# Impossible to make a straight cut with circular saw on 2x2 timber



## Johanx3 (Dec 11, 2015)

Hi, yesterday I built a kind of guide for my portable circular saw, more precise than using an angle, and what I found after the first cuts, was that I was not getting straight cuts, no matter how careful I was, I concluded that because the wood hardness and depth, it won't be possible to make it straight, the cutting line tends to bend. The timbers is 1.5" x 1.5", and my max depth its about 1.6". Tomorrow, I am going to try to cut it in several passes, increasing the depth by 1/4"at the time, which should be annoying though... Any tip? I checked the jig, everything is fine with it, I mean, I went very very precise making it using a very good angle. Almost forgot, I also checked the disc blade, seems ok, but the shaft is not fabulous rigid, which maybe make big problem eating too much wood at the time and it makes it going not completely straight, who knows...


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## J_L (Apr 22, 2014)

Is the cut square to the face of the board you're cutting? Is the cut itself bowed over it's length? What type of material are you cutting and what type of blade (how many teeth?) are you using?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*good questions all ....*



J_L said:


> Is the cut square to the face of the board you're cutting? Is the cut itself bowed over it's length? What type of material are you cutting and what type of blade *(how many teeth?*) are you using?


What blade?... show photo.
What guide? .... show photos with details.
What "timber" ...or material? is it hardwood?
What saw?.... model and brand, Blade shaft is loose? show detailed photo.
Show "not straight " cut. How much curve is not straight?

Too many teeth will cause the blade to heat up, and wander. The saw dust can't get out of the way and builds up because the teeth are too close together. This is important. You need between 24 teeth and 40 teeth on a "all purpose" circular saw blade.

You saw's base must fit well against your guide and slide easily along the edge. You saw's blade must be 90 degrees to the base. Check it with a small square. 

You must have a good electrical power source, no long extension cords which rob power from the motor. A under powered motor will cause problems.

In order to solve this, we need more information. :smile3:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Cutting on that narrow of a piece of wood since you don't really have enough surface area for the saw is difficult at best. You might jury-rig a table saw. Screw the circular saw to a plywood and drop cut the blade through the sheet. Then turn it over and lay it on some saw horses and screw a piece of wood to the plywood for a fence. Then use that to rip the 2x2 in one pass.


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

You may be facing tension release in the wood from cutting. Ive had long pieces develop warps after cutting from compressed grain due to the way the wood grew. This can be pretty common with construction 2x4s.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

If you are making these cuts frequently you can make a cutting box to guide your saw.

http://greenthumbgoodies.com/Cutting Box/cutting_box.htm

Practice and experience using the saw will also improve your accuracy.


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## Johanx3 (Dec 11, 2015)

J_L said:


> Is the cut square to the face of the board you're cutting? Is the cut itself bowed over it's length? What type of material are you cutting and what type of blade (how many teeth?) are you using?


Yes, the cut is straight to the face of the board, but no the same with the length. The wood is the cheap 1.5"x 1.5" that you can find on home depot, I got one particularly dense, which should be hardwood. The blade is this one: http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/4e/4e8e8e43-9181-4ca2-8622-998ddeb7b4d8_1000.jpg

I am using it with my 18v ryobi circular saw, which has an amazing 4AH battery, fully charged. 

I am cutting far enough from the edge, but after all I think you can't have enough surface since its a 2x2timber, I only have enough surface on the fence of the jig. This is the jig I made (check attached pics), it does not completely fit the wood between the space, but I have a screw that pushes and firmly holds the wood just in the line that's completely perpendicular. I suppose that I need to build something more complex as a table saw or something like FrankC is recommending.


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