: EEK!

As Bryan mentions, it is not as bad as it sounds.

I constructed a long ripping guide for the base of my circular saw and found that it worked very well. My biggest problem was clamping down the 20-foot-long ash board I was cutting my strips from.

I could just as easily have ripped the strips with my saber saw, but it would have been slower.

The secret is the auxilliary base that is bolted onto the saw. I use a piece of 1/2 inch plywood which is held to the base of the power tool with 4 hanger bolts or flat-head machine screws, washers, and wing nuts. Since I reuse these bases, and want to ensure the tool gets installed squarely each time, I start by placing the tool flat on the plywood, and outlining the metal base of the tool with 1/4 inch thick strips. A little glue and two small screws hold each strip to the plywood. This creates a shallow pocket that exactly fits the base of the tool. Sometimes I pull out the screws after the glue hardens, and othertimes I leave them in. I put hanger bolts through the strips and into the plywood, spacing them about 3/8 inch from the tool base. A washer placed on the bolt pinches the tool tightly to the plywood when a wingnut is tightened down.

I use a straight piece of wood as a fence. I think the current one is apiece of 1x3 about 20 inches long. It is held in place with wood screws. Adjusting it properly takes a few tries, but once I get it right I can leave it alone and it won't shift.
By adding short legs to the plywood base I've used this same procedure with 3/4 inch plywood to make my hand tools into table-top tools. My sabre saw works as a jig saw, and routers work as shapers.

I have some pictures of the jigsaw table already on line. If you want the link and can't find it in the archives I'll dig it out.

PGJ