“Poor-Boy” Radial-Arm Saw
F
OR CROSSCUTTING LONG BOARDSand making miter cuts, this
shopmade saw guide is accurate, portable, easy to use and eco-
nomical to build.
The guide is simply an angle-iron and plywood track sized to fit
the base of a portable circular saw. The guide is perched atop legs
at each end. Each leg is made from a pair of 3^1 ⁄ 2 -in. pipe flanges con-
nected by a^3 ⁄ 4 -in. by 1^1 ⁄ 2 -in. pipe nipple. The legs provide clearance for
the work and allow the track to pivot for making angle cuts.
To use, clamp the guide at the proper angle in relation to the fence
on the plywood base. Before cutting, secure the saw’s blade guard up
out of the way with a screw threaded through a hole in the blade
housing. Make sure you remove the screw before the saw is used in
the conventional manner.
Another note of caution: The direction of blade rotation tends to
lift the work from the table, so make sure the work is tight against the
fence and can’t shift. Otherwise, the work might pinch the sawblade
and cause the saw to lift out of the guide rails.
On my 7^1 ⁄ 4 -in. saw, the depth of cut is limited to 1^3 ⁄ 4 in., but this
covers most of the crosscutting work I do.
—JACKFISHER,Dayton, Ohio
CHAPTER FIVEAngle iron Fence WorkPipe
flange