Make a Quick and Dirty Track Saw From Two Strips of Scrap
Technique: DIY Straightedge Saw Guide
The Problem
Breaking down sheet goods with a bare circular saw means clamping a straightedge offset from your line by the plate-to-blade distance — a measurement you have to remember, re-derive, and re-apply on every single cut. Forget it once and the cut lands an inch and a half from where you wanted it.
The Technique
Build the offset into the jig instead of into your head.
- Rip a board about two inches wider than your saw's base plate — hardboard or thin plywood, as long as you'll ever want to cut.
- Rip a two-inch strip of thin material the same length.
- Glue the strip down along one edge of the board, flush with that edge. This strip is the fence.
- Once the glue sets, run your saw down the jig with the plate riding against the fence. The blade trims the board's free edge — and now that edge IS your blade line.
- From then on: lay the jig's cut edge directly on your layout marks, clamp, and run the saw against the fence. The cut lands exactly on the edge, every single time, no offset math.
Pro tip: The jig is married to the saw and blade that trimmed it — a different saw, or even a blade with a different kerf, shifts the edge. Label the jig with which saw it belongs to, and re-trim the edge if you ever change blades and notice the cut creeping off the line.