[J187]

I mentioned to a friend how I intend to rip a piece of 1/4" ply to make some furring strips. He told me, no way! He said 1/4" ply is too thin and dangerous to cut with a tablesaw, he said the board would be too flimsy and light and would catch the blade....

Any truth to all of this.. I am a little nervous to do this now.

 

[jcalvin]

You will be fine. Adjust your saw blade so that it only protrudes through the ply as little as possible. And as it goes with ripping anything, make sure measurement between the blade and the rip fence is less than the length-wise measurement of the material you are cutting.

 

[Willie T]

One more tip: This is for Skil Saws, but you can easily see how to reverse everything to do this on a tablesaw.

The problem you will encounter is the fairly wide space the blade spins in.

Negate this by raising your saw blade all the way up, (or down, on a table saw) and using double sided tape, affix a sheet of thin material (1/8" of most anything hard and stiff) to the saw plate. Keep it just a tad shy of the edges of the plate of the Skil Saw. (It can be just about any width on a table saw)

Now, slowly lower (or raise on a table saw) your saw blade just slightly over 1/4" through your plate cover... it will cut its own groove.

You're ready to rip your plywood.

 

[47_47]

In addition to the already given good advice, if you're cutting a lot of strips, rip the sheet in half first. This will make the sheet narrower and easier to handle. Also use infeed and outfeed roller stands.

 

[mmhendrie]

gap in new drywall

I just finished drywalling a room. One of my sheets that goes up against the ceiling has a gap. I'm guessing the ceiling is sloped, coz the drywall is square - one side is snug, then about midway accross a gap starts, and gets wider as it goes along - by the end of the drywall it's probably about 1/2 wide. What's the past way to securely fill this? It's too narrow and angled to cut a strip of drywall for - do i just pack some mud in there and let it dry?

 

[Ron6519]

I just finished drywalling a room. One of my sheets that goes up against the ceiling has a gap. I'm guessing the ceiling is sloped, coz the drywall is square - one side is snug, then about midway accross a gap starts, and gets wider as it goes along - by the end of the drywall it's probably about 1/2 wide. What's the past way to securely fill this? It's too narrow and angled to cut a strip of drywall for - do i just pack some mud in there and let it dry?

You already posted this. Have a little patience.
You don't post over another post. It's impolite.
Ron

 

[mmhendrie]

sorry, it was an accident. I meant to post a new post, thought I had, then realized I went onto an existing thread - I tried to delete it, but it only gave me the option to edit it down to 5 words - didn't know what else to do...

 

[7echo]

Willie Ts advice to make a zero clearance throat plate is good. Also, use a push stick.

Thin sheet goods can be difficult to handle due to the flexing, but if you rip it in half like 47_47 suggests it will surely help.

If your saw is set up for a splitter use it, that will help as well.

 

[ralphfravel]

I've had no problems ripping thin materials on my table saw. Beginning with a 4 x 8 sheet is generally the most difficult part, especially since I work solo. One solution that works very well is to lay a 4 x 8 sheet of rigid insulation (1" to 1 1/2" thick) on my shop floor, then lay the material to be cut on top of it. Set your skill saw depth to slightly greater than the thickness of the material. I use an edge guide for repeated rips or guides clamped to the material for wider cuts. This requires being on your knees to make the cuts, but it is a very steady and safe way to cut large sheet goods.

 

[DangerMouse]

no-one seems to have mentioned using a panelling blade with more teeth?

DM

 

[Thurman]

I also turn my blade on my table saw around backwards to rip thin stuff. A trick taught to me long ago. It seems to reduce vibration, gives a smoother cut, and you don't have to push the material into the blade as much. Patience and Safety. Thanks, David