Circular saws are incredibly useful tools and are an essential item in any professional woodworker’s tool kit, as well as in any home DIY workshop.
Circular saws are great for making a range of straight cuts, but it’s not always easy to cut with perfect precision, even with years of experience – and this is where a jig comes in.
With a jig, you can increase your cutting accuracy, ensuring you cut the same line time after time. And the best thing is, you don’t even need to spend much time or money because most of them are incredibly easy to make. Here are our favorite 9 circular saw jig plans we found while scouring the web.
Table of Contents
1. Crosscut and router jig
With a simple jig, a circular saw can gain a whole range of new uses, and that’s exactly what this plan shows you how to do. As the writer explains, you can use this jig to allow you to cut angles, dados, half-lap joints and more. In fact, although it doesn’t replace these tools, it lets you do a lot of the jobs you would otherwise need a table saw or miter saw to cut properly.
This is a very clear and informative plan. Each step is explained in detail and there are plenty of useful photos to illustrate what you need to do. There’s also a well-made video where the DIYer explains what he did and why – allowing you to adapt his plans to your needs.
This plan is a very useful resource – and as you can see, the result is very professional looking – it would probably work best with a corded circular saw rather than a cordless circular saw or a mini circular saw. If you are feeling ambitious, why not have a go at home?
2. Crosscut and miter jig
If you were impressed by the plan above, you’ll like this one to – because it was made by the same person. This one tells you how to make a crosscut and miter jig, and it shares all the strong points of the plan we talked about above.
The explanations are there, the photos are there and the hints and tips are all there. There is also a useful section with links to where you can get your hands on all the necessary materials if you’re not sure where to buy everything.
We love this guy’s enthusiasm – but we also really appreciate his skill. He’s clearly a talented DIYer. Finding plans and videos of this quality is always a pleasure since just about everybody can learn something new. Great job!
3. Simple crosscut jig
Circular saws are indispensable tools, but where they fall down is in making perfectly straight cuts. Even the most experienced operator might not always be able to cut a truly straight line, and for beginners, it can be next to impossible.
To help with this problem and to ensure you can make the straightest of cuts time after time, check out this video we found that shows how to DIY your own simple crosscut jig.
The video doesn’t have any words – it’s just a time-lapse video of somebody building the jig in front of the camera. However, you can clearly see everything he’s doing, and it’s all very easy to reproduce at home.
There’s also a link to the plans on the YouTube page, so you can find even more information there.
Oh, and guess what? It’s the same guy again!
4. Straightedge jig and crosscut jig
So here we’ve found something by a different DIY expert – and with this one, you get two plans for the price of one.
First, the site gives you plans for making a straightedge jig for your circular saw using just scrap wood you probably have lying around at home. There are four simple steps to follow, and each is clearly illustrated with photographs of what you should be doing.
After this, there’s another plan for making a crosscut jig from similar materials. You will find the same attention to detail, clear instructions and informative photos. Both of these jigs are incredibly easy to make at home – and both will help you maximize the use of your circular saw.
Two very good plans well worth trying to repeat at home.
5. Square cut guide and straightedge guide
This page we found detailing how to make a circular saw jig is one of the clearest and most professional we’ve come across. The explanations are extremely clear and to the point, and the photographs used to illustrate each step are high-quality and professional. We also love the way the photos are clearly labelled to indicate exactly what you should be looking at.
With these plans, you can learn how to make a square cut guide for your circular saw as well as a straightedge guide. You will find details of all the tools and materials you need to complete the project along with a couple of useful illustrations.
Another very well-made plan, one that should be easy to replicate at home and one that will help you improve the standard of your work when cutting with a circular saw.
6. Circular saw to track saw
This YouTube video demonstrates how to convert your circular saw into a track saw, allowing you to make perfectly straight cuts over and over again.
There’s something very absorbing about watching this guy work. It’s another speeded-up time-lapse video, but he also gives you a commentary as you watch him work. The video moves along at a lively pace – you don’t have a moment to get bored, and as you watch, the jig he’s making takes shape before your eyes.
This another DIY expert with incredible attention to detail – and someone just about anyone can learn something from. At the end, once he has finished demonstrating how to do it, he also goes through a couple of extra tips that will help you succeed when it’s your turn to try.
This is a very well-produced video, and we’re impressed by the skills and knowledge on display.
7. Crosscut jig
Here, we have one more demonstration video we found on YouTube – and the plans and extra information you need are all to be found on the YouTube page.
For us, this is a perfect DIY project because the results are achieved using extremely cheap materials that many people will have available, so there’s no need to spend lots of money. However, just because it doesn’t cost much, it doesn’t mean the results are any less impressive.
This is another of those videos that is just fun to watch. Step by step, you can see him working on the project as it takes shape – and for many people, there will be lots of useful tips to take onboard.
A very simple but extremely effective jig for a circular saw and one that even DIY novices should be able to try at home.
8. Saw track in under 30 minutes
Here’s a slightly different premise. Rather than completing a DIY project while spending the least amount of money on materials, this guy manages to produce a saw simple saw track in under half an hour.
As is explained in the video, the idea was to make something that prevents the circular saw from moving off track in either direction while remaining as simple as possible. As you will see from the video, he certainly achieved his goal.
The video is only five minutes long, the explanations and demonstrations are clear, and this should be an easy project for just about anyone to recreate at home.
9. Jig from scraps
The idea of making anything from scraps that you can find lying around at home instantly appeals to us, and as the DIYer in this video explains, this jig is deceptively simple. For us, this is the essence of what DIY is all about.
The video starts by explaining the problem of trying to make cuts free and with no guide or by using a clamp. He then goes on to talk about how you can achieve better results by constructing an extremely simple jig that costs nothing and allows you to get the job done quickly and easily.
An important point that he mentions is that his jig – and many other homemade jigs that you might try to make – are made to fit one particular saw. Since the size of the jig is measured for one saw, you can’t use it with another. If you want to use a similar jig with a different saw, you will have to start again – but fortunately, these are very easy to put together, so even if you have to do that, it won’t take you too long.
Creative but very simple
As you can see from most of these plans, a simple jig for your circular saw is quick, easy and inexpensive to DIY at home. A circular saw is an essential tool for any woodworker, casual or pro, but with a homemade jig, you can really release its true potential.
Although a circular saw with a jig can’t replace a good table saw or miter saw for all applications, it can open up a whole range of new possibilities.
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