Tripod member Mountain_Quail asks:
Thank you for offering this just at a time when I need help. It looked so easy: Instead of paying outrageous prices for two cheaply made towers (skinny bookcases) which one is required to put together anyway, I thought I would buy real lumber (as opposed to the particle board stuff) and do them myself. The first problem I encountered was that it was hard to even cut a board straight across and evenly. I used a L-shaped thingy to mark it right, but had trouble keeping the power saw straight. Is there a trick a poor amateur like myself can use? Like clamping on a guide of some sort? Won't the saw cut that unevenly also? Am I hopeless — should I take the boards back to the lumber yard and have them cut?

Handy Girl Jennifer suggests:
I'm very proud that you made this attempt unprompted by the Handy Girls, but there is nothing quite as nice as a good, straight cut made at a good lumber yard. Stress that accuracy is important (without pissing them off) and you will be glad you did.

There is a tool — it's called a miter — you can use to make a manual cut that is relatively straight. But the time you save by going to the lumber yard will more than outweigh the satisfaction of knowing that the semi-straight cuts were made by your sweat and muscle.

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