Folks, the answer of course to this question is to simply purchase
even the most inexpensive table saw. A Ryobi at $99 is certainly not
bad for the weekend-worrior from what I've been told. The point is
some suggestions such as using a handsaw to get your cut started is
not a bad idea at all and even a hacksaw would work in making a nice
neat mark. Ok, so, keeping a straight line for several feet is more my
problem. Even with a rip-fence on my circular saw, I can wander a
little and have the piece kind of off a bit maybe quarter inch or so.
This is possibly do to my desire to keep one hand on the outside of
the fence trying to track it's progress and not keeping one hand on
the back driving the saw and the other up top leading the saw. I try
to lead by tracking what's happening with the fence. I'e tried using a
piece of flat metal that is several feet long, but in this case, I
can't clamp it to the material and let the saw's shoe ride against it,
the saw shoe is nearly the width of the material. So, any other ideas
are appreciated. I think this is the hardest part, just trying to
measure and insure everything is setup before applying power. Of
course I also have come to the conclusion that as much as I like my
battery-powered circular saw, it does not hold a candle to a real
electrical saw. I think the material is hard enough it fries the
batteries pretty quickly. I am using a blade that has fewer teeth than
what I started with to cut the laminate and so far it's not chewing
the hell out of it. It seems to actually speed the process so that
does help extend battery life. So, far this project isn't exactly
looking perfect, but I think I have the idea, I just need to figure
out how best to implement the steps. Of course setting my expectations
to high isn't helping me either. I didn't think I'd end up wasting
materials, but seems that is going to happen and I should have enough
on hand to allow for wast, but it's still a little disheartening. I
probably should have started with our living room first as it's a nice
rectangle and doesn't have so many doorways to deal with, that there
my friends is a good reason not to start in a hall with the shape ours
has.
So, Thanks for reading, I'm just sharing and asking questions as I go.
Scott Howell
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
