunately the plywood had been stored by the delivery men in my shed which has no heat but once cut down and brought in the cold lumber began to condense a little moisture on it's surface. Anyway, I just thought that if anyone out there is looking for Santa to bring a circular saw I can recommend this little beauty. I really like the light weight. You can get the model MAG324 as well, it has the blade on the left. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
