hi my name is Leon today I'm going to
show you how to make a straight perfect
cut every time using a circular saw or a
jigsaw doesn't matter which saw you use
so let's get started okay so let me tell
you about the tools you're going to need
you're going to need a circular saw I
have a carpenter's pencil but any pencil
will do we have a tape measure we have
what's called a speed square if you go
to the tool section of the website it'll
tell you all about speed squares what
they're used for and how to operate one
next we have a series of clamps now
depending upon what you're going to cut
there and that's why I've laid out three
different types of clamps you may not
use the smaller wood clamp you may have
to go with something larger or you may
want to just use what's called a C clamp
it really all depends on the project and
these your safety glasses because
there's nothing more important than
protecting your eyes now next you're
going to need a solid surface to solid
and stable something to clamp your
project to because you don't want the
wood to shift on you if you're using any
kind of power tool so a banister or a
sawhorse a workbench anything that is
secure so this is a piece of wood we
want to cut and it's probably about I
would say about two and a half feet long
so it's very hard to make a perfect
straight cut using a circular saw for
that great of a span so how do we do
that how do we make certain that that
cut is perfect well that's what this
video is about let's say that you want
to cut I'm going to cut two inches off
we're going to cut a piece of wood two
inches by two and a half feet
okay so let me show you how to set up
the cut I'm going to take a speed swear
come on and close and what we'll do is
right here it says two inches
we know that we want to cut a piece of
wood two inches by two and a half feet
so we're going to make our mark right
here so that's our first mark so let me
just quickly show you something about
this a speed square there's a little lip
here and so when you lay down the speed
square you lay it flush up against the
edge of the wood okay we're going to go
to the other end and now we're gonna do
the same thing there's our mark so now
I'm going to have to make some
adjustments to the circular saw if you
have any questions about the operation
of a circular saw just refer to the tool
section on the website for additional
information now before you make any
adjustments on the saw or any power tool
make certain you unplug it first so
first we're gonna flip the solver come
on in close let me show you this the
back side of the saw is called the chute
this is your shoe okay so I'm going to
pull back the guard on the circular saw
and I'm going to take a tape measure and
I'm gonna place that tape measure right
against the blade the outside of the
blade and from the outside of the blade
to the end of the shoe it metter
measures it measures one and a quarter
inches I'm gonna place the speed square
on our wood on the wood that we're going
to cut and what we're gonna do is we're
going to measure an inch and a quarter
from this mark so let's go to three
that's one inch 1/8 of an inch quarter
of an inch and we're going to make our
mark and we're going to do the same
thing at the other end so you're going
to need a piece of scrap wood there are
only two requirements for this piece of
scrap and
is that it's got to be straight it's got
to have a straight edge and then the
second requirement is it's got to be
longer or at least the same length as
the piece of wood you're going to cut
come on let me show you now okay next
we're going to take a clamp and we're
going to clamp the guide onto the piece
of wood that we're cutting and we're
placing that guide at the 3 and 1/4 inch
mark so there we go we're lining it up
on that that line taking our clamp it's
tight it'll repeat the processing
process down at the other end so I'm
securing the clamp down at the other end
and I've done that it's nice and secure
now we're ready to cut the wood now let
me bring something to your attention
here how this works is the shoe of the
saw is going to ride our guide and
that's what creates the straight cut now
let me plug it in now we're going to
make the cut
and so as you can see it's a two-inch
cut so what do we have we have a
consistent perfect two-inch cut from the
top all the way to the bottom and that's
what you want so folks this is what I
have to say to you you can make a
perfect cut every time if you use this
technique and this is Leah saying you
can do this
you