Best method to cross cut sheet goods over 16 inches, ie.e 24 inch?

[Benjimin Young]

I have always been challenged with accurately cross cutting sheet goods square when making pieces that are wider than 16", for example 24" wide for cabinet making. At my disposal are; RAS, sliding miter saw, highbred cabinet table saw, and of course a skill saw, I do not have a track saw and I find cross cut sleds for 24" much too big to manage. Up to now I rely on maintaining a factory OEM square corner to rip parallel against on the table saw fence, not very practical. I will be building new shop cabinets in the months to come and wanted to ask what other Creekers do to create square cross cut sheet goods around 24" wide utilizing economical solutions, i.e not a sliding table or expensive track saw system?

[Ralph Okonieski]

Make your own version of a track saw if you have a circular saw. That is as economical as it gets because you can use hardboard for the base. You could make several of different lengths even. There are lots of videos with methods to make although they are simple enough. With that, you can start with a nice straight edge for reference.

[Lee Schierer]

Shortly after I set up my table saw, I discovered that handling sheet goods alone took more hands than I had. I couldn't be on both sides of the saw when ripping long boards or cutting up sheets of ply wood. The fist thing I added was foot out feed/work surface on the out feed side of my saw. That helped, but still made it difficult for cuts wider than 16-18". I upgraded my fence to Beismeyer 50" fence and that was a significant improvement. I worked that way for a number of years using a 2' x 4' cross cut sled on the left side of the blade. This gave me the ability to cut wider pieces, but I was still limited when cross cutting sheet goods because the sled wouldn't slide far enough back and stay in the miter slot.

SO,
I designed and made an adjustable support table for the in feed side of the saw. This table, mad from scraps is a bit over 4 feet in length and about 20" wide.
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It has folding legs for support. There are toggle clamps and tabs that that fit over the Beismeyer fence rail that allow it to be securely attached to the saw.
IMG_0751.jpgIMG_0752.jpgIMG_0748.jpg
This extension table also has a miter slot that can be aligned with the miter slot in the saw table.
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This enables my crosscut sled to come back far enough to cross cut a 4 x 8 sheet into two 4 x 4 pieces if needed. I used this table extensively when I added 1" poly insulation board to support the fiber glass insulation in the floor before I dry walled the lower level ceiling. I was able to cut 15" x 96" pieces of the foam to fit between the floor joists.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Norm Abrams NYW videos are now on You Tube. Look at his table saw jigs as to how to make a panel cutter. I broke sheet goods down on a saw bench with a shop made guide, then sized them using my NYW style panel cutter. Spent over 30 years doing this before retirement.

[Ron Selzer]

I use Safety Speed cut panel saws. bought one new and two used. Have seen them for less than $500 on Craigslist, have to be patient. When they first are listed, they are priced at $1500 or more, as time goes by the price starts dropping, sometimes less than $500. Other places to look also, I bought both of my 4' crosscuts for around $500, small one looked like brand new when I picked it up, it is in the basement.
Ron

[Cameron Wood]

I have a cross cut sled 42" wide, and a little over 27" deep between the front & back fences, that easily cuts 24" panels, although I haven't made kitchen cabinets lately so a smaller sled gets used more often.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Shortly after I set up my table saw, I discovered that handling sheet goods alone took more hands than I had. I couldn't be on both sides of the saw when ripping long boards or cutting up sheets of ply wood. The fist thing I added was foot out feed/work surface on the out feed side of my saw. That helped, but still made it difficult for cuts wider than 16-18". I upgraded my fence to Beismeyer 50" fence and that was a significant improvement. I worked that way for a number of years using a 2' x 4' cross cut sled on the left side of the blade. This gave me the ability to cut wider pieces, but I was still limited when cross cutting sheet goods because the sled wouldn't slide far enough back and stay in the miter slot.

SO,
I designed and made an adjustable support table for the in feed side of the saw. This table, mad from scraps is a bit over 4 feet in length and about 20" wide.
IMG_0749.jpgIMG_0750.jpg
It has folding legs for support. There are toggle clamps and tabs that that fit over the Beismeyer fence rail that allow it to be securely attached to the saw.
IMG_0751.jpgIMG_0752.jpgIMG_0748.jpg
This extension table also has a miter slot that can be aligned with the miter slot in the saw table.
IMG_0750.jpg
This enables my crosscut sled to come back far enough to cross cut a 4 x 8 sheet into two 4 x 4 pieces if needed. I used this table extensively when I added 1" poly insulation board to support the fiber glass insulation in the floor before I dry walled the lower level ceiling. I was able to cut 15" x 96" pieces of the foam to fit between the floor joists.

Lee, I have a similar set of four of these, made from Home Depot 1x8 pine with two spindly 1x2 legs on cheap hinges. I have an unpredictable floor, so it’s actually an advantage to be able to set the legs independently. There’s no toggle clamp on mine, just the fence rail on the front and some simple L brackets clamped to the back rail holding the supports onto the saw. I got the idea from a Table Saw idea book by Taunton Press in about 2000. The supports are about 32” I think, just enough to extend about 40” in front of and behind the blade. When I rip an 8’ sheet, I add a rolling stand about a foot beyond the reach of the supports. Humble, simple, they take up no shop space since I hung them up on my French cleat wall.

I ripped a 4x8 sheet of 3/4” birch plywood with the four supports last week, 2 in front and 2 in back.. The hardest part was moving the sheet onto the supports from the floor by myself. I used one of those yellow sheet holders to lift the sheet high enough to lean it over onto the saw.

[Marc Fenneuff]

Ditto what Bruce said. Make a version of Norm's simple panel cutter.

I too used to have to try to build cabinet carcasses without being able to square a corner. A piece of half inch ply, a single hardwood runner, and hardwood fence are all you need.

[Lee Schierer]

Lee, I have a similar set of four of these, made from Home Depot 1x8 pine with two spindly 1x2 legs on cheap hinges. I have an unpredictable floor, so it’s actually an advantage to be able to set the legs independently.

If you look closely you can see the adjustable feet on the legs of my extension table legs. My floor is pretty flat, but I made the legs adjustable so I could level the extension to the saw table

I ripped a 4x8 sheet of 3/4” birch plywood with the four supports last week, 2 in front and 2 in back.. The hardest part was moving the sheet onto the supports from the floor by myself. I used one of those yellow sheet holders to lift the sheet high enough to lean it over onto the saw.

Yes, man handling a sheet of 3/4" plywood alone is a challenge when working alone.

[Alan Lightstone]

I also can't handle plywood sheets alone, and can't lift my large crosscut sled (that can handle 27" width boards). I bought an overhead electric cable hoist and had my electrician install it. You can find pretty inexpensive ones.

That large crosscut sled now lives over my table saw and is lowered with the touch of a button. No lifting on my part. Haven't lifted it in years. Crosscutting is now quite easy.

I do also have a panel saw. It's good for rough cuts, but I prefer the crosscut sled for final cuts as it's so accurate. And I do have a track saw or two, but only use them when nothing else will work.

[Jim Dwight]

I know a lot of people get good results from a sled on the table saw but they've never worked well for me. What does work is a track saw. There are a lot of less expensive options now. Like the Wen saw and track. About $225 for the corded saw and 110 inches of track (in two pieces with the connectors). I use an Evolution saw at church when volunteering. It's also about $150 for the saw. It works fine except the blade guard pivots like a circular saw. But it can use 7.25 inch blades decreasing blade Cost. $225 is a lot less than the $600 or so I paid for my DeWalt setup probably 10 years ago now. You can still spend a lot for a track saw but you do not have to. The Evolution saw with a 60 tooth Freud 7.25 inch blade makes cuts as good as my DeWalt or my SawStop table saw. I suspect the same can be said for other inexpensive options. They will not be quite as nice to use as a Festool, or even my DeWalt, but will make good cuts without costing so much.

[Tom M King]

I have used homemade tracks for circular saws for over 4 decades. I only built one set of cabinets for the spec house I was building a year for 33 years, with a few more sets thrown in for various reasons over 50 years.

First step was to make a cut list. Second step was to go get plywood with a pickup. I had two helpers. We would back up to the shop set up in the first built garage of the spec house, take the plywood out of the truck and rip each sheet as it came out. Cutlist number marked on each piece immediately after it was ripped. After it was all ripped, pieces were cut to length.

I used these. Including going after the plywood and returning, all the cabinet plywood was cut to size by lunch time.

For me, these work just as good as a commercial tracksaw except for dust collection. We did all that plywood cutting outside on a windy day with one helper using a leaf blower so dust collection didn't really matter. Job for the day was often selected by wind direction and strength.

I still use these even for normally "rough" cuts like cutting a stack of plywood for a roof with a 10-1/4" circular saw. Almost any long cut on plywood that can't be done on a tablesaw is easier and quicker with these. I have a couple for cutting quarter inch plywood with a 314.

The mirror image Porter Cable 347 and 743 circular saws can be selected for the direction I want to go. This picture shows a left bladed 743. I made that 20' long cut going the other direction with a right bladed 347 so I could plunge and saw towards either wall.

[Jim Becker]

A guided saw with the material on the floor or a table is likely the easiest and safest way to crosscut (and rip) large panels by many normal humans, especially those who have growing challenges with material handling. I will submit that a commercial track saw, even an inexpensive one of which there actually are options for these days, will do a better job in cut quality than simply running a traditional circular saw along a guide. Why? Because a true track saw does not let the saw wander away from the "fence" as one's hands shift around during the cut. But even so, a circular saw running along a fence, whether it's a nicely constructed guide fence, a clamp on fence or a clamped on simple piece of wood, is still going to do the job well.

[Tom M King]

I'll take that cut quality challenge against all comers. Here are a couple of pictures I took of just cutting some T1-11 for shop doors using the same shop made guides that must be over 30 years old. These cuts didn't need to be this good, but as I said earlier it's easier to use the guide than to cut to a line.

Hopefully you can zoom in.

I first saw the use of such saw guides in the mid 1960's. A carpenter was building kitchen cabinets in my best friends house out of 3/4" Birch plywood, which good quality was available in regular building suppliers up until the early 1990's. Those cabinets also have 3/4 ply doors with a full 45 degree back bevel that is also used for drawer and door pulls. Those cabinets were varnished, and are still in use today. I remember being impressed when I saw the guy doing it, and that was several years before I started any building myself.

I wish I had pictures of cabinet plywood cuts, but we never did anything to the plywood edges between sawing and assembling the carcasses.

First picture is with the guide. Second picture is cut to the line. You can still see part of the line and saw marks. Hopefully you can see there are no saw marks on the guide assisted cut.

[Edward Weber]

I use an aluminum clamp guide and a circular saw, nothing more is necessary for me.
They come in various lengths and styles.
If your circular saw is of decent quality and the foot and blade are aligned parallel, you don't wander away from the guide.