need help on build ?

[mike graveling]

i need some help, i am building an entertainment center for myself and it is rather large, the center piece is about 5' wide and 7' tall, anyways if you need to cut a piece lets say 5' by 2', how do you guys cut it, because even if i cut with the skilsaw first i can't do the finish cut on the tablesaw because my fence only goes to 48", and i don't know if its accurate enought o just cut it with the skilsaw with a straightedge, especially when i'm trying to make 4 pieces that are exactly the same length, also what would you guys use for joints? i don't trust running the large pieces over the tablesaw to make dados and once again am afraid that if i were to try to do it with a router would i be accurate enough from one piece to the next?

thanks for any advice or help

[Aaron Wingert]

You should rough cut the sheet with a circular saw, then cut down to the 2' dimension on the table saw with the factory edge against the fence. It is very, very, very unsafe to run a 5' piece of plywood through the table saw with the 2' edge against the fence. That's asking for a kickback. It can be done but it isn't a great idea.

Get a 40 or even a 60 tooth blade for your circular saw and you can make amazingly clean cuts. I got a Freud at home depot and it works great. Use that to make the 2' cuts. Masking tape also helps with chip-out, and cut the sheets face-down with the circ saw.

An 8' steel stud works great as a straight edge for circular saw cutting and also for routing. Just clamp the ends to the sheet!

If you're careful with your layout and measurement you can do it very accurately with a circ saw and a router for the dados.

[Conrad Fiore]

Router and straight edge for dados. Could also use the router and straight edge to clean up circ. saw cuts.

[David DeCristoforo]

Make a "rough" cut with your skillsaw. Leave 1/16 - 1/8" of "extra" length. Then clamp a straight edge to the piece and use a router with a flush trim bit to make the final cut.

[Troy Turner]

How are you going to come up with a 5' wide piece of wood? Ply is only 4' wide. That's probably why your fence only goes to 4'. Are you joining 2 together? If so, you should be able to set up your fence for 2 1/2', make sure you have supports or someone else in there to help you, and run your pieces.

A straightedge for your router will allow you to make dados in the panels. Just measure from the ends, make two or three marks on those measurements, clamp your straight edge along the marks and make shallow passes. Using the same measurements, you should be able to replicate the dados on the other pieces as well.

Never used one on ply before (assuming that's what you're using), but I'm wondering if you couldn't make a template out of MDF and use a flush trim bit.

[Frank Drew]

How are you going to come up with a 5' wide piece of wood? Ply is only 4' wide.

Mike said that the piece he's building will be 5' wide, but the piece of wood he needs is 5' x 2'; I assumed he meant a piece 2' wide x 5' long.

Depending on one's comfort level (and the size of your saw's table), adding an auxiliary fence to your miter gauge can allow you to use your table saw to do most of these cuts (finish length; dado, etc.), after having broken down the ply sheet a bit.

[Jim Bowers]

Just for the record MDF comes 5' X 8', 5' X 10'& 5' X 12'. Now MDF is very often used for high end veneer. I think this is what he has. However, do not be so quick to jump. Also Okume & Baltic Birch come in 5' X 10' sheets also. You can also get plywood in almost any size you want if you are willing to pay the price. Sorry for the soap box but it is a sore point when we jump all over a creeker because we do not believe what has been written, Have a great day.

[Derek Noel]

I have rough cut boards to +1/8 then used a router and straight edge to finish the job. somewhat labor intensive to set up but This gives a very clean edge.

Sense you are probably using plywood I assume your design is going to hide the edges so a circular saw with high quality blade intended for ply should be fine.

[Dan Cameron]

Baltic birch plywood comes standard in 5' x 5' sheets. There, I did the first cut for you.

[glenn bradley]

I have a large TS sled (along with other sizes) for just this purpose. A router guide is another method that I employ. As a matter of fact I used a router guide to make the big sled; chicken or the egg and all that ;-))

[Troy Turner]

Sorry for the soap box but it is a sore point when we jump all over a creeker because we do not believe what has been written, Have a great day.

Good to know. Didn't know they had other sizes other than sheet sizes. I know they don't at the home improvement stores, at least not mine anyway. And I don't see me jumping all over him, just trying to see where he's coming from to try and help him out a bit more.

[mike graveling]

thanks for all the help guys, its hard when you run into something new and am not sure how others are doing it, and yes the piece is actually 2' wide and 5' long but i need to run it through the saw with the 5' length being width wise.

[Greg Portland]

A Skilsaw with a good blade will work but you may have minor tearout due to a lack of a zero clearance insert. The tearout can be mitigated by covering the cut with blue tape. Tracksaw systems (Festool, etc.) will work very well but are $$$. Building a large crosscut sled will allow you to make a very clean 90&deg finish cut but you will be limited by the size of your table. Finally, eurosaws with sliding tables will do a great job but are $$$.

Your cheapest option will be to use the Skilsaw + guide & tape. Carefully setup your cut using knife marks (not pencil) and check blade alignment on the infeed and outfeed sides. Clamp the guide and make your cut. Placing the panel on a styrofoam sheet will prevent tearout on the bottom of the panel.