Circular saw track

A circular saw is a vital piece of kit for cutting large pieces of material down to a more manageable size, often too big for a table or mitre saw. Without a track or plunge saw however, accurate cuts have been a challenge – until now!

My circular saw doesn’t have a track so I have been using a piece of mdf and simply clamping it onto the workpiece to cut down. However this has caused some inaccuracies, especially on very long pieces where the mdf can flex and bend in the middle resulting in a not straight cut.

I wanted to make a simple track for the saw, to make it quick and easy to rip large sheets of mdf, plywood or hardboard down to a rough size, to then refine and make the final accurate cuts with the table saw. To do this, I took some measurements from my saw – the distance from the blade to the edge of the plate and the height of the overhanging motor, so I could ensure the fence was low enough to give me sufficient clearance.

I had some white melamine coated chipboard left over from a dismantled wardrobe, so I used this to make my track. Firstly so it wouldn’t go to waste, as chipboard is fairly week and not great for long shelves or anything under much stress as it tends to flex. And secondly as the melamine provides a good low friction surface, allowing the saw to easily slide back and forth with a little bit of wax.

I positioned the saw on the larger piece of chipboard and then butted the fence flush up against the plate of the saw. I clamped the fence in place while I drove in a number of screws to secure the two pieces together.

I tested the track out on some mdf for another project and found it much easier to use the circular saw, as I simply clamped the track to the larger sheet material and ran the saw along the chipboard, keeping the saw plate tight against the fence. I can also quickly position the edge of the track on my measurement marks on a workpiece, without having to figure out where I need to first position the edge of the saw in order for the blade to be cutting in the right place. This was another quick and easy solution to make workshop time that much more enjoyable and mean I can get more done in the time I have getting covered in saw dust! 🔨