The forte of track saws is making it easy to break down big pieces of plywood. There’s just one problem.

What if you don’t want to cut a board all the way across?

Let me explain.

Say you buy a standard 5’x5’ sheet of baltic birch plywood — but you need a 2’x2’ piece for your project.

You could just make a first square cut across the entire board, then cut the subsequent piece into your 2’x2’ board.

But now you’ve got a randomly sized offcut that may not be useful.

And as this process continues, you end up with a lot of random offcuts — and a lot of waste.

Not ideal when you consider how expensive plywood can be!

Instead, you might make two cuts starting from the outside edges of the board, meeting at the inside corner of your 2’x2’ board.

This can work — assuming the edges of the board are perfectly square.

To solve this, I’m going to show you 2 ways to set up track saw cuts in the middle of a board — so you can get square cuts with less waste.

The Katz-Moses Jig Square was originally designed for making crosscut sleds in record time.

But it also works super well for setting up track saw cuts.

Use a square on the edge of the border to set up the track for your first cut.

Mark a point where that first cut will end. As you make the cut, stop about 1” past this point.

Now place the tabs of the Katz-Moses Jig Square in the kerf of that cut (it’ll fit any kerf from 0.08” to 0.235”).

Bump the back edge of the track saw's track against the fence of the Jig Square and adjust its position until the zero clearance edge lines up with the end point you marked for the start of the next cut.

Turn the brass knob to expand the tabs and lock the Jig Square in place.

Now just make sure the track is snug against Jig Square fence, and make your second cut.

Nice and square!

(Side note: You could even use this technique to cut out square holes in the middle of a board using plunge cuts — like for the hole in a router table top.)

If you don’t have a Katz-Moses Jig Square, you can get by with a thin ruler and a framing square.

Place the ruler sideways in the kerf of the first cut. Then push the framing square against it.

It’ll be a little tricky to keep everything stable, but you should be able to set the track of your track saw against the other edge of the framing square and set up a 90° cut.

Want to turn your circular saw into a DIY track saw? Read this.

Any other tips for conserving material while breaking down plywood? Let us know in the comments below!

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