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When I am free hand ripping, I line the mark of the shoe up with the line on the board, pinch the shoe and use my finger as a rip fence. I alternate my line of sight between the blade edge mark of the shoe, and the blade-to-line referance mark on the board . This way I can catch a stray cut before it becomes too far put of control. this mothod has worked for me for the last 12 years, and I feel that I can cut almost as straight free-hand as most people can cut on a table saw. I am a 23 year veteran of the home improvement field,with 8 years of residential rough framing included, and only recently, have i had access to more elaborate tools such as table saws and rip fences. The trick is to learn to lock your wrist and elbow of the hand holding the saw, so that it doesn’t twist on you as you are working your way through the board. It takes some practice.
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Just curious. I usually place the edge of the blade on one edge of the cut line and then try to keep it there.
I got curious when some in the saw section commented about poor sight lines.
I found myself looking at the little mark on the table last week, and wondered if anyone ever uses that.
Blue
*I start by lining the blade up with the mark, then check the guide mark on the table to see if I'm square (or in line with the cut line,) check the location of misc. body parts, and start cutting. Mostly I follow the blade and cut, but glance at the table mark from time to time during the cut.Bob
*I start out looking at the blade, then I check the mark and if it is looking good I stick with it. But if it isn't right , I go back to the blade. I do tend to push the saw through quicker when I can watch the table mark.Rich Beckman
*the intersection of blade and pencil mark is where I look. On skinny rips I line up the blade then pinch the table an start pushing.jim
*When I am free hand ripping, I line the mark of the shoe up with the line on the board, pinch the shoe and use my finger as a rip fence. I alternate my line of sight between the blade edge mark of the shoe, and the blade-to-line referance mark on the board . This way I can catch a stray cut before it becomes too far put of control. this mothod has worked for me for the last 12 years, and I feel that I can cut almost as straight free-hand as most people can cut on a table saw. I am a 23 year veteran of the home improvement field,with 8 years of residential rough framing included, and only recently, have i had access to more elaborate tools such as table saws and rip fences. The trick is to learn to lock your wrist and elbow of the hand holding the saw, so that it doesn't twist on you as you are working your way through the board. It takes some practice.
*For hand held tools like a skill saw, jig saw or sawzalI I watch the blade. For stationary tools like table saw and shaper I watch how the material rides against the fence. I have a rip fence for my skilsaw and a small pair of vice grips that I also use as a rip guide.
*I'm an old freehander myself Charlie. I don't even bother to mark a line on the board anymore for rips. I normally just use the marks on the table to do my measuring. But my Makita table is hard to see. The knob blocks out a couple of inches of the scale. It's aggravating enough to make me want to go back and try the new milwaukee.I also wear gloves all year long, and slivers are not such a problem anymore. They used to brutalize me when I used my bare fingers as the fence.For rips that are beyond the table, I usually pull out my pencil and use that as a fence extension. It will only work if the blade is sharp. Blue
*I like the idea of the vice grips for a rip guide.I suppose a small clamp, like they use for ceiling grid work would do too.Good tip.Blue
*Ditto on jb...unless I'm having a beer, then I watch the beer to ensure it doesn't vibrate off the board.
*I am a saw blade person on hand held power tools myself.Any tool with a fence or guide system I follow the material as it travels along the fence. As a teen I watched my father put a piece of oak tru a cinderblock wall when it bound between fence and blade.For hand held tools I prefer those with large stable bases.As a Side note I am not sure if the grid clamps would hold tight enough. How about Framing square nuts, anyone?
*JclB is on track as usual. He does post too often :-) to have credibility so i've got his back. I like shooting boards for those situations requiring straight cuts in the field. In particular shooting boards tacked onto bevel siding permit straight cuts uphill and down across the uneven siding.joe d
*.....table saws...check the blade/kerf...then watch the fencesidewinder...freehand rip ..watch the bladelong rip, or accuracy , or repetition, use the fence guidecross cuts to the mark...speed squaremore or less... I watch my hands to make sure they're out of the way
*Blue,try a stair guage, aka square dog, square nut etc. clamp it to your table same as a square, it will even work on your cheese ball, makita finger eaters. Get on the worm saw man.Tom
*I think Lawrence looks out the window!!
*Like "Crazy Legs" I watch the line when freehanding and the material to fence when automating.I just picked up a staright edge guide from Tool Crib ($100), it's about 100 inches long and is self clamping - no more eyeballing miscellaneous materials for a straight piece to clamp and rip with - this rip guide is better than sliced bread. Now I always have two factory edges on my sheet goods - regardless of width.Buz