use the hand saw as you can keep it, and see it as plumb(straight up and down) much better.
whatever you got will do the job
The cheap router the small one with a long bit
clamp the template on and get a vertical cut every time and fast
especially good when you cant find that ol dull saw
thats under all that stuff over there
some where
…ambrose…
two cents from the peanut gallery
where is that saw I saw
I just cant see
it.
Aloha Haubush
I use an 8 tooth per inch crosscut Disston saw with a teflon coating on the blade. I don’t know where you can get one on Oahu. I think I bought this one in Golleta, CA at a Gems store (I think) near the airport when I was helping Al Merrick set up his shop. I left my old similar saw with him along with copies of my templates. I think this saw was about $15.00. It is a cheapo saw with a black plastic handle with a western pattern on it. I saw it one the way back to Hawaii and grabbed it. Good tools are often hard to find. It has held an edge for years. I bought it back in about 1973!! Sharpened only once!
The trick to a good shaping saw is that it be very flexable so you can accurately bend it along the template’s arch with very little force. You need to concentrate very carefully on your cut and having to force a saw to bend will put your focus on the saw rather than on the pencil line and the vertical accuracy of your cut. Plus too much force will cause an uncontrolable twist in the blade that will pull it off of vertical somewhere along the line. Get a light saw with a thin, flexy blade that will spring back to a flat true shape even after many bends along an arch.
When cutting, I use two strokes in alternating order. 1. is more low angled along the length of the board and goes all the way out the deck side but is not very deep along the angled length of the cut especially near the far end of the cut. This type of cut is used to set the cut deeper right along the outside of my pencil line and keeps the rest of the saw tracking the line tightly and accurately because the low angle creates a long cut which the saw easily follows as the front of the stroke is pulled tight to the pencil line. But the stokes, cut depth, is not very deep at the far end, so that it doesn’t get out of control in case the front of the cut drifts a little off the line near the top of the stroke.
- The next stroke is much less angled and is mostly used to cut the deeper rear end of the previous angled stroke. Hold the saw near vertical and stoke it down vertically only toward the tail end of the long, low angled stroke. This way you cut the lower part of the outline after it has been pre selected by the angled stroke which keeps in on track with your pencil line even though it is a few inchs deeper near the deck and far from the pencil line. This keeps the lower/deeper end of the saw from drifting side to side and off of vertical which would make your template all squiggley or too narrow on the deck side or leave it wider and needing to be fixed up with the planer or sureform.
This stroking action creates sort of a rocking motion. Mark the line, cut the depth, mark the line, cut the depth. Mark the cut along the line with a low angle set deeper near the front of the cut near the line. Then use a high angle punching cut, straight down out the trailing edge of the long angled stroke. Keep the cutaway piece complete and tight to the blank to help guide the saw accurately on its journey around the board. If you get good at this you can quickly cut out a whole board with the saw and never have to clean it up with a sureform.
Last tip…I spray the saw with WD40!
Hope that is comprehensible?? Maybe I can post up a video later that would make the technique more clear.
There are many ways to cut out foam but it is a good idea to develop professional skills and techniques that will work in a professional environment as early on in your shaping career as possible.
When you are beginning you have a lot of time to burn and can therefore develop poor techniques that won’t be condusive to… arriving at precision results, as fast as possible, with the least amount of effort. This will become a drain on your ability to affordably deliver quality later on. The more time you save with good techniques and tools, the more time you will have to focus on the things that really matter like, the overall design and its suitability to the customer.
If your not in a hurry, and you haven’t shaped a lot of boards, I would use a handsaw cutting outside the line and then use a planer to true the cut to the line. Blend in the nose and tail with a surform. Getting a clean flowing outline is a very important step that should set the shape of the board. Take you time and get it right!
I tried a hand saw once and didn’t like it. Jigsaw for me. Take your time and cut outside of the line and then true up with a 12" sanding block with 50 grit.
Hey Bill, excellent write up, I hope people paid attention…
Damn, I was going to mention WD40…or Olive Oil…
Quote:
Hey Bill, excellent write up, I hope people paid attention.....Damn, I was going to mention WD40…or Olive Oil…
Thanks Hicksy
I will look around for some video that will better expain my long explanation.
I should probably add that when I was doing production work during the Japanese boom…I had all full templates for those boards and used a router with template guide (like Oneula mentioned). I still use that method when doing boards that have established templates like the Rescue Boards that I do for the City & County of Honolulu Lifeguards, firemen etc.
I think I was introduced to the Router method by fellow shapers Steve Walden and Harold Iggy.
I never tried Olive oil…but I bet is smells alot better!
Thanks for the comprehensive and detailed insights,I’d welcome the video but your writing painted a clear picture.
I’m stoked you joined the forum.
Mahalo,
Joe
…I prefer using a Dupont (spraycan),dry lube over the others mentioned,or a combo of Dupont and Liquid Wrench w/ teflon.
…I have several saws…I’ve given away twice or three times as many as I have now which is about a dozen,including jigsaws(2),router,roto/dremel set-ups.
my favs?
…a 26" 10pt. crosscut, Stanley “sharktooth”… price approx:$30
…a 15" 14pt. crosscut Swedish finishing saw…price approx: $25
…a 14" 16pt. crosscut Japanese laminate saw…price approx $30
…a 14" 12pt.push-cut holesaw blade on a custom “broomstick handle”…price???
…a 18" shortblade push-cut blade on a custom “broomstick handle”
…price???
…BUT, my most frequently used saws aren’t saws at all…
…They’re steak knives…Happy Hunting!!!Herb
…I am the 4th Horseman…
Quote:
Thanks for the comprehensive and detailed insights,I'd welcome the video but your writing painted a clear picture.I’m stoked you joined the forum.
Mahalo,
Joe
Aloha Joe
Thanks for the compliments. Here is the promised video. Assuming it uploads ok etc. Please note that I kind of lied in my descriptive hand sawing post. While I once use 2 strokes I know have that well incorporated into a single stroke of the saw. I just thought it would be better to describe it as 2 strokes so beginners could better understand and practice it. As you will see in the video I am rocking my saw forward and back. Back to scribe the cut along the pencil line and then forward to cut deeper along the scribed path. This is particularily noticable on the last half of the second side where the saw is well exposed to the camera lens.
I didn’t see the video so I am trying again.
If this doesn’t work I may need some suggestions from others who have succeeded at getting videos to upload and be viewable
Well I guess it won’t work…it said the max file size was 87.9 KB. any suggestions??
Hey Bill,
If you can put the video onto another website you can link to it from here.
I’ll work on that
Old school. I use an old pruning saw. The set in the teeth have been knocked flat and ground to be sure it is really flat. I’ve had the thing for 16 years. If you go this route, cut on the pull of cutting stroke. It also makes a great defensive weapon if you get invaded by robbers late at night in the shaping room.
For lubing the blade, I used WD40. I also used an old bar of surf wax when I could not find my WD40. The wax also works good on the bottom of your planer. A little bit goes a long way.