Panel cutting on the multifunction table

Table of contents:

What do I need for panel cutting?
How do I cut panels myself?
Work steps for cutting to size
Cutting narrow strips
Tear-free cutting

The range of handy cut-to-size board material available in most DIY stores is limited to a comparatively small selection of the most common woods, veneers and coatings. If you want to realise more demanding projects with selected woods or unusual coatings, you either have to turn to a craftsman's workshop or use a circular saw yourself. We will show you how you can cut panel materials precisely yourself in your own workshop with little effort.

What do I need to cut panels?

Hand-held circular saw/dip saw
Suitable guide rail
Beams or thicker mouldings
Workshop trestles or multifunctional table

To be able to cut chipboard, blockboard, MDF etc. yourself, you need a hand-held circular saw or plunge-cut saw with a suitable guide rail. The guide rail should be approx. 30 cm longer than the board material being cut. Rough cuts or edging cuts are made on beams or a cutting board on the floor. The actual sizing is then carried out on trestles or a multifunction table. To support the board so that it does not sag, or to protect the MFT, you will need a few thicker mouldings.

You will also need a suction device, personal protective equipment (hearing protection) and scribing tools. A steel ruler with a stop is practical for marking out the same dimensions with repeat accuracy or aligning the guide rail parallel.

How do I cut panels myself?

An overview of the individual steps:

Create a cutting plan
Rough cut on the floor
Parallel cut
Angle cut (90°)
Cross-cuts to final dimensions

1. cutting plan

Create a cutting plan! This is a simple sketch on which you divide the panel graphically so that you can make saw cuts of the same width in one piece if possible. This will save you time and material when cutting. Pay attention to the running direction of veneers and solid wood strips and bear in mind the loss of material due to the saw cut - you cannot cut two 400 mm long workpieces from an 800 mm long panel.

You can create such cutting plans on the computer using a drawing programme. For some design programmes, there are extensions and plug-ins that automatically create cutting plans, for example the "CutList" plug-in for the full version of the 3D design programme "Sketchup".

_{A simple hand sketch is sufficient as a plan for cutting}

2. rough cut/trim cut

As it would usually be very awkward to lift the large panels alone onto a table or normal trestles, the large cut is made on the floor or on low trestles. The first cut with the circular saw produces a clean, straight edge on the panel. Mark this cut edge, as it will serve as a reference for marking the other dimensions. Now cut strips from the board one after the other. If you can cut accurately with your circular saw and guide rail, this can be done directly to the final width. Otherwise, you can first prepare the strips with a little allowance and then cut them precisely later.

_{The large panel is first cut into more manageable sizes}

With solid wood , the tree edge is trimmed first and then parallel cuts are made to this trimming cut. To cut as cleanly and efficiently as possible, a rip saw blade is used. Then switch to a cross-cut saw blade or universal saw blade for cross-cutting.

3. parallel cuts

The next step is to move from the floor to trestles or the multifunction table. Cutting at this working height is usually more precise, much more comfortable and easier on the back. On workshop trestles, you should place slightly more stable strips under the panel material to prevent it from bending. Slats are not absolutely necessary on the MFT, but as sacrificial wood they protect the perforated plate of the table. To prevent the mouldings from slipping, you can insert them into the perforated grid of the table top using connecting bushes .

The basic rule for formatting is: Long cuts before short cuts! Small deviations when measuring and marking do not have the same effect over long distances as over short distances. Consequently, if possible, you should make all long saw cuts first. If you have only roughly cut the board material on the floor, you can now cut it to the final width. You will find a tip for cutting narrow strips towards the end of this blog post.

4. cut a 90° angled edge

The panel material is often not cut exactly at right angles at the factory. Deviations of several millimetres are normal over the entire length. For this reason, you should now cut a short edge at an exact right angle to create a reference for the cross-cuts.

_{A right-angled stop is a prerequisite for precise cross-cuts}

The five-cut method

The so-called "five-cut method" is suitable for checking whether the fences and guide rail are actually at right angles to each other. Here, the four edges of a scrap piece of wood or board material are freshly trimmed once all round, one after the other. Make sure that the previously trimmed edge always lies exactly against the stop. You do not have to cut off a lot of material, just enough to create a cleanly cut edge. On the fifth saw cut, the edge cut first is parallel to the guide rail again. Now cut off a narrow strip. You can now measure whether the strip is the same width at both ends, in which case the fence is square, or whether there are deviations, in which case you need to correct the fence.

_{With the five-cut method, the inaccuracies add up}

5. cross-cut to final size

You can now cut the workpieces to the final size. When repositioning the workpieces, pay attention to where the reference edges are located. The long reference edge should always lie against the stop, while the short edge cut at right angles serves as the starting point for the length measurement.

To cut several workpieces or panels to the same size, you can mark the required dimension, align the workpiece precisely on the rubber lip of the guide rail and clamp a stop on the MFT against the short reference edge.

Cutting narrow strips

When cutting narrow strips (40 to 100 mm wide), the guide rail no longer rests securely on the material. In such cases, place the workpiece in front of the guide rail and add the width of the saw cut to the tear. You can support the guide rail with panel sections if necessary. Clamp the narrow strip to the MFT so that it does not fly off at the end of the saw cut.

Add the cutting width when cutting narrow strips

Tear-free cutting

The rubber lip on the guide rail and a correctly adjusted splinter guard on the circular handsaw make cutting virtually tear-free. Some hand-held circular saws, such as the MAFELL MT 55 CC plunge-cut saw, offer a scoring function in which the panel materials are pre-cut to a depth of a few millimetres before the actual cut is made. As you can see, you can also cut panel materials cleanly and precisely yourself in your own workshop.

Here you will find an overview of accessories for the DICTUM multifunction table.