I hear you. I'm not one to go off half-cocked with a rigged up saw. If I go that way, I will most definitely make sure I study up and do everything to be safe about it.

My feeling though is that I will need to spend a day building the table and setting up, and since I really don't know what in the world I'm doing, probably best to plunk down the money for a little tabletop job or find somewhere to do it. I do know a guy who makes custom furniture, he has the sweet shop, but I hate to bug him.

High Point is really the furniture capital. About 3.5 hrs northwest of here.

: That is the furniture manufacturing captital of America if not the world.
: There should be a spare tablesaw somewhere in the neighborhood.
: I'd say your best options are
: 1. Find someone to rip it. Small cabinet shop, friend of a friend...,
: 2. Buy a small table saw ( if you're handy you'll find its nice to have a
: table saw around)
: 3. Do the circular saw trick. But take a long hard look at your fingers. Make
: sure the 'fence is parallel to the blade. Make sure the whole thing isn't
: going to tip over while the saw is running. Make sure you have a switch
: other than the one on the handle you can't reach.
: I've seen the circular saw trick many times in China usually in new stores
: ripping shelves and trim. But consider too that China has a very high
: industrial accident rate.
: If I was going to rip 16' boards with a circular saw clamped to a piece of
: plywood, I'd probably put it in the middle of a 4 x8' sheet of 3/4 on a
: frame to keep it flat, I'd have that screwed to four saw horses and I'd
: have a fence 6' long and dead straight, I'd have a friend pulling it out
: the other end, I'd have a push stick and the blade covered from the top..
: . . .