Magnetic saw guide

[Monte Milanuk]

It can be other issues not touched on as well, I have the same problem BTW. Are you left or right eyed, you need to know this and it is a simple test. I am left eyed, do a lot of stuff left handed and saw right handed, I couldn't saw left handed for a bet. Derek Cohen gave me a name for it but I can't recall what it was and it may not even be an issue for you but it is something to look out for. Also be very conscious of what side of the saw blade you are looking at, I have found because I am left eyed I was trying to look at the wrong side of the blade, basically looking around the saw so to speak. Practicing won't help if you either have a problem or you are practicing bad or wrong habits, all that will do is make things worse.

Recently I have started to put two lines down, one the line I want to cut to and the other parallel and maybe two blade thicknesses off that gets cut out in the waste. This essentially does the same thing as the guide would do, watch the extra line after you position the saw and not the line you are cutting to.

Chris, what you describe sounds like a classic description of cross-eye dominance, or more formally, ocular dominance.

It's a pretty common thing to encounter, and deal with, in other recreations - specifically the shooting sports. Kind of hard to 'reprogram' mature eyes, though, so the usual 'solution' is to either close one eye i.e. if you're sawing right handed, close your left eye. That introduces some other issues - primarily eye strain due to the right eye trying to compensate for the left, etc. etc. Some people go so far as to wear a patch or put tape over the lens of their glasses on the left eye (in this case) to force the right eye to be the one to focus, while allowing both eyes to be more relaxed.

[Chris Parks]

Monte, that's it. I am not saying it is a problem in this case or even in my own but it just might be.

[James Spillman]

Thank you for the responses. I appreciate all the practice exercises suggested and the various reasons why I might be having this problem. I also learned that there are a number of devices available to help me out. If I decide to buy a magnetic guide it will be hard to choose which one, since all those mentioned seem to do the job just fine.