How To Make Square Cuts In Dimensional Lumber

Its important to get square cuts in wood when building certain projects. Square cuts allow you to create stronger joints and allows you to have your pieces fit together properly so that planter bench youre trying to build is straight and doesnt wobble.
There are a number of different ways that you can make square cuts in dimensional lumber such as 1x6s, 2x4, 2x6s, etc., which vary in price. Most will also allow you to make accurate angled cuts such as 45 degree cuts.
As with any tools, make sure to read, understand and follow all instructions that come with the tools.

Good

Speed Square and Circular Saw

The cheapest and quickest way to make square cuts in dimensional lumber if you already have a circular saw is to use a Swanson Speed SquareIts important to follow the guide carefully and to have a good circular saw that will sit flat on its base and can be adjusted to a true 90 degrees.  I have a cheap circular saw that I bought for around $40 that was used for some demolition. Im not sure if it ever sat flat or was able to get the blade square but its difficult to get it to now.
If youre using this method do a test cut to make sure the cuts are coming out square. You can use the speed square to measure the angle of the cut.

Better

Miter Box

A miter box is a plastic box that has slits cut at precise angles that guide the saw to allow you to make fairly accurate angled cuts in molding or dimensional lumber. Years ago you could find affordable wooden miter boxes but these days all I see are the plastic ones like the Stanley 20-600 Clamping Miter Box

The Stanley 20-800 Contractor Grade Clamping Mitre BoxIf you like the idea of a manual miter saw that is safer, cleaner and quieter than a power miter saw but want something a little better you can have a look at the Nobex Proman Miter Saw

A power miter saw like the Hitachi C10FCE2 10-Inch Compound Miter Saw Read More..

My first workbench and cuts with the table saw

With a new table saw I of course wanted to start cutting with it right away, what better way to do that then to make an outfeed table for it? I decided to make a hybrid outfeed table/workbench to save on some room in the shop, although I am not cramped yet I think I will be satisfied with the bench.
Every woodworker wants something different that fits their needs. I knew that I wanted a good outfeed table and I also needed a workbench I started looking online for different ideas. I found a good video done by the Wood Whisperer about an outfeed table built from 3/4" plywood. I really liked the table and I was going to build that at first before I decided to make it a multifunctional table.
I wanted a good heavy table with a vice and maybe some bench dogs, I wanted to be able to clamp things to it, and I wanted it to be stout, sturdy and flat. So I changed the WWs outfeed table design a bit and added a 4" overhang on three sides of the table and about a 9" overhang on one side for a vice. I wanted to table good and heavy so I decided to put two pieces of plywood on the top instead of one and then a piece of hardboard on top of it.
So I went to Lowes and purchased three sheets of 3/4" birch plywood for about $42 a piece, talk about expensive! I brought them to the shop and planned on starting the bench the following day. That evening I was talking with the engineer at my mothers truss manufacturing company and he suggested that I just use some "1 by" pine instead of the expensive plywood for the framing. Also, I had been debating using MDF on the top instead of plywood to save on a few bucks. So this is the way I went, a bench built out of "1 by" pine and MDF.
The difference in price was a pretty good bit. The three pieces of MDF were $78 total compared to the $126 plywood sheets. I had enough pine scrap on hand to build the frame and then some. Overall it was much cheaper and now I have three sheets of nice birch plywood in the shop.
I didnt have much 1x4 pine to use for the framing but I had plenty of 1x10 and 1x12 pine boards that were old and warped to the point that they were unusable as a large piece. When I ripped the pine boards down to size they warp wasnt noticeable. This turned out good because I was forced to rip all the boards down on my new table saw!
Anyways, I cut all the boards for the framing to length before I began assembling the frame, which didnt take long. I got the frame glued, tacked, and screwed together and it is pretty sturdy.
I did get one piece of the MDF top cut but not attached to the frame yet. I was by myself so I was unable to cut it on the tablesaw by myself so I used my Dewalt skill saw and a long metal ruler as a guide. It was the first time I had used a guide to cut sheet goods and it worked surprisingly well.

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