Squaring wood to make cabinet

[B0bbyBuds]

Got some bits of sheet wood cut offs, don’t think they’re straight along all the edges. 
 

how can I square off the wood? Got access to a table saw and circular this weekend. 

I’ve tried cutting with circular saw and long rails but I can never get a straight cut always off by a few degrees. The table saw has a sliding fence, but if the side it’s on isn’t straight it isn’t going to square off. Some of the bits are long so a few degrees turns into quite a wonky cut. 
 

all the vids on YouTube assume you have another super long square bit of wood to make a jig thing. 
 

I only have wonky square bits of wood.

 

[KingAether]

If the owner of said table saw keeps it well and uses it often it should be aligned, I did mine once when i brought it and its been perfect since. That said it is a giant lump of cast iron so pretty sturdy in place, your mileage would vary depending on the saw at hand

[twigs]

chalk line?

and a steady hand/eye  

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by twigs

[B0bbyBuds]

@KingAether I’ve been told there’s a fence which will be straight. But the sides of the wood I have aren’t parallel. 
 

@twigs thing is i can’t draw a straight line even with circular class rails. I’m not an idiot I swear  the rails always seem to be a few degrees off. 
 

I keep thinking as long as I keep using the fence it will work but when I draw it out it doesn’t. Feel like I’m missing the obvious. Watched loads of YouTube videos but they all use a straight bit of wood. 

[KingAether]

Ask if it has a mitre fence 

[B0bbyBuds]

@KingAether it has a mitre fence. In my head as long as I do 4 sides along the mitre fence it should be square. When I draw it out it doesn’t quite work. 

[Cajafiesta]

Is there a straight edge on the board anywhere?  All you need is one straight edge and a right angle to make three more straight edges.    If there's no straight edge on the board, get out a tape measure and start creating lines by measuring an equi-distant square or whatever.  You can skin that cat a bunch of different ways.  Look into the method for finding the center line of a roll-up garage door opening in, say, an auto shop.  you measure a distance ( it's arbitrary.  Say 3 meters, 1 meter, 1kilometer. it doesn't matter) from one corner of the door opening and mark an arch with the tape and a marker by holding the market at a defined location on the tape and moving the tape in an arc while another person keeps the tape affixed to the door-opening-corner.  Move to the other corner of the door opening and mark the same arc at the same distance. Find the center of your door opening.  Strike a line from the center of the door opening to the spot where the two arcs you made with the marker intersect.  This gives you a straight line down the center of your door opening.  This makes a 90 degree angle where the center line meets the door-opening-width.  Once you have that right angle everything is based off that.  

 

 

I know you're not trying to find center of a door opening, but the idea is all the same.  You're just creating a true right angle reference point.

 

 

 

Or just go buy a straight board.  

 

 

Or get a chalk line, snap your line and cut down it.  

 

 

 

 

[Openairbud]

 @bobbybuds @B0bbyBuds check your diagonals (corner to corner of your marked out shape) after you have marked it out. They should measure the same both ways. (Hope that makes some sort of sense.) Or look up the 3-4-5 triangle to ensure a perpendicular line

[twigs]

just make them wonky and be done with it   

[MindSoup]

I was gunna right a reply but YouTube has all the answers. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by MindSoup

[B0bbyBuds]

4 minutes ago, MindSoup said:

 

I was gunna right a reply but YouTube has all the answers

 

Seen videos similar to that. But I have longer pieces of wood for which the sliding rail bit doesn’t go far back enough. 

 

8 minutes ago, twigs said:

just make them wonky and be done with it 

Think this is going to be the reality of it. Make the square shape then guide it by hand. 

[Arthur Mix]

If you don’t have those tools use a framing square to mark out a square edge etc. Cut with a circular saw allowing for the gap between the foot and blade wether on or off the work. 

[B0bbyBuds]

@Arthur Mix Just checked out framing squares, that will help a lot! 
 

Just now, Arthur Mix said:

allowing for the gap between the foot and blade wether on or off the work. 

Not sure what this means. 

[twigs]

the 3-4-5 is doable, if you have a tape/ruler/straight edge..

 

if you don’t have a big saw table with a straight edge and can’t use a circular saw guide, you’ll have to do it by hand, which is why I mentioned pinging a line.. or put the boards flat in floor against a wall and scribe a straight line? again though cutting free hand with circular/jig saw..

 

seen those remote control saws? 

[MindSoup]

Withnailed

Edited December 4, 2021 by MindSoup