For crosscutting long boards and making miter cuts, this shopmade saw guide is accurate, portable, easy to use and economical 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 connected 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.

Jack Fisher, Dayton, Ohio

Fine Woodworking Magazine, June 1984 No. 46

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Double Sided Tape

A thin woven core makes XFasten tape strong yet not too thick (0.008 in.), and helps it hold powerfully without being difficult to peel off.

Buy at Amazon

Hedgehog featherboards

The Hedgehog's unique spiral shape and single knob make it easy to set up and fast to adjust.

Buy at Amazon

Incra Miter 1000HD

One of many extremely accurate Incra miter gauges, this model offers 180-degree adjustment to 1/10 of a degree, and a long, straight fence with a telescoping stop system.

Buy at Amazon