Hey all. just finished laying my first room of hardwood, T&G floating. I am up against the walls now where i need to rip the boards. Of course my walls are not square so i need to rip them at an angle. Currently i only own a circular saw, miter saw, band saw, and jig saw. If necessary i can buy a table saw. What is the best way to rip them as straight as possible with the tools i have. I am assuming i can measure on each end of the board, mark and draw a straight line between the two, but I have a hard time holding the circular saw and 4 inch board together and making the appropriate cut.

I searched googe, forums and diy forums and cant find anything about this, but it has to be a common accurance.

thanks for your advice in advance.

I'm no professional but in my DIY opinion I'd use the bandsaw or jigsaw. I also wouldn't worry terribly about getting it 100% straight as you should be covering it with base (aren't you)?

I'm sure the pro's will be around soon to give some input.

Good Luck

Jeff

yeah I wasnt worried about 100% straight because of base, but the product i was getting looked more like a graph of the dow jones average on its side.

Dude, get a table saw and keep your fingers away from the blade!!!

can i rip at an angle with a table saw? i thought only crosscuts with an angle.

Yes but perhps you should just use a jig saw or sabre saw. It's much safer. I hate thinking I might encourage someone who is not experienced with a table saw to accidentally cut off their fingers.

I must be missing something here . Why cant you just use the bandsaw and follow the line

Yea, buy a cheap table saw and you'll be ok, and you will have a new tool. If you are expierenced enough to do a floor and use the other tools, you can do this too.

Why buy a table saw at this point? As Floorologist said, use the bandsaw (assuming you know how, and im going to presume you do). This will be the easiest and safest method for a novice to accomplish the cuts you need to make.
Mark your cut line on the panel, and follow the line with the blade of the bandsaw, keep the guard down to about 1/2 inch above the piece of floor you are cutting so that you can see your line, but not snick off any wayward fingers.

As an aside to my previous reply, yes you can make an angled cut on a table saw. You need to remove the fence though and push the piece through the same as you would with your bandsaw.

thanks for all the info.. I was able to bust out the bandsaw and give it a test run.. works like a champ.. I actually totally forgot i owned it until i made this post. A friend gave it to me a few years back and its sat in the shed since then... have a good one..

See, anyone can install a hardwood floor. Why would ppl need us?

And the ppl that do want us to do it think we should do it for minimum wages. !!!SHOCK!!! That guy is making thitty bucks an hour for just doing that? Heck I will do it myself.

That's one reason why I've concentrated on building a higher end clientele .

Me too, trying at least. Tired of getting lowballed by handymen or unlicensed guys that pay no insurance, bond, license fees and have no formal training.

I am striking back at them on Craigslist/services/skilled trade where most of them ply their services with my new ad....*****I FIX THOSE $1.00 A SF INSTALLATIONS*****. ya ah ah

I got the idea from a television commercial from Office Depot or Max. Storyline goes....old style barber shop has slick new competition from across the street who does $7.00 haircuts and is going for volume. He puts up a new sign made by the Office Depot that says...I fix Those $7.00 Haircuts.

That's an excellent idea, for different reasons. It may click in peoples brain, ( I may get in trouble with this chepo guy ). Also a good way to build a good clientele, if your able to bail someone out of their mess. You walk on water to them, and they'll tell all their friends.