How To Rip A Sheet Of Plywood With A Circular Saw

If you need to cut plywood down to size but only have a circular saw or skilsaw don t worry.

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

Next you need to run your circular saw along the edge of the top piece. Lay 2x4s under the plywood perpendicular to the direction of the cut. 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. When you re done ripping just pull the board off the sawhorse flip it over and pound the nail through and pull it out.

Set the depth of the circular saw blade so it cuts through the plywood but not too deeply into the sawhorses or supports. Drive an 8d nail through the board and into the sawhorse to prevent the board from slipping while you rip it. Adjust your saw blade depth. Use an 8d nail as a third hand.

It s easy to cut plywood with the circular saw by following th. I keep a piece of rigid foam board in my workshop. 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. Now squeeze the trigger and slowly lower the blade into the wood. I do about 1 4 so for ripping 3 4 thick plywood i set my blade to about 1 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.

You now have a circular saw guide that will allow you to rip a full length sheet of plywood. This will rip the bottom piece to match the bed edge to blade distance of your saw. Of all the tips i can give you this one helped me the most. Then all you have to do to rip ply goods of 8 foot lengths is mark both ends and clamp your melamine guide to the plywood.

The system works well for both rip cuts parallel to the grain and crosscuts perpendicular to the grain. 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. Adjust your circular saw cutting depth to be just below the material. Use the circular saw to rip or crosscut the plywood.

Next lift the rear of the saw but keep its front edge pressed firmly down on the sheet. Start by marking the outline of the square or rectangular hole onto the plywood sheet.