How to work with a hand saw
The saw has to be steered, otherwise it will start to wander. This should be taken literally. Wood is a living material and its behavior is unpredictable. Hard annual rings, knots, cracks, high humidity and high resin can seriously complicate sawing.
For this reason there is no universal tool, which can take into account all caof wood, but there are many different special saws. The shape and order of alternation of their teeth are determined not by the material from which the saw blade is made, but by its purpose. Some machines can only cut in a straight line, others work better in a circular motion.
When sawing, only the saw moves, the workpiece must be securely clamped. That’s why you need a solid support. E.g., workbench or trestles. Workpieces are clamped with a clamp or hand-holding, and larger workpieces also with a knee.
Sawing begins and ends with repeated light pulling of the saw in the opposite direction, i.e. a “trace” is laid. At the end of sawing you must hold firmly the remainder so that it does not break off together with a piece of main wood.
Sawing is one of the most common processes in woodworking. A clean, even cut. no problem if you choose the right tool and know how to use it.
In the photo (from top to bottom): big and small hacksaws; back saw; narrow-blade saw. Left side down.finishing saw.
A different saw for each workpiece
A hacksaw is fast, but the wide tooth pitch leaves a rough cut in soft material. On the other hand, it would be difficult to saw thick logs with a coping saw. In short, the material and the tool must fit together. Only then can you expect quality work and a smooth, flawless finish. Here is a quick guide for what kind of wood you have to work with what saw.
Chisels
Chisels come in different widths and curvatures. The curvature is indicated by a number. The steeper the curvature, the bigger the number. So, chisel number 3 is almost flat, and number 11 is U-shaped. Of course, a chisel with the number 10 or 11 cuts deeper and removes more wood than the number 3. On the other hand, a chisel with number 3 is more suitable for finishing work. The angle chisel with the number 12, which has a V-shape, has a wide range. from 24 to 90 degrees, but the most common are chisels with an angle of 60 to 70 degrees.
When choosing a chisel, pay attention to the handle to prevent the tool from rolling on the floor when you put it on the table. Otherwise you’ll always have to fix the blade.
When choosing a chisel, also keep in mind the size and type of carving you want to make. Palm-sized chisels are better suited for handiwork, and smaller tools are needed for smaller pieces. Sculptural and relief carving involves the use of standard chisels with heavy handles.
Cutters use different types of saws, depending on the task, but a coping saw is the most common.
It includes a replaceable high-carbon steel blade attached to a steel frame with a handle. A beam saw can be used to depict narrow curved lines, although considerable patience is required to prevent the blade from breaking or deforming. A circular saw is also used to remove surplus wood.
Special tools
A scobbler is used for removing bark and for quickly roughing out excess wood, such as in furniture work. The spoon blade has a double-edged circular blade, ideal for making spoons, cups or masks.
Files and rasp files remove excess wood quickly and smoothly. They differ in the nature of the surface, which can be rough, medium, or relatively smooth. Always use flat, semi-circular or round tools with a handle. Riffler files and rasp files have teeth at both ends and a variety of shapes. They are used for penetrating into inaccessible places and removing small chips. Rough surfacing tools are used for sanding small areas.
Flexible sanding belts are convenient when working with curved surfaces. Grinding cylinders in a hand drill or press are indispensable for the final finish. Polishing tools differ in surface texture and the nature of the material, meeting a variety of needs. Use sandpaper only when you are finished, or the abrasive particles will get stuck in the wood and your tools will blunt quickly.
Wood has found its application in a variety of industries. This raw material has always been popular, thanks to its versatility, ease of extraction and processing. Wood is used to make furniture, interior decorations, and even entire houses.
Any craftsman faces with this material, but, as practice shows, to make accurate sawing board not everyone manages. After tools on the cut are often chipped or jagged, which does not add your product beauty. So how better to saw with their own hands or order?
Many firms offer when buying saw your boards, besides the price of this service is not too overpriced. In the production of sawing boards makes a skilled craftsman on the exact equipment that allows you to get high quality blanks of the desired size and shape.
You can buy expensive equipment yourself, of course, but is it worth it if you have a few boards to saw? The choice is yours, but if you still decided to saw planks at home, then I will tell you how and what is more convenient to do it with.
The best way to make the cut?
Circular saw
It is the most convenient tool for cutting boards. Compared to some other power tools it has a higher capacity. But it is worth remembering that circular saws differ in features and applications.
Before you buy a saw, decide for what purpose you are going to use it. The main use of circular saws is cutting or sawing boards.
When selecting a saw it is important to consider the cutting depth. Circular saws with cutting depths of 30 to 130 mm are available. It is necessary to know with what thickness of board you will saw and on this basis to give preference to this or that saw.
The choice of blade for your circular saw is also the right thing to do. If you want to make a clean cut, a saw blade with a higher tooth frequency is the right choice. If the teeth are sparsely arranged on the disc, the work will be faster but much rougher. It is important that the circular saw produces a smooth cut with almost no splinters. Read more about this in my book. Read more about it in the “BOOKS” section.
To start with the circular saw, set the depth of cut equal to the thickness of your board. That way you can make the most beautiful cut on almost any surface without leaving any marks.
But remember that if you make a 90-degree cut, the depth of cut is one, but for a 45-degree cut the depth of cut is much deeper. Then make sure there is nothing in the way of the blade guard, otherwise it will not open.
Secure the board, it is necessary that while working it does not slip on the table, this requires a stop along and at the end of the workpiece. By the way, some saws are equipped with a thumb screw, which allows you to set the angle of cut. Usually circular saws have a range of 90 to just under 45 degrees, which allows you to make neat angled cuts.
Remember your safety precautions when working with a circular saw. Always wear safety glasses or, better yet, a full face mask. Remember that almost all tools are designed for right-handers, which means that all sawdust and other debris will fly out from under the saw from the left side, so left-handers should be more concerned about the safety of the vision and respiratory system.
Angle grinder or angle grinder
Some craftsmen advise using an angle grinder if you have a large volume of work, low quality requirements.
Do not try this method under any circumstances. The angle grinder is designed to make a nice-looking welding seam or to cut bricks, and you just can’t do it without a saw. Cutting boards with an angle grinder is dangerous.
When cutting boards with this tool, masters advise to put on it a disk with serrations for a circular saw. Imagine that while working the angle grinder caught a piece of wood in one of the serrations, you immediately release the power button (those who have worked with it know that after turning off the disk will make a few more revolutions) and who knows where you find after that your tool, on the floor a couple of meters from you or in your body.
Or, for example, the disk heated and broke, which is also quite possible, pieces of hot cutting disc scattered over the entire area, and some of them can land on you. Other craftsmen use a disc with pobedite, which can also easily end up in your leg.
So it is better not to risk, and to use the tool, specially adapted for this work.
Hacksaw
To make a clean cut with a hacksaw, you should first draw a line for the trimmer saw with a pencil on the board, then, set the workpiece so that it was convenient for you to work with it, fix it in this position. The next step is to set the hacksaw at about 60 degrees to the workpiece, guide the saw with your thumb so that it goes exactly along the line of the cut.
Start sawing as soon as your notch is deep enough for the saw to “walk” without tripping over the mark, you can turn it to a comfortable position, usually 90 degrees, and continue sawing until you achieve the desired result. If the wood is wet and soft, the teeth of the hacksaw will get stuck in it, which will make the work more tedious and longer.
To make your work easier, lubricate the tool with soap, which will make your work much easier. For the beginner, the first cuts are not very straight, so it is better to use a bar, which will serve you as a guide.
If you need to make an angled cut, use a mitre saw. There are pre-made grooves in it for the hacksaw. You will only have to attach it to the workbench, put the part into a special groove and saw at the angle you want. You get a smooth, almost splinter-free cut.
In order to beautifully saw boards it is better to use the help of a qualified master, if you think that you are able to cope with this work, then on no account do not make cuts angular grinder, it is better to use a hacksaw. For accurate cuts along the board, the best tool is a circular or circular saw.
The important point in sawing boards is accuracy and precision, it is a painstaking and time-consuming work. The main thing is never to forget that any manual, and especially the power tool can cause you harm, never neglect the rules of safety, it is better to reinsure, because the health is the most important thing.
Sawing a log into boards with a chainsaw
Very often there are situations where you need to make a very small amount of boards or beams for their own needs. Of course, buying a machine tool in such a case is absolutely not an option. Having certain knowledge and skills is much better to saw logs with your own hands, using an electric chainsaw or gasoline saw. Despite the fact that this work is quite labor-intensive, the result is quite justified.
Most experts believe that for this purpose it is better suited chainsaw. Such equipment has high power and can operate without interruption for a long time. In addition, the work of the chain saw does not need electricity, so you can work away from the power source, for example, immediately in the plots.
In order to cut the log into boards with a chain saw will also need special tools such as a mechanism for securing a log, a frame, the nozzle on the chain saw, as well as guides for sawing. Attach the frame attachment to the chain saw bar so that you can adjust the space between it and the chain. This will make it possible to create boards with different thicknesses. You should buy a special chain for longitudinal sawing. It has a special angle of sharpening teeth. The ruler-guide can be made from a metal profile of the required length or a flat rigid board.
Before you get to work, you need to remove all the bark and remaining limbs from the logs, as well as carefully inspect the log for various flaws. This way you can choose the most appropriate cutting pattern and thus reduce the amount of possible waste.
If you are sawing logs longitudinally, take care that the resulting lumber is of the same density across the entire width. Since the density of wood from the northern part of the log is much higher than from the southern part, the sawing is carried out in a plane directed from east to west (or in reverse order).
The first thing to do is to remove the slabs from two opposite sides of the log. As a consequence of this you will get a double edged beam which is further sawn into equal thickness boards or other lumber according to the sawing scheme. The final product is an unedged board, with which then necessarily remove the edges.
The circular saw is your guide!
One of the most used tools, which are used for this task is a circular saw! But it is only necessary to know a few basic rules. First of all it is necessary to ensure the longitudinal movement of the timber.
It is clear that to do it practically impossible on usual horizontal table, after all it will roll over from place to place during sawing which is very inconvenient and can cause a trauma! What we most certainly would not want to.
But what to do you ask? There is a trick, which is known to all professionals under the codename of “fin.
A fin is such a device, the thickness of which corresponds to the width of the cut. But it is necessary to install this thing in such a way that it was possible to correct, correct its position. This is very important!
The log is dissolved into planks by two people, it occurs according to the following technology: first they saw it lengthwise, that is, the work is carried out according to the usual method. Then, when the fin is fully in, a spacer is inserted, which should slightly exceed the width of the cut. Install a clamp-handle, which will perform two functions at once, one of which will hold, and the other will be needed to conveniently pull it.
The file. spacer at this moment will not allow the board to deflect somewhere, which is very convenient! Further you will need to act as follows: the first worker will pull the object by the clamp, and the other will press it to the ruler, which is used in this case to determine the width of the board!
The work is thus in the hands of the craftsmen! Things are going uphill! And the speed of action surprises them!
A chainsaw is a multi-tool!
In order to perform this type of work with a chainsaw a lot of action is not needed! But it is not for beginners. For those who are starting to do this type of work! And you have to do it practically from scratch, it is better to buy a machine. You can read about how to make it in my article here.
You will need it in order to fix the logs, you also need a guide for the cut, and attachment frames, all of which are used for the same purpose! No, you can, of course, try to make all these products yourself, with your own hands, but remember that the equipment will be under the heaviest loads, so in the most important moment with self-made devices can happen some trouble that can threaten your life and health.
First of all it will be necessary to make guides: two neat boards folded and fastened in the shape of a half-taurus. Then from different pieces of wood we make supports for the A-beam rail! So far everything seems to be clear and simple!
We lay the log on an even platform, which we prepare in advance, then we will roll the object from place to place, quickly and conveniently it can be done with the help of a kantor. Fasten the frame to the rail with the nuts very tightly, so that it does not fly off even in the event of an earthquake. Fasten the supports, they are needed for pushing the ruler to the ends of the logs!
The ruler itself is needed for the worker to see the width of the board. Fasten all the fasteners with self-tapping screws, so that exactly something will not fly off on you at the most important moment! Then the most interesting part of the work begins, because all the preparations, for the most part, are already done.
It remains only to check the cutting trimmer line, it should pass 10 millimeters above the ruler! So, holding our breath, we start the saw and make the first cut. Then you need to free the log from all the hardware. stoppers and move the structure to the next cutting line, but you need to do it as carefully and accurately as possible, so that the first cut was perpendicular to the first cut!
Then let’s turn the log once more and fix it with boards on the rests, which are on the ground! We start the machine and we saw we saw. Let’s saw and enjoy our work.
Yes, cutting at home is hard work, but you do it all with high quality and by yourself! Just remember, for this case you need more than one such device, it is better to make a right angle on the trunk, and then you will be able to prepare boards of any width.
Distinctive features
“TAIGA T-1
This sawmill model has small dimensions with electric motor drive. Used for sawing round logs as well as large logs into boards.
Robust metal frame. No saw blade oscillation (waves) when sawing. Saws logs of small diameter. Notable for its low price and low power consumption. Small dimensions allow it to be transported even in a van.
“TAIGA T-2
It’s practically an inexpensive machine with only 7.5 kW of power. Its metal frame has a large margin of safety, which is designed for quite a long operation. The productivity of the model depends on the processed product, and can be about 5-10 cubic meters/m. per shift.
Can be optionally equipped with the Micron-4 electronic control system for the automation of nearly all production steps.
The use of the Micron-4 enables the operator to map the kerf precisely, accurately and without error, as well as mathematically calculate and correct the kerf thickness. All calculations are stored in the memory of the electronic spar, which has 8 memory locations.
“TAIGA T-2B”
By its technical features and performance this model can be considered a unique equipment. It is equipped with an economical four-stroke gasoline engine, which has a capacity of 10 kW (13 l / hp). When fully loaded, the motor only consumes about 1.5 l of gasoline AI-92.
To warm up the engine before the intended load the idling speed is provided, thus extending the service life of the engine.
The design of the sawmill consists of a standard “TAIGA” frame, but it is equipped with mounts for the installation of an electric motor instead of a gasoline engine.
T-2B machine can work in the field directly at the logging site, where, of course, no power line can be present.
Depending on what is the diameter of the logs to be sawed, TAYGA-2B can saw about 10 cubic meters/m in one shift.
“TAIGA T-2M
This model of band saw has a rather powerful, 11 kW, electric motor, so you can saw large logs with dense wood.
Its design has a fairly large margin of safety, so it is designed for long, multi-shift operation with a capacity of up to 10 cubic meters per day./м. in a single shift.
This sawmill, as well as the T-2 model, can be equipped with the Micron. 4 electronic ruler, which automates many working processes.
“TAIGA T-3
T-3 sawmill is designed for multi-shift work with timber of any density. Power
Its electric motor is 11 kW, the sawing carriage has a reinforced design that increases the diameter of the sawing pulleys up to 60 cm, which multiplies the service life of band saw blades.
The design of this model is designed for rather high loads, with minimum quick adjustments. This allows you to work without long pauses to adjust the equipment.
Productivity of the model T-3 when cutting large round timber is about 12 cubic meters/m. per shift.
Can be separately adjusted function of the sawmill moving along the processed log and additionally completed for the automation of the working process multifunctional electronic ruler Micron. 4.
Homemade nozzles
Masters have long ago learned to do a lot with their own hands. There is a huge variety of frame structures on the Internet, which allow a chainsaw to saw logs into boards. There are simple variants of the manual type, there are large complexes of the frame, guides, with which the tool moves or the log is raised / lowered. One of them is on the video below:
Note that the construction is assembled from metal profiles, which makes it reliable and stable. In this case the machine (it is simply impossible to call it any other way) is equipped with mechanical gearboxes, which simplify the processes of moving the shaft of the workpiece and the chainsaw. No manual effort, just a twist of the crank from the gear. In this case, the thickness of the boards is adjusted by lifting the log, not with a gasoline tool.
Another option is the nozzle, which helps to make the cut not in the horizontal plane, but in the vertical plane. The design is simple, but it’s harder to work with because you have to make an effort to hold the chainsaw. In addition to the device has to prepare a bar made of metal or boards, which is attached to the log in the longitudinal direction. It is on it that the head frame rests when the cut is made.
In addition, this option is more dangerous, because there is nothing to hold the cut board. It can fall and hit your foot. So you have to be very careful. The video below shows how this variant works.
There’s another attachment that the manufacturer calls the carriage. For this purpose, here was made such a frame structure from profile pipe and a few wheels, which will give the device some mobility in terms of moving along the trunk of the log. They are also a kind of stops, not allowing the chainsaw to shift from side to side.
The carriage for cutting logs into boards
In addition to the carriage use an ordinary aluminum ladder, acting as a guide element. It is fixed to the log with clamps on nails or self-tapping screws.
Mounting an aluminum ladder
Pay attention that the width of the ladder should coincide with the distance between the wheels of the carriage, located on its different ends. Be sure to level the ladder horizontally with a construction level. Alignment pads under it with pieces of boards of different thickness.
The prepared chainsaw with a carriage is mounted on a ladder. Turn the engine on and push along the log, cutting off its top part.
Starting the sawing process
You can see the process better from the side. Here you can see the carriage with wheels, the ladder, the log lying under it, and how the cutting process is conducted.
The construction of this type of device is quite complicated. But of the many homemade variants of the manual type it is better, more convenient, more reliable. Now you can adjust the height of the cut horizontally by setting the ladder horizontally beforehand.
Sawing with an ordinary hacksaw
Before cutting fiberboard, it is important to determine how perfect the cut should be. Neater edges are formed with a fine-toothed saw. But you can also use a regular wood hacksaw here. After that, I just sanded the saw trimmer line with sandpaper to remove the resulting fringe.
If you have a hand-held circular saw on hand, the question of how to cut fiberboard at home disappears of course. A good circular saw will make a line for the trimmer saw as well as a specialized machine. Manual circular saws are usually equipped with pull-out stops that allow for a straight line cut.
Electric Jigsaw
The best way to cut fiberboard without a stationary bench is up to you. Personally, outside of my workshop I usually use an electric jigsaw.
The jigsaw can be used to cut straight and curved pieces. But if it is necessary to leave the edges of the elements visible, the problem may be that the jigsaw creates scoring on the front or back side of the material. Trim the small imperfections with fine emery paper.
Minimize chipping also with clear or paper tape. Tape the transparent tape over the line drawn on the workpiece before you cut it. If you use paper tape, however, you draw the markings directly on the tape.
Trimming with a utility knife
There is also a way to undercut the place of the future cut with a construction knife. That way you will undercut the top layer of the veneer, and it will break at the undercut point, not further away. Use a metal ruler to make a straight line for the trimmer. The kerf width is usually 3 mm.
The result is quite good. I often use this method. If when sawing I just need to cut a piece of plywood and throw away the other part, I only make one cut. on the finish side. This variant is good to use when trimming a portrait.
Adjust the guide to the size of the piece to be sawn off
It is not a small problem to set the guide on which the saw will run. To do that, measure the reference dimension. the length from the edge of the circular saw blade to the edge of the steel circular saw’s sole and write it down somewhere, on the workshop wall for example. it will come in handy! Next, you need to make a marking on the plywood sheet: the width of the piece to be sawn, the thickness of the saw blade itself, plus the base size.
You can use a special steel ruler from a DIY store as a guide. But it’s much easier and cheaper to use a sawn-off piece of plywood, where one side is factory-made, t.е. flat, quite good for this kind of work.
According to the drawn dimension set the guide and fix it together with a piece of plywood with screw clamps.
To prevent damage to the surface of the plywood sheet with legs clamp put under them, for example, pieces of old plywood.
