How to Cut Plywood with a Circular Saw

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Kreg Tool. All opinions and thoughts below are my own. Please see my disclosure and privacy policy for more details

Plywood can sometimes get a bad rap. But did you know that plywood comes in varying qualities? When I use to think of plywood I thought of the lower end type that has lots of wood knots and imperfections. But plywood has come a long way and it is a great resource to use in multiple projects and even DIY furniture. But before we begin building today, I am going to show you an easy way how to cut plywood with a circular saw. We are making a shelving unit that is going to be a gift for a family member so they have some extra pantry storage.

A sheet of plywood laying on two sawhorses on a concrete floor

Materials Needed to Cut Plywood with a Circular Saw

Plywood
Rip-Cut Jig from Kreg (it is on sale right now!!)
Circular Saw
Saw horses

So the first step is going to be to cut your plywood sheet. A table saw can work for this but we don’t own a table saw and it can be awkward to try and maneuver a large piece of plywood on a table saw.

A circular saw attached to a Kreg jig lined up on a piece of plywood

So that is why we chose to use the Rip-Cut from Kreg. It has several advantages including that it is a much more affordable option than a table saw and your plywood piece can stay on saw horses and you move to the angle you need to cut without having to re-arrange the plywood sheet (which is heavy!).

A circular saw attached to a Kreg Rip-Cut Jig with a man holding the jig against a sheet of plywood

Also the Rip-cut is small and can easily be stored which is nice compared to a table saw that will take up much more room.

A close up of the Kreg rip-cut jig measurement

So let’s build! First lay your plywood over some sawhorses, and then get out your Rip Cut and put it together according to the instructions that come with it. It’s super simple to put together.

Justin loved that he didn’t have to get out his T-square to measure and could set the Rip-Cut to his desired width.

A close up picture of a Kreg Jig placed against a piece of plywood

You will then need to mount your circular saw to the jig, another advantage is that you can use almost any circular saw, we have a hand me down one from Justin’s Dad that works great. The circular saw will be held in place by the braces and screws to the jig itself so that all you have to do for the different cuts is to adjust the measurement. As you can see in the picture below you will slide your circular saw along the jig to your desired measurement and use the lock to keep it in place as you cut.

And now it’s time to cut! The guide will line up against the edge of the plywood sheet and then you can begin cutting and it will give you a smooth straight line as you cut across.

A plywood sheet on saw horses with a Kreg rip cut jig with a circular saw attached using to cut the plywood

It took about 30 minutes for Justin to cut all the pieces we needed for the shelving unit. And then he started assembly by screwing the box of the unit together and then adding braces for the shelves to sit on.

A plywood box screwed together laying on a concrete floor

A side view of a man kneeling on the ground with a plywood shelving unit stood up with wood braces attached to the side

We ended up using other plywood for the shelves because we ran out of the nice plywood but since it will be storing pantry items the shelves won’t be on display.