Are you sweating your forehead thinking of how I can rip my 1/8” narrow board as I don’t have a table saw? So, are you planning to purchase a table saw for this small project?
Okay, let me ask you a question, do you have a circular saw? If the answer is Yes, you are all done. Clean your sweat from your forehead as I am going to share some tricky tips so that you can rip your narrow, wide boards with a circular saw.
I am not joking, mate. A circular saw can give you the same performance in this project that you were supposed to get from a table saw, undoubtedly.
However, don’t delay. Let’s begin our project and follow the below step-by-step suggestions.
Ripping narrow boards with a circular saw
The working procedure is pretty simple. You can do a great job with the circular saw.
Step 01: Selecting the accurate platform
The platform for this project should be long and straight. Either it can be a plank of wood or a slab. Depending on the height, the project may require several slabs.
Make sure; the slab is longer and thicker than the board that you are going to rip. Also, as you are going to use a circular saw, so it is mandatory to keep the slab height more than the workpiece.
Step 02: Tighten the circular saw sole using a clamp to the platform/slab
Ensure the circular saw sole is well-tightened on the platform/slab with clamp-in 2 points. If, due to any reason, the saw is not taking its place tightly, use a few extra bits of wood on the circular saw sole. This will make sure that the sole grips the clamp appropriately.
Step 03: Do a trial
Confirm the front side of the circular saw. Generally, the push inside is the front side of a circular saw.
It would be best if you gave a trial first to confirm the measurement of the thickness of the cut that you are going to obtain. For this, slowly feed the circular saw blade with a sacrificial wood piece.
If the thickness doesn’t meet your requirement, change the front side of the saw respectively.
Step 04: The circular saw blade and the platform should be paralleled
The circular saw blade and the platform need to be perfectly paralleled to each other. If it doesn’t happen during the operation, the circular saw blade will warp. Moreover, the motor will get affected by the strain. Thus, your wood piece may break, as well as the saw blade too.
It would be best if you did another trial run with a sacrificial wood piece. You will understand, a few steps later, why it is required. From the front side of the circular saw, feed the blade with the sacrificial wood piece. Turn over the sacrificial wood piece. At this point, the trial cut from the front side will be on the underneath.
Now, the next process is to feed the same wood piece from the backside of the circular saw. To accomplish the second trial cut, all you need to do is, change the blade guard away.
These trial cuts have to come across at an equal point and line up flawlessly.
Unfortunately, if it doesn’t happen again, adjusting the blade is necessary. To perform this, the clamp is required to loosen at the backside of the circular saw and tighten it respectively.
Once the 2 trial cuts come across at an equal point, be sure that the circular saw blade and the platform are parallel now.
Step 05: The blade height adjustment
As you are going to cut the wood piece at the top surface of the platform, so adjusting the height of the blade is significantly essential. Put the blade of the saw on the platform surface. Take a thin piece of paper and slide it under the blade; this will let you adjust the blade height. Confirm that the paper is passing below the blade without any hassle.
Step 06: Parallel readjusting
If the body and the sole of the circular saw are slightly angled to each other, again, adjustment of parallel is required. The blade has to be placed perpendicularly to the table. You can push a chunk betwixt the sole and the motor casing.
Step 07: Start ripping
We are at the final stage, and you can start ripping now.
Push the trigger and remember to keep it locked. Slowly feed the blade with your narrow wood piece.
Following this process, at least ¾” board can be ripped comfortably.
Safety Requirements
While performing this task, don’t forget to ensure the safety requirement as per below.
- Purchase goggles and a face mask. Both will help you to keep your eye and nose safe from flying particles. During this operation, flying particles will emit at a high rate, and these should not enter your eyes and nose.
- Use both of your hands to perform the task. Never go with a one-hand operation.
- Keep the cord away from the blade.
- Remember to shut off the circular saw when you are not working with it. Also, remove the battery.
- Check the sharpness of the blade to confirm whether it can cut the board or not.
- During the operation, the noise level will be high. So, to confirm the ear protection, use a pair of earplugs.
You can get an excellent cutting experience with a circular saw during this operation if all the safety requirements are confirmed.
Sum Up
So, isn’t it an excellent experience for you? I believe this step-by-step guide will be beneficial a lot without any confusion.
Confirm you have taken all the safety requirements before starting the project. In the end, thanks for reading the article on how to rip narrow boards with a circular saw.
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