Shopsmith Forums

beeg wrote:I'm going to be helping my granddaughter with her Girl Scout wood working badge. She has chosen to build an Owl box. I've cut the 1/2" plywood down to just oversized 18 1/16"X22 1/16" in size with my Skilsaw. Now I need to trim them to final size 18"X22" on my SS500. The pieces I think are to big to use the miter gauge, I need to know of a way to trim them down to size.

On my 10ERI would probably just use the rip fence for both cuts.

If I did use the miter gauge for the 18" cut, I would use the miter extension. Then, to start the cut, I would reverse the miter gauge in the slot so the head is in front of the work piece. Part way through the cut, I would turn off the motor, and move the miter gauge to behind the work to finish the cut.


Or, since there isn't that much to remove, you could just sand it to the line, (belt sander or disk sander).

Those should be easy cuts with the rip fence, and if it were me that is what I would use. If the skill saw cuts are not very good you may have to resort to cleaning them up first. You will also have to make sure they are square, you will need at least one square corner to work from.

Ed

Factory edges are your friend.

Now if thee has a MV 5xx then thee has not a table front miter extension.

Did thee use a guide when skillsawing the plywood?

In any event thee could use a board clamped to the under side of the workpiece as a substitute for the rip fence. The board rides against the side of the main table

JPG wrote:Factory edges are your friend.
Did thee use a guide when skillsawing the plywood?

Yes I measured over 18 1\6", laid my level on the line and used the framing square to straight across. Then clamped it down and made my cut. I'm a little hesitant to make the cut between the fence and blade because of possible kickback. Thanks all for the suggestions.

Yes I measured over 18 1\6", laid my level on the line and used the framing square to straight across. Then clamped it down and made my cut. I'm a little hesitant to make the cut between the fence and blade because of possible kickback. Thanks all for the suggestions.
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I don't think there is much chance of a kickback, especially if you are using the Model 500 splitter and guard.

Still, another way would be to clamp a board that has a straight edge to the plywood exposing just the 1/16" you want to trim off. Then, use a hand held router and a flush trimming bit to trim off the 1/16".

JPG wrote: In any event thee could use a board clamped to the under side of the workpiece as a substitute for the rip fence. The board rides against the side of the main table

This is a good suggestion. Check out Chapter 2 of the online version of Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone, and have a look at illustrations 2-49 and 2-50. You can get there by clicking on the Woodworking Resources tab on the top of the forum page.

Here is a post from back in 2011 that shows how this works:

https://www.shopsmith.com/ss_forum/view ... igs#p98425

It is primarily used with irregular edges that are not going to work with the rip fence but of course could be used in this case. I think it is simpler to just use the rip fence but it is up to you.

Ed

With edges that long I would not hesitate to just use the rip fence. I do it all the time with no problem.

1/16"? Conical disc sander comes to mind.