Shop Tips
Use saw reflection to cut square
Use the reflection on the saw plate to gauge your accuracy.
When crosscutting with a handsaw, you can use the reflection on the saw plate to gauge your accuracy. A saw that is pivoted off 90° (but square vertically) will show a bend in the workpiece that looks like the refraction that occurs in water. Change the angle of the saw to straighten the reflection and you’ll get a 90° cut. I use this phenomenon to help me make square cuts without marking a line. If you do use a layout line to guide your saw, the reflection will tell you if the saw is square vertically.
—Eric Richter, Beaumont, Tex.
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