by Li Yi Jhen

https://youtu.be/nrT26Yau7t4

■Production of lathe bed for circular saw

Recently, we finally had a chance to complete one project that had been on our to-do list for a long time- lathe bed for circular saw. Circular saws can be dangerous if people do not handle it with care, so we decided to start with an easy version for trial.

We had consulted an instructor in woodworking when designing the model, and we have come to the following tips:

1. Use 9mm plywood for the bottom plate, and sanding sealer can be used without the need for polishing.

2. The front and rear horizontal plates shall be stacked up 6cm over the table surface and 3cm thick each.

3. The guide rail on the bottom shall be fixed with super glue for positioning before it is locked with screws.

Due to limited materials at hands, we made a few adjustments as follows:

1. 17mm thick core plywood was used as the base plate.

2. The front and rear horizontal plates were 2 18mm plywood put together, which would be about 36mm in total.

3. For the guide rail on the bottom, we bought the ready-made aluminum one, which came with nylon screws that can adjust the width of the rail and how tight it is fixed.

4. We used double-sided tapes instead of super glue to fix the guide rail, which made it easier for operation.

5. The front horizontal plate was fixed with screws, and we used the 5-cut method to make sure the lathe bed moves precisely vertical against the circular saw.

6. A wooden block was placed on the end where operators stand as a warning for the end of the rail so that the saw does not stick out too much when it moves toward.

The design drawings and finished products are as follows:

■Accessories and parts related to the lathe bed for a circular saw

Lathe bed and push handle of different levels and functions

1. Miter gauge for multi-angle operation

A no-frills version of lathe bed that features only the basic function.

2. Crosscut Sled for operation on the surface

This is the model we tried this time, which serves the same purpose as regular push handles.

A. Rockler Crosscut Sled (upper left)

Lathe bed by Rockler, a woodworking brand, and it can be operated from different angles as you wish.

B. All kinds of home-made lathe beds for advanced users. There are quite a lot parts added to the lathe bed in the following two channels.

Chris Salomone once introduced the first 3 tools in one of his videos, focusing on 2 main features- different angles and the speed of operation.

C. Taper Jig

Jigs by Rockler that are used for cutting long bevels and it has received lots of good comments. You can refer to Mr.V, a YouTube channel about woodworking, for more information on home-made taper jig.

D. Miter Joint Jig

Jigs that are used for cutting short bevels and quite often for cutting 45-degree angles in models such as picture frames.

E. Tenon Jig

Jigs for fine-tuning tenon, mainly those of long wooden pieces for furniture legs. AST Tool, a carpentry tool company in Taiwan, has one type of tenon jig that serves the same purpose.

Source: ASR Tool Tenon Jig

Chris Salomone has also tried to modify a vertical panel carrying jig by making changes to the jig that goes with the table saw fence.

F. Ultimate Box Joint Jig (finger joint jig)

John Heisz, an experienced carpenter that has been in this field for years, makes videos about woodworking and has presented countless amazing projects. Heisz built this box joint jig using a threaded rod to fix wooden pieces in dents for positioning, which is the smartest design I have ever seen. Buy the design drawing at https://ibuildit.ca/projects/ultimate-box-joint-jig/