8 Nov 2013 Straight Edge on a Large Jointed Panel
“Cutting a Straight Edge” Use the router with a pattern bit.
I don't have a track saw and my table saw sled is only about 24" wide so cutting a straight edge on a glued up solid wood piece wider than 24" can be a real challenge. Even those less than 24" that are very long are difficult to cut straight with the sled. I found the solution in my router. When I wanted to cut a curved piece I would put the pattern bit in the router and trim the rough cut piece to the exact curve with a pattern piece – why not do the same with straight cut using a straight edge as a pattern. I have a jig for my circular saw to make rough cuts when cutting out pieces from a large panel stock, so I used that to rough cut the straight edge. I left it about 1/16" proud of my final dimension. I then secured the straight edge to the end and ran the trim router along the edge for a perfectly straight and square edge.