Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Saw for thick wood
Marcus D
>I need to cut a curve in a thick (1.5") piece of wood. A bandsaw would be the typical power tool that I'd use, but I don't own a bandsaw. A jigsaw won't even begin to make the cut. What hand tool would I use to cut this piece. It's about 3" wide and 9" long. Thanks!
bowsaw
Jack Guzman from Maine
>
Re: Saw for thick wood
Bob Smalser, Seabeck, WA
>Bow saw, then....or even a coping saw.
But I cut that thick and over 8/4 routinely with my big Bosch saber saw.
What blade
Marcus D
>I've tried using a Dewalt jigsaw, but the blades always break. I'll try the bowsaw, but it would be nice if I could get the jigsaw to do part of this. Thx.
Re: Saw for thick wood
Adam Cherubini, NJ
>What you want is a long bow saw (like a 28") with very coarse teeth (like 3-4 tpi). I'll bet you could make such a saw using a bandsaw blade. Highland hardware sells a Putsch blade which is like 3/8" wide, 27-28" long (I think its metric) and has pretty coarse teeth. I have one. Like all Putsch blades you have to reset and re-file the teeth if you want it to perform.
I'd work vertically/overhand (see Tage Frid), keeping as few teeth in the kerf as possible. With a good saw and decent technique, you can easily outperform a jig saw or small bandsaw for this operation.
The other alternative if the curve is gentle is sawing the best you can with a Western saw, then hew and plane from there to the line. Of all the choices including power, this is probably fastest.
Adam
Re: What blade
Bob Smalser, Seabeck, WA
>I use the Bosch "Progressor" blades.
Really?
Bob Smalser, Seabeck, WA
>"With a good saw and decent technique, you can easily outperform a jig saw or small bandsaw for this operation."
Easily?
C'mon....ain't like I haven't used a bow saw or two.
Much as I luv'em...you're stretching it a bit....even in cedar.
all saws not created equal
bill tindall
>I broke blades regularly with my old saber saw and it never sawed a square cut. I bought one like shown in picture and it, coupled with a 5-6 tpi blade (Bosch T1010 or DeWalt DW3700, both "coarse" blades), mows through 1 to 2" wood effortlessly as Bob has already stated. (don't know that these blades are "best" as they are all I have tried) You don't even feel any drag on the machine as it passes through 1 1/2 framing lumber. And, I can't recall ever breaking a blade. Even cutting oak, as I was dong last night, is nearly as fast.
My old saw had only a straight up and down cutting action and perhaps a shorter stroke. The Bosch, and I suppose all the more modern saws, have more complex stroke options (up and down and in and out) and it is simply amazing how much faster they cut with this action vs simple up and down.
So, saber saws can work very well for such a task, but one might choose a hand saw technique for other reasons, obvious to all on this side of the Forum.
Re: Really?
Adam Cherubini, NJ
>Bob,
You're right. I shouldn't have said that. I don't have enough experience using bandsaws to backup my claim with confidence.
I'm not trying to brag- just give folks something familiar to compare with. You're a good sawyer. What do you think? How fast could you saw 1-1/2" thick soft wood? How fast would a bandsaw go?
I have some 2 by fir construction lumber. I could try it this weekend if anybody is interested. Sawing is one of those things that intimidates guys into buying table saws. I think if they tried my saws, or saw me sawing, they might change their minds about power saws. The trick is a good sharp saw.
Adam
Re: Really?
Alan Bierbaum
>I use electron eating saws for all but joint work because they are faster, and give cleaner results than my hand sawn work. I reserve sweat for things that count, like plane work.
p.s. - nice looking tool chest (from link in thread above).
Re: Really?
Bob Smalser, Seabeck, WA
>Just funnin with you Adam.
Dad's bicep was 17 inches and he couldn't keep up with the first crude Porter Cables back when I wuz a kid, let alone that snake-eating Bosch.
Re: Saw for thick wood
wayne
>Adam,
What would you recommend for a 8" log of ebony? I had to cut through one last night...what a PITA. I used a new 24" X 1/2" blade, must be about 5 TPI in my frame saw. Took forever, and wouldn't cut straight at all. I can't afford to make inaccurate cuts with this stuff. Bad enough that it is expensive, but it's about Rockwell 52, and straightening out a crooked cut is a time killer. What can I do? Maybe a 2" wide blade? Thanks,
Wayne Anderson
The crude only-have-a-few-tools method
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>If your curve is along the grain and what you have is a regular handsaw and some sort of curved smoothing tool (spokeshave, rasp, um, sandpaper), consider the method illustrated below. Mark out your curve and cut across the waste material (what won't be there when you're done making the curve) every inch or so, not all the way to the line. Look closely at the grain direction, and put a chisel in the saw kerf that, when you pry, will cause the adjacent block to break toward the waste. Do that until all the little blocks are broken off. Now, smooth the rough broken parts out until you get your curve.
Slow, crude, and low-tech, but it works if your tool selection is limited and you lack the time to wait or the money to buy a new tool for one cut. Of course, if this is all an excuse to buy a tool...
thats a good method!
Jonathan Ronnow, Sweden
>I used that method today, I had to bevel and taper the last length of panel that went up in my friends ceiling. Rather that dragging along the festool plunge saw just for that last board, I marked the taper, ripped it, then cut into the waste every 1/2" or so, chopped the pieces away with a chisel and finally smoothed the bevel with a 60 1/2. I actually think it went faster, or at least not slower, than it would have taken to fetch the festool, unpack it, set the bevel, cut, reset the bevel and pack away it again.
Re: The crude only-have-a-few-tools method
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>I do something like this for cutting the curved stiles and rails in Craftsman rockers. The only difference is that I chisel just above the curved line to clear the piece, then spokeshave smooth. There's nothing crude about it, goes real fast.
However, those pieces are typically only an inch thick, don't know how it would work on 2" stock.
Pam
Works fine on thick stock
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>You have to cut more closely together, and paying attention to grain direction becomes more critical, but it works fine.
I've used the same technique for cutting notches for lap joints in construction lumber, where the classic technique doesn't work as well due to the wild grain in Doug fir.