TikTok Shares A Genius Wood Cutting Hack You'll Wish You Tried Sooner

Cutting OSB and plywood can seem straightforward, but builders know it isn't without its irritations. Even when you follow woodworking safety precautions for your home project, trouble can occur about halfway through ripping a length of wood, as the halves separate and one side falls away from the other. By the end of your cut, you'll struggle to keep the two sides level and stop the wood from breaking. Sound familiar? It's a common battle, but one you can easily resolve with nothing more than the materials in front of you. TikTok user @jmg8tor shared a genius wood-cutting hack, demonstrating that a few scrap pieces of board and some screws are all you need to firmly clamp the wood in place, keeping both sides together until the end for hassle-free cutting.

The makeshift clamp can work whether you're using a table saw (putting the clamp at the end after the ripped board runs off the table), or cutting down large pieces of wood with a circular saw. Make your clamp with a small strip of wood (around 3 inches by 7 inches) the same thickness as the wood panel you're cutting. Screw two more strips of wood into either side of your first strip, letting them both overlap the edge of the middle piece by about two inches to create a slotted clamp. After cutting into the board, fit the clamp over the cut end spanning the two sides of the board. You can then comfortably rip the board without worrying about the back end falling apart!

Creating this three-piece DIY clamp is an effective and easy-to-use solution if you regularly have to cut long strips of board. It works best, though, if the clamp's thickness matches the thickness of the piece you're cutting. For instance, when you're cutting ⅝ inch plywood, you should make the clamp with a piece of ⅝ inch plywood for a snug, sturdy hold. If you use pieces that don't match the thickness of the wood you're cutting, you may have a loose hold or a clamp that won't fit.

A few alternatives can help you sidestep this issue. If you're cutting on sawhorses, the folks at buildsomething.com show how to lay a foam board to keep the wood elevated. Otherwise, you could hold the board together with a hand clamp and wood strips. Grab a clamp like the BESSEY Ratcheting Hand Clamp ($11 at Home Depot) and two pieces of scrap wood. Start cutting your board, going about a foot deep. At the edge where the cut begins, lay the scrap wood strips perpendicular to the cut so they span to both sides of the board. Hold one strip on top of the board and the other on the underside. Clamp them in place with the hand clamp, positioning it over the cut. The technique is effortless and works for any wood thickness. While cutting your boards at a home improvement store is the most convenient way to cut panels, these simple tips will take the stress out of your DIY project.