Using Panel Saws in Cutting Plywood
Panel saws are unique equipment as they are in fact, modified styles of circular saws.
These types of saws are great for any wood shop because they are used to cut larger sheets such as MDF, plywood, and oriented strand boards.
These sheet good products usually come in 4-foot X 8-foot sheets and it can be a bit tricky when cutting them with a table saw.
What are the Benefits of Using a Panel Saw? The panel saw will actually give you the accuracy you can get with a table saw, without the need to lift your board and having to push it through your saw's blade.
Unfortunately, the more traditional panel saws require lots of room because you have to mount it on a wall.
Your vertically-oriented board then is positioned on the rollers and you have to slide it underneath the saw to have it cut.
If you're only operating on a smaller woodworking shop, this isn't always the most ideal setup but if you need to cut a lot of sheet goods, this is the kind of saw you need.
Even when you go to your local home center you can find a panel saw up against the end cap of a lumber rack which is ideal to allow employees to cut 4X8 boards into smaller sizes for the customers.
These types of saws are ideal as they are both easy to operate, and can be accurate in making cuts.
In an effort to bring the simple concept and amazing accuracy of the saw to smaller-scale woodworkers who don't have enough space for it, manufacturers have created panel saw systems which help you securely clamp a circular saw onto a flange that's equipped with some roller-bearing guide wheels which easily glide on an aluminum track.
One of the main drawbacks to this is that the mounting process can be tedious when you're aligning it.
In addition, your saw needs to be mounted on the flange base and you'd need to leave it like that for future use.
If you're up to it, you can make homemade panel saws too.
All you need is a high-quality extendable metal straight edge to guide the circular saw.
Straight edges will readily be available in 4-foot sections but they come with an insert which will allow connecting two or more sections end-to-end.
This is great if you're cutting standard plywood sheets along the 8-foot axis.
An advantage to this type of system is that, you need not have a dedicated circular saw.
You will only measure the distance from the circular saw's base to the edge of the saw blade.
Once you've done this, you only need to offset the distance from your desired cut and then attach the straighter edge onto the plywood using a small woodworking clamp.
Once this clamp is secured you only need to hold the base against the straight edge while making the cut.
Of course, you still have potential drawbacks and it usually comes when you use the straight edge instead of having a dedicated panel cutting system.
If you're not careful, the cutting motion of the blade will make the circular saw's base stray away from the straight edge and give you an inaccurate cut.
However, if you've practiced enough, this setup can give you similar accuracy as using a table saw.
These types of saws are great for any wood shop because they are used to cut larger sheets such as MDF, plywood, and oriented strand boards.
These sheet good products usually come in 4-foot X 8-foot sheets and it can be a bit tricky when cutting them with a table saw.
What are the Benefits of Using a Panel Saw? The panel saw will actually give you the accuracy you can get with a table saw, without the need to lift your board and having to push it through your saw's blade.
Unfortunately, the more traditional panel saws require lots of room because you have to mount it on a wall.
Your vertically-oriented board then is positioned on the rollers and you have to slide it underneath the saw to have it cut.
If you're only operating on a smaller woodworking shop, this isn't always the most ideal setup but if you need to cut a lot of sheet goods, this is the kind of saw you need.
Even when you go to your local home center you can find a panel saw up against the end cap of a lumber rack which is ideal to allow employees to cut 4X8 boards into smaller sizes for the customers.
These types of saws are ideal as they are both easy to operate, and can be accurate in making cuts.
In an effort to bring the simple concept and amazing accuracy of the saw to smaller-scale woodworkers who don't have enough space for it, manufacturers have created panel saw systems which help you securely clamp a circular saw onto a flange that's equipped with some roller-bearing guide wheels which easily glide on an aluminum track.
One of the main drawbacks to this is that the mounting process can be tedious when you're aligning it.
In addition, your saw needs to be mounted on the flange base and you'd need to leave it like that for future use.
If you're up to it, you can make homemade panel saws too.
All you need is a high-quality extendable metal straight edge to guide the circular saw.
Straight edges will readily be available in 4-foot sections but they come with an insert which will allow connecting two or more sections end-to-end.
This is great if you're cutting standard plywood sheets along the 8-foot axis.
An advantage to this type of system is that, you need not have a dedicated circular saw.
You will only measure the distance from the circular saw's base to the edge of the saw blade.
Once you've done this, you only need to offset the distance from your desired cut and then attach the straighter edge onto the plywood using a small woodworking clamp.
Once this clamp is secured you only need to hold the base against the straight edge while making the cut.
Of course, you still have potential drawbacks and it usually comes when you use the straight edge instead of having a dedicated panel cutting system.
If you're not careful, the cutting motion of the blade will make the circular saw's base stray away from the straight edge and give you an inaccurate cut.
However, if you've practiced enough, this setup can give you similar accuracy as using a table saw.
