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A supplier told me 60% of custom cabinet shops still cut sheet goods with a circular saw and a straight edge, and I believe him
I was at a woodworking show in Columbus last weekend and got to talking with a guy who sells panel saws for a living. He said the number that keeps him up at night is that around 60 percent of small custom shops he visits still break down sheet goods with a circular saw and a clamped straight edge. I laughed at first, then I went home and counted my own setup. I did the same thing for 9 years in my garage in Dayton before I bought a used track saw two winters back. Here is what got me though, my cut accuracy barely changed. What changed was my back and my time, because I stopped wrestling 3/4 inch ply across two sawhorses and guessing if my line was true. I still break down full sheets on the floor, I just do it with a track now and a sheet of foam under it, and my yield went up because I can actually plan the cuts on the sheet instead of hoping. So is the 60 percent number real, or was that guy just selling? If you run a small shop, what are you actually cutting sheets with right now?
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hill.hugo24d ago
Man, I don't buy the 60 percent at all. Every shop I've set foot in around here, even the two man outfits working out of a pole barn, has at least a cheap import panel saw or a track saw sitting in the corner. The guys still running a circular saw and a clamped straight edge are the ones doing maybe three sheets a month, not real custom shops. That salesman counts every guy who ever bought a Skilsaw as a prospect, so of course his number sounds scary. Track saws got cheap enough that the math stopped making sense the other way. I'd say it's closer to 20 percent, and most of those guys are retired and building deer blinds.
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