The use of a guide bar when working with a circular saw makes it convenient and fast. This product can be bought in a specialized store or do it yourself.
The so-called "flexi" are very popular. Elastic steel rails, equipped with a rubber edge and special protrusions, make working with a circular saw comfortable. These products are lightweight and do not take up much space.
A circular saw with smooth adjustment of the vertical immersion of the blade, cutting at an angle and fixing the depth of the cut can become a multifunctional tool for professional work.
Materials and tools for the manufacture of fixtures for a circular saw
For the manufacture of guide rails and other devices for working with a circular saw, you will need:
- scraps of plywood or hardwood, at least 10 mm thick;
- screws, self-tapping screws.
From the tools you need:
- electric jigsaw or hand circular saw for cutting blanks;
- joiner's square for marking blanks;
- drill for drilling holes for fasteners;
- screwdriver or screwdriver with a set of bits;
- clamps.
The manufacture of various devices can be divided into several stages:
- sketch development and product detailing;
- selection of materials;
- marking and cutting of material;
- assembly of products and their adjustment.
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Guide bar for circular saw - guide fence
The simplest option for a guide bar for a circular saw is a ruler.
For its manufacture, plywood with smooth edges is suitable.
- Cut off a strip of plywood. Its width should be equal to the maximum width of the saw blade in plan, plus another 20 cm.
- On the cut piece of plywood sheet, step back from the factory edge 5-7 cm and cut off the strip. This detail is a ruler, based on which and along which the frame of the circular saw will move. The rest of the plywood will be the base to which you need to attach the ruler. The height of the ruler should not be less than the thickness of the saw bed, but not exceed the distance to its engine.
- Attach the ruler to the base with screws. They should be fixed at a distance of no more than 10 cm from the edge, while it should be sufficient to use clamps. Please note that the factory face must be directed in the direction in which you want to cut. The guide rail is attached to the base with wood glue and then with screws.
- Remove the excess part of the base of the guide using a circular saw, for which this guide is made. The edge on the base will turn out to be as even as the factory edge of the ruler along the entire length.
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Cross cutting stop
This device is an analogue of the guide ruler described above and is widely used when working with a circular saw. The stop provides the ability to quickly and accurately cut long workpieces at angles of 45° and 90°.
Manufacturing:
- The support base is made of textolite 3-5 mm thick or plywood 10 mm thick.
- The supports are bars with a section of 20x20. They can be made from oak or beech.
- The bars are attached to the base with countersunk screws. In this case, it is imperative to accurately measure the angles of 45 ° and 90 ° between the support bars. If necessary, the guides can be fixed at any other angle.
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Guide rail for circular saw - metal rail
Working with a guide ruler requires some experience and skill, because when working on the saw body, you need to apply multidirectional forces: press the saw against the template and push it forward.
It is also important that the edge of the saw sole is parallel to the blade, which is not always the case, especially if it is a simple, inexpensive tool.
In this case, another version of the guide bar is offered. The movement of the saw will take place along the metal rail, and not rest against the ruler. This will allow you to apply little effort just to move the tool forward to cut. A metal template, unlike a wooden template, allows for a more accurate cut and will last longer.
Figure 1. Diagram of a rail for a circular saw.
To make a guide rail you will need:
- 2 aluminum U-shaped profiles: one smaller, the other larger;
- sheets of plywood or MDF with a thickness of 3 and 10 mm;
- screws and self-tapping screws.
Guide rail manufacturing steps:
- Screw a large aluminum profile to 3 mm plywood using screws and self-tapping screws. The heads of the screws and self-tapping screws must be flat in order to screw them into the recess.
- Fasten plywood 10 mm thick with self-tapping screws close to the profile.
- Now it remains only to saw off the excess and make the ends even.
Preparing a circular saw for work with a guide rail:
- As seen in fig. 1, the smaller profile protrudes from the larger one by 1 mm. Screw the profile to the end of the table and use a jigsaw to saw off the excess.
- To the base of the circular saw, parallel to the blade, attach the smaller profile using M4 screws. Focus on the plane of the disc, and not on the platform of the tool. To fix the profile exactly parallel to the disk, lift the protective cover and press a wooden block against the disk, and press the aluminum profile against the block. Fix the entire structure with clamps, drill holes in the profile and tighten with screws.
- Remove the clamps and remove the block. The saw is ready for work.
Figure 2. Scheme of fastening the guide bar for a circular saw.
Work process:
- Mount the saw blade on the guide rail, aligning the aluminum profiles.
- Start the saw and saw off the excess from the guide bar by gently sliding it forward along the rail. Next time it will be enough to align the cut edge of the guide bar with the line on the workpiece, secure the guide with clamps and start cutting.
In practice, such a guide rail has proven itself perfectly, the circular saw moves smoothly, the cut is even.
On fig. 2 and 3 you can see the finished design.
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Other types of guides for a circular saw
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Blank Template
If there is a need to manufacture several identical parts, then the first such part can serve as a guide template. To do this, cut off the workpiece of the desired length and fix the stop rail at one end. It must match in width with the working distance. It is necessary to ensure a snug fit of the thrust rail to the end of the part to be made. So you get the required number of identical products, while not wasting time marking them.
The guide bar for hand-held circular saws offers a number of distinct advantages when working with power tools. At the same time, many refuse to additionally equip the circular with a tire, since its cost approaches the price of the saw itself. Consider the issue with the tire from all sides.
Guide bar photo
The guide bar is a useful addition to your saw. Is it worth the money that the manufacturer asks for it? The question is moot.
- If you regularly use a hand saw, the tire will quickly justify the investment;
- Buying a ready-made tire, which you will use once a year, becomes a completely pointless waste of money;
- Many agree that the best tire for a manual circular is a homemade guide.
It is not difficult to make guides for manual power tools Bosch, Makita, Interskol. Such products do not differ in the complexity of assembly, but they are significantly inferior to factory guides in price.
Functions
If you have worked with a manual circular saw, then you have encountered the difficulties of creating a perfectly even cut. No matter how hard you try, the saw now and then tends to go to the side, spoil the whole laborious process. Often such work with a circular ended in obtaining the wrong blanks, wasted time and spent nerves.
By themselves, saws made by leading brands are characterized by excellent capabilities. But to replace the guide, many craftsmen use a pair of clamps that fix the bar along the ruler. Working with a similar guide with a manual circular, you will definitely encounter a lot of inconvenience. Clamps will simply touch the circular.
To get the most out of your circular saw, it needs the right guide bar.
Several useful features speak in favor of buying or making your own guide.
- If you use the rule, its position will have to be adjusted regularly. It is fixed at a small distance from the cutting line, otherwise it will not be possible to draw the circular disc exactly along the line. For rare operations, this option can still be used. But with regular work with a circular, you can’t do without a quality guide.
- The guide from the manufacturer Makita, Bosch has a special design that provides a perfect match with the cutting lines. You just have to combine the two strips to achieve an even cut. A homemade tire is also capable of this, if it is properly made.
- To improve the quality of work, the tire is additionally glued with soft tapes. So it is possible to avoid chipping the material when cutting it.
- Having equipped the hand tool with a guide rail, the master only needs to move the circular gradually forward. Without it, you have to simultaneously perform two operations - monitor the position of the rule and cut the material. In practice, this turns out to be very inconvenient.
Homemade guides
A home-made guide designed for Iterskol, Makita or Bosch manual circulars can have various configurations.
Finished tires produced by manufacturers are divided into two types:
- Specialized. They are only suitable for certain models of a particular manufacturer. It is impossible to use them to equip other circulars;
- Universal. Suitable for various circular saws, regardless of model and manufacturer. Generic ones are usually more expensive.
It is the high cost that makes the craftsmen make guides with their own hands.
We suggest you consider two options for manufacturing a guide bar:
- From laminate;
- From the building code.
Laminate rail
The most important plus of a laminate tire is the availability of the material and the ease of manufacture of the device.
- Cut off two pieces of laminate. Their length should be about 50 centimeters. Try to keep the lines straight.
- Carry out milling along one of the edges.
- Armed with self-tapping screws, secure these segments to the base. The base is also made of laminate.
- The width of the groove can be checked with a sheet of A4 paper. Insert paper into the device and scroll.
- On the sole of the circular saw, the connection to the tire is made through the fasteners designed for the side stop. If possible or desired, make an additional hole in the circular body. It is advisable to do it if your saw is no longer under warranty.
- Before starting work, the homemade tire is pushed forward as far as possible in front of the tool handle. Try to place the nose of the sole a few centimeters, stepping onto the guide. Take a cutting disc, saw off the edges at the guides in place. So they will perfectly match the markings on the material.
This guide for your saw has one drawback - it will eat up the penetration depth of the disc. But in practice, usually the depth of cut suffers literally by 1.5 centimeters, which is not a critical indicator.
From the building code
If you have an old building rule lying around at home, it will make a great homemade guide.
- Arm yourself with a rule that has handles and moves along the chute.
- Remove the handles. In their place, clamps equipped with spring handles should be installed. The fixation should be as soft as possible. Some models have a removable top. They are the easiest to work with. Remove the upper part, and fix the clamp on the rule with adapters.
- Use polypropylene for adapters. You won’t be able to buy them, so you have to do it yourself. Adapters are made on a milling machine. You should get elements that resemble the letter T in a section. Insert them into the grooves for the handles. Make sure the elements fit snugly into place.
- Make additional holes in the legs of the adapters. Through them, the clamps can be fixed with screws.
- Lay the guides on the material. They are slotted down. At the same time, the material is pressed tightly from below with clamps. There will be no elements on top that may interfere with the normal operation of the saw.
For such homemade guides, work is limited only by the length of the rule used. Therefore, choose the longest possible source materials, but do not forget to take into account the blanks with which you have to work. A long rule is not always preferable to a shorter one.
After spending enough money to buy a good saw, it is quite possible to make guides yourself. We have shown you examples of the simplest designs, although there are a number of other options for their manufacture.
When working with a manual circular saw, the question of the straightness of the cut is acute. There are two concepts for ensuring a straight line:
Fastening on the sawing machine (workbench) of the actual circular.
In this design, the hand tool is permanently attached to the table, and the workpiece moves along the guide. The cutting quality is at its best, but there are serious limitations on the size of the material being processed.
The workpiece is fixed permanently, and a guide ruler is installed for a hand-held circular saw.
In this design, the size of the workpiece to be cut can be any, the main thing is to ensure that the attachment for the circular saw is firmly attached. Manufacturers of hand tools have taken care of users and offer various ready-made devices for sale.
Industrially manufactured guides are comfortable and safe. As a rule, they are equipped with an accurate marking ruler, some allow you to set the cutting angle. The material is selected in such a way as to exclude wedging and play during the movement of the tool.
The pair, consisting of a groove and a runner, is protected from the ingress of cutting products and does not need lubrication.
However, all these kits are expensive, and many home craftsmen make a rail for.
Consider options that were independently invented and created by homegrown "Kulibins".
IMPORTANT! A hand-held circular saw is a source of increased injury, therefore, in the manufacture of home-made devices based on it, safety precautions should be followed.
The easiest option is a cutting stop
The device is actively used when cutting with a jigsaw.
It works quite efficiently, but it is limited for hand-held circular saws. The tire is pressed against the workpiece with a clamp. The bracket protrudes above the work surface both from below and from above.
As a result, we get restrictions on the length of the cut. The circular engine rests against the clamp, and you have to cut in two steps. In this case, the quality of the edge deteriorates, a step may form.
- Thrust ruler
- Materials and Assembly
- Remote guide
- rail miter box
The guide rail for a circular saw is a device that provides a smooth cut. In total, there are two ways to help make a straight cut:
- Rigid fixation of the electric saw on the desktop.
- Stationary clamping of the workpiece, installation of a guide rail for manual circulars.
The first option involves fixing the tool on the workbench, while the workpiece moves along the guide. The quality of the cut will be high, but the dimensions of the workpiece are limited, due to the size of the machine. With the second processing method, the parameters of the workpiece can be arbitrary. The main thing is that the trimming tool is securely fixed.
Carpentry device manufacturers produce a wide range of guide rails for circular saws. Details are convenient to use, meet safety regulations. The design drawing includes a guide ruler. In some cases, it is possible to set the required degree of inclination of the cutter, it is possible to avoid backlash, jamming of the working element during its movement.
The factory carriage mounted on the circular does the job well, but is expensive. The article describes how to assemble a saw guide bar on your own.
Thrust ruler
Self-manufacturing of devices for circulars requires strict adherence to safety rules.
The cutting stop is often used when processing the material of a circular saw; it is effective only in the case of a jigsaw; problems can arise with cutting: the tire is pressed against the workpiece with a clamp.
The bracket protrudes from the bottom and top sides of the machine tabletop. The result is a limiter for the length of the cut, but the saw motor inevitably rests on the clamp, the cut is performed in two stages. The quality of the edge will be poor, there is a high probability of an unwanted step: to ensure a perfect cut, a continuous movement of the cutting blade from the beginning to the end of the lumber is necessary. In factory models, the fastener is taken out of the range for a circular saw, does not interfere with work.
Materials and Assembly
A homemade guide rail can be assembled from an aluminum plaster rule. The device has a complex configuration, on the one hand it is equipped with a longitudinal groove for setting the handles in a comfortable position. Hidden clamps can be made from quick-release screwless clamps.
The paw must be dismantled from the clamp, fluoroplastic or polypropylene runners should be installed in its place. The material of the moving element must be strong and have a low coefficient of friction. The part is best shaped with a milling cutter or a metal hacksaw with fine teeth, but in the second case, you will have to additionally shape it with a file.
At the next stage, the sliders are installed in the groove of the rule, from which the guide for the manual circular saw will be created.
It is necessary to ensure that the sliding is free, but without play. It is not necessary to apply excessive force: during operation, the knot must be fixed.
Screw the sled to the top of the clamps. In this case, you need to make sure that the connection is strong so that spontaneous unwinding of the knot does not occur during operation. This will damage the workpiece or cause injury.
The guide rail for a circular saw should hold well and not play. The resulting design will allow you to unravel flat lumber, the length corresponding to the same parameter of the ruler minus the margin on the sides of fixing the clamps.
If during the test sawing a perfectly even cut is obtained, nothing interferes with the work, then the technology has been followed, the guide has been made correctly.
Plus design - the line will be inexpensive. Labor costs are also insignificant, they consist only in the formation of sliders.
Remote guide
The device with a guide rail has a disadvantage - the need to control the side contact of the saw with the ruler. If cutting a workpiece that is too wide, the arms may not be long enough to guide the material. The way out is to use a carriage with ball bearings. It won't be cheap, but it will pay off in the long run.
The guide carriage can be made from a corner and metal plates. The width is adjusted using wing locks integrated into the movable grooves. A profile of complex configuration is bought in a specialized department of a hardware store. There may be several options, but you need to provide a parallel stop for the circular.
If for some reason it is not possible to make an auxiliary element from a profile that will guide the cut along a clear line, you can buy an assembled device consisting of a carriage and a guide. The circular will be firmly connected by the sole to the carriage structure.
It is important to achieve strict parallelism of the circular motion along the profile. An improperly set stand will give a loose cut. An external guide rail for a circular saw is easy to make with your own hands. As a result, it will be possible to guide, process large-sized lumber, make high-quality cuts, trimming will be accurate, the saw will carry out easy movements. Feeding can be carried out manually or with the help of a guide rod.
rail miter box
The operation of a circular saw with a guide bar assembled according to the first two methods will be comfortable, but rather slow. To speed up the process, it is better to use a rail miter box. For the manufacture of the guide device will require:
- the same type of metal corners (2 pcs.);
- a sheet of plywood or chipboard with a thickness of 1.5 cm or more (as a base);
- nuts with bolts (4 sets).
The guide angles must be fixed in the same plane at a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the workpiece. The workpiece must move freely under the rails, the cutting wheel must not be too high. The bolts will act as studs. To reduce friction, you can glue strips of fluoroplast, but it is better to equip the fixture with wheels.
A guiding tool made according to this scheme is complex, but its efficiency is higher.
The video shows the assembly process, the functioning of a circular with a guide rail.
A branded guide bar for a circular saw costs almost as much as the saw itself. However, the device is very important. Why? When it is used, is it possible to do without it, is it possible to replace it with something or make it yourself? The guide for a circular saw provides certain advantages during operation. This article describes these benefits and answers various related questions. It also considers the manufacture of a guide rail with your own hands.
Purpose
A person who has dealt with a circular saw knows how difficult it is to ensure an even cut. Although you try to direct the tool along the markup, it strives to wag. If this happens, it turns out that time is wasted and the material is spoiled.
Some get out of the situation by fastening the plank with a pair of clamps along the ruler. But with a manual circular saw, this method is inconvenient, because the clamps touch the tool.
Other arguments in favor of the guide:
Making at home
The main thing is to accurately withstand the geometry. The basis can be:
- channel;
- a pipe with a rectangular cross section;
- corner;
- laminate.
A serious disadvantage of wooden and pressed tires is their sensitivity to moisture.
Option 1. Tire made of laminate.
This will absorb the depth of cut (about 1.5 cm), but such a device is convenient and easy to manufacture.
Option 2. The basis is the building rule. Suitable model with handles moving along the groove.
Option 3. To obtain an accurate cut, it is necessary that the edge of the base of the tool, adjacent to the guide, be perfectly even. Professional tools with molded soles are distinguished by this, but inexpensive stamped bases lack this property. Therefore, we offer the rail option. The tool moves along it without resting against the guide rail. At the same time, the force required to push the saw is significantly reduced. The rail can be made of aluminum U-shaped profile. We need two segments with different sections. The smaller profile is inserted into the larger profile without clearance, however free movement must be ensured.
Now the guide rail can be made by hand:
- A guide of a larger diameter is attached to plywood No. 3 with screws. The heads of screws and self-tapping screws are ground off so that they can be hidden flush.
- On both sides of the guide, we tightly attach strips of plywood No. 10 and also fasten them to self-tapping screws. Plywood can be replaced with chipboard.
Pieces that are extra wide are sawn off, and the rail is ready.
Preparing the hand saw:
For a perfect cut, the tire edge is superimposed on the marking and the guide is attached with clamps. With a rail-rail, the saw moves smoothly and does not dangle, cuts accurately and feeds easily.
Conclusion
The guide for the "circular" is an extremely useful device, because every master knows how important it is to ensure a smooth cut. Using a guide when working with a circular saw makes the process convenient and fast.
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