: Jay-A circular saw mounted under a table-an intriguing idea, and I happen to
: have a good Makita circular saw; how would I go about doing it? Thanks,
: Greg

For ripping strips I'd mount it under a 4 to 5 fot long board instead of a table. That would support the wood for the strips better, and give you a longer infeed fence. You could place this on a couple of sawhorses and clamp it in place, or make legs for it, too.

Either way, mounting the saw on a table or a board is done the same way:

Get 4 flat head bolts in 1/4 inch (or 5/16th) diameter -- or similar metric size if your area uses that measurement system. You'll want these to be about 1 1/2 inche long, but you may need longer ones -- it depends on the design of your saw. You will need 4 matching nuts, and 4 wide "fender" washers to fit the bolts.

Adjust your saw so that the blade is raised completely above the guide base, as you would do if starting a plunge cut. Set the saw on the bottom of the table, or board you wish to use and get it as close to being perfectly in line with whatever guides you may already have on the table for cutting. When mounting on a board you want the saw's base to be entirely on the board, with the blade in line with the length of the board. Pay attention to the direction of cut. If you use a board you'll want to mount the saw a foot from one end, and 3 to four feet from the other, with the long end being the infeed side.

You may want to take a pencil and trace around the outline of the saw's base.

Drill a 1/4 inch hole ( or 5/16ths if you are using the larer hardware) about 1/4 inch away from each of the four corners of the base of the saw, or a bit closer. Turn the board over and ream out the hole so the flathead bolt has a properly shaped recess to fit into. When it is installed and tightened you'll want it to be flush or just a tad under the surface of your saw table.

Insert two adjacent bolts from the top of the table (or board) drop a fender washer on each bolt and start a nut on each bolt. Take your saw (which is UNPLUGGED!) and slide it back to the position you had it in before, lifting the fender washers over the edges of the saw base. Gently tighten the nuts -- you just want them finger tight at this point.

Then add one more bolt, inserting it from the top, and working it so that it goes through the third fender washer, which again overlaps a corner of the sawbase, and again is tightened just finger tight. Finally place the 4th and final bolt, washer and nut. Your saw will be loosely atached to the bottom of the table or board you have chosen. At this point you can make a limited range of adjustment to get the saw lined up. when it looks good, tighten the nuts further to clamp the base of the saw firmly in place.

With some saws you won't be able to get the fender washers to overlap the corners of the sawbase. In that case you must find other areas to grip with these simple clamps.

Now plug in the saw, and with the table or board safely supported, make a plunge cut through it. You might wnat to do this with a slightly fatter blade than the one you will be using for ripping your strips -- or you can use the ripping blade. Lifting the saw back 1/8th of an inch will give you a bit of clearance.

With the sawblade and the cut it has made as reference points, screw a 3 to 4 foot section of straight 1x2 to the top of your board, or table. Place this whatever distance from the blade you desire your strip's thickness to be. Usually this will be somewhere between 1/4 inch and 3/16ths. This "fence" should end on the outfeed side no more than an inch past the end of the blade. That way the strip you cut can be directed away from the blade after it is ripped.

A short second piece of wood can be screwed on inline with the opposite side of the blade. This should be rather narrow, or even wedge shaped, and installed as an outfeed fence for the board. It is aligned so the wood which has been cut can ride on this, while the strip passes to the other side of it.

The exposed sawblade is a very dangerous thing. With the saw off, you can reach under and use the saw's depth adjustment to set the blade so it is barely 1/8th inch above the surface of the stock you are going to rip into strips.

The saw may have a locking switch to keep it on. If not, a loop of rope, a cabletie, or a tapered wedge will serve to hold the switch so the saw stays running without your hand being on the handle.

Mount this device at a comfortable height, arrange an outfeed table or support and have fun making strips while exercising safe working procedures. Be sure to use a push stick to get the board through.

Hope this helps

PGJ