How to Cut Straight

You don't need an expensive table saw or chop saw to make straight accurate cuts in plywood and other stock. I know a lot of folks see some of the fancy things members build and think wow they must have a fancy woodworking shop. I'm going to show you how to make nice straight cuts with a skill saw, a straight edge and a couple of C clamps.

My little battery operated skill saw the fence is 4" from the edge of the blade. So after laying out the cut line I put the straight edge 4" from the line on the part I want to keep. This prevents wandering off and ruining a part. Make sure you put the crank for C clamp down so it does not interfere with the saw. Just ignore the wrong line lol.



Always measure perpendicular to the straight edge. Anything on the left side of the 4" mark will get cut off.



Here you can see I stopped part way through the cut so you can see the setup in action.



The straight edge can be anything handy, I do like this one I got from a store. You can join the two halves for a 8' cut or just use 1/2 for 4' and smaller cuts.

Here is two identical parts I cut one at a time. They are the sides for my roll out nest box that I'm building.



I don't have to mention saws cut anything that gets in the blade...

JT