Jronman Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 I have gotten into the habit of squaring up full sheets of plywood with the track saw. so I spent quite awhile trying to square up a piece of plywood with my track saw to get it ready to break down and it has been difficult to square for whatever reason. I didn't have issues on any other pieces that I can remember. Now I'm worried that the pieces I cut from other pieces of plywood are off too. I check with my combo square on the new piece which I have calibrated for square many times on an edge cut by a Festool track. I also measure if parallel sides are equal in length. It seems like if I want the side square it will throw off the measurements for the parallel sides but if I want equal sides it throws off my square which doesn't make sense. I'm not real experienced yet with squaring things up but I think I may have found out part of the issue. As you can see in the picture my square shows the rail to not be square. I would expect the track to be square. I checked my festool track and it is square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 Plywood make not be square so you have to cut the edge squareSent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jronman Posted October 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 I cut all 4 sides to clean up the edge and square then up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jronman Posted October 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 Squaring has always been hard for me. Do you guys got any more tips for squaring up a piece of ply? I still can't get this piece to square. I don't understand why. I calibrate my square to ensure it is square. Then I make a cut on a long edge with the 8' rail then I use the 4' guide rail and the square to make a cut like this. I always use clamps to ensure the rail doesn't move. My long rail is a DeWALT and the short is a Festool. After the cut is made I check the corner for square both ways It should be square right? I try to go off the previous cut edge. I have gotten the diagonals to equal but when I check the corners for square not all of them are square. Sometimes when I square the guide rail then make a cut, the cut isn't square to the edge I squared off of but sometimes it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SetBuilder Posted October 22, 2017 Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 How accurate is the combination square you are using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jronman Posted October 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 @SetBuilder maybe +/- 1/64-1/128 over 12 in. I did the thing where you make some marks then flip the square over and see if the marks line up with the square and I got it really close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy MSG Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 On 10/22/2017 at 5:01 PM, Jronman said: @SetBuilder maybe +/- 1/64-1/128 over 12 in. I did the thing where you make some marks then flip the square over and see if the marks line up with the square and I got it really close. Whether the end of your rail is square or not doesn't matter. the saw follows one edge. If you diagonals are the same, your square is off. I think that is where you problem is coming from. Get a better bigger square with no moving parts and you will be more accurate. Here is a great steel square at a good price from a manufacturer who specialized in quality measuring tools: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/starrett-tempered-steel-rafter-square?gclid=Cj0KCQiA3dTQBRDnARIsAGKSflkca_82ZVOpZS6zcheajr01FWipQnRlUnHB8K0sFczxOarq4zTi3d0aAhFKEALw_wcB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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