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Tips for making and using a saw cutting guide
Everyone who uses a circular saw, or a jigsaw, has on occasion needed a guide to assist in cutting a straight, or maybe even a curved line. This is the easiest way to make a saw cutting guide.
A guide can be something as complex as a jig cut from thin material, or as simple as a chalk line. If you need a straight line, are proficient with a circular saw, and have a good eye, just use a chalk line.
STRAIGHT LINE
Either have an assistant hold the end of the line on your predetermined mark, while you hold the box end of the line at your mark, pull the line taut, grab the line as close to center of the work as you can, and snap the line, leaving a straight chalk mark for you to follow. If no assistant is available, tie a loop in the end of the line, set a nail into the wood, slip the loop around it, and repeat the rest of the procedure. If you need something more substantial, use two c-clamps and clamp a section of straight lumber to either end of the material at the appropriate distance from the cut, so as to allow the saw shoe to ride along the edge of the guide while making your cut.
CURVED LINE
If you have multiple or repeating cuts to make, make a jig out of thin material such as plywood. To make this jig, or to make a single cut, determine the radius to be cut. Then on a full sheet of plywood, attach your jig material to one end of the plywood with c-clamps. Determine the top center of your arch on the jig material, and your ends of the arch. Measure in from the side of the plywood base to the center of the arch, and then transfer that measurement to a point on the plywood base further down from the jig material. Snap a chalk line between the two. Set a nail into the plywood and attach a string to the nail, attach a pencil to the end at the jig and use it to make your arch line. You can increase or decrease the angle of the arch by moving the set nail up or down the chalk line and shortening or lengthening the string until your pencil strikes all three marks of your arch. The only choice you have is to either cut the arch with a jigsaw or band saw along the line. If you make the cut a little “fat” by cutting just on the inside of the line, you can finish the arch with a small belt sander or an orbital sander to take it precisely to the line. Then use this jig to repeat all of your cuts.
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