Cutting & Handling Plywood in a One-Person Shop
Cutting & Handling Plywood in a One-Person Shop
Handling and cutting a full sheet of plywood — or any sheet material — can be a challenge in a one-person shop. To make your woodworking life a little easier, Nick has developed four simple fixtures and combined them in a ingenious system for managing sheet materials. Used together, these shop-built tools allow you to move, position, and make amazingly accurate cuts in plywood, particleboard, and other sheet goods.
And because we know you will be asking, Nick’s co-star in this video is Bella, our shop-dog-in-training. She’s a one-year-old short-haired “red” border collie/kelpie cross, and a handful.
Plans for these incredibly useful jigs and fixtures, including measurements in both inches and millimeters, can be found at the Workshop Companion General Store at https://workshopcompanionstore.com/products/handling-and-cutting-plywood-plan .
0:00 Intro
2:48 The Grid
4:06 The Carrier
5:23 Loading Arms
7:00 The Saw Guide
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And thank you so much for your time and interest!
I like the idea of allowing the sacrificial 2x4s in the grid to get cut up over time and just replacing them when they get too cut up. What I don’t understand is: For long cuts, will the sawhorses not get equally cut up? How do you minimize overcutting the sawhorses so you don’t have replace them along with the 2x4s (once again, for long cuts)?
I’ve been using this technic for several years and i can’t agree more, it’s perfect every time. Great video with a little humor and good commentery 🙂
This guy is pure awesome !!
I enjoy watching your video Sir and the dog 😊.
Holy cow! these are great solutions to issues that I’ve had for years! Thank you so much!
Thank you for the tips!
What a FANTASTIC video. My husband is no longer able to help me with heavy lifting, I will be building this asap. Thank you
Great video.
What a great idea!
2.5 by 1.25 meters 🙂 great video!
Brilliant
What a godsend! I am so excited by the thought of being able to do this solo in my garage workshop!
Wow. Great ideas!
I just saw your video on the plywood table and jig. I hope you don’t mind if I use your ideas for this amazing piece of engineering. Very good demo on how it all works. You have a new subscriber. Thanks for sharing. All the best ….😊
Fantastic video
This man is a wizard
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Great video.
You are a good instructor . Wonderful to watch
Thank you for the terrific video. I appreciate your experience, knowledge and wit. Keep up the good work.
Thank you sir
Wow, gr8 table. Much EZer w/ a table that handles big sheets. Gr8 narration also, clear & concise explanation as U’re demonstrating yur technique. Thx 4 sharing on Utube.
It takes a mad genius to solve a mad genius problem! WOW!
Brilliant 😊
He picked up that hammer just to flex that sweet sweet hammer spin. Around his ring, it looked like?
I ordered these plans before I finished the video. Thanks!
Ditch the rope on the carrier and use a 24" x 8" section of 1/4" thick ply or Masonite to make the handle; add a 1" diameter dowel to the top as a grip. This way you don’t have to reach all the way to the floor just to grab the handle.
Wow! Your are a genius with a lot of common sense. Love this, just what I needed🙌🏾
Amaaaaaaazing! 🎉
Brilliant
Bit of history etc in the mix, i’m in ❤
Watched 3 minutes
Subscribed
Great man
This video should be titled “experience in motion”
Just an awesome video. Great! And … thanks.
Genius
These plywood handling jigs are as useful as anything I’ve seen on YouTube. Many thanks. The shenanigans I’ve been thru trying to drop a sheet onto saw horses are funny but have a high potential for back strains.
Hi, I’m from Costa Rica. I’m 35 yo and I find this whole channel more worthy of my time than a Social Network. Thank you so much!
So glad I just came across your channel! Excellent system! Going to do this soon. Thanks. Subscribed.
My knees thank you sir! Genius!
Ya know… The Wen track saw with 2 55 inch tracks is available, drop ship style, from Home Depot for just over 200 bucks. aluminum tracks don’t bow. No arc cuts. And the clamps set into the bottom of the track. They never get in the way and hold pretty well. You should really give one a try. It’s home depot, if you don’t like it… 90 day to take it back for no other reason than… I don’t like it.
After much searching and other channels falling short as instructionals, the lessons dont have much structure and the lines between entertainment and info make them a mess – where i come away from it learning only bits and pieces that dont really stick or build on eachother – i think i’ve found the guy thats going to teach me. The humour is nice bonus but the main thing is the very clear and enjoyable delivery and the pro/structured lessons from a guy with a lot of experience and who covers the basics along the way, (basic things that don’t need a whole dedicated video but are essential to know) yt creators are the best❤
Amazing idea! ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊
You have style mr 😊 quiet and laid back delivery……. That is what people want , there is so much clickbait , outrageous ideas that we know will never work , clamouring for views …….. you have a secret weapon…… the dog and a frisbee! . It’s the way you nonchalantly throw it and the dog… winks ….. & is back in a flash it really is very very amusing, apart … the bench is a winner but the helper legs take it to the next level, kind regards
Hampshire GB
Thank you. The more I build up my workshop, the more I’m convinced that salesmen instead of craftsmen influence WAY too many tool purchases. I knew there had to be a way to cut these sheet goods w/out spending thousands of dollars, & I appreciate you sharing this with us.
My wife tells me that I have one big smile for the whole time I watching these videos.
Love that table and the loading arms. Genius! 👌
Newbie question: Why have a two piece guide, what is the advantage over just clamping a single piece of straight-edge wood onto the sheet (i’ve just ordered a circular saw, to cut up some sheets of plywood, but never used one before)? Cheers.
Thank you.
Who says you can’t mix work with play? They never had a dog.
Calm, cool, and collected. So glad there are woodworkers out there that don’t feel they have to scream at the camera or be overly boisterous. I can learn more from a person like this than some of those channels that seem to need a flashy gimmick. It is like having your favorite uncle teaching you. Keep it up.
I could watch these videos all day.