How to saw a board into boards with a manual circular saw

Make the cut without stopping

It is desirable not to stop during the sawing of wooden parts. The circular saw should run smoothly over the material and not interrupt. Otherwise the boards will be left with bumps and cuts that will prevent further use of the wood.

The movements should be smooth and soft, so that the disk does not blunt and goes evenly on the board. It is also advisable to check the length of the cord in advance. If you can’t reach it, use an extension cord. Otherwise the wood will also be cut unevenly.

How to cut a board evenly, lengthwise and crosswise

Due to differences in the design of hand and stationary saws, the methods of sawing wood are significantly different.

Working on a circular saw

If you need to saw a board along the fibers, for example, untrimmed, it is done as follows:

  • Hold a straight line on the workpiece with the help of a ruler;
  • then, along this mowing line with maximum precision make the first cut to cut the bark;
  • Then, set the parallel stop (guide) and split the workpiece into smaller boards;

If the length of the circular saw table does not permit cutting long boards, a simple device can be made for this purpose, as shown in the following figure.

With this carriage it is possible to cut planks and blocks both at right and at any angle.

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Cutting a board with a hand-held circular saw

Many owners of hand-held electric circular saws face the problem of cutting a board across the mowing line. At the beginning of the cut, the saw blade is visible, but afterward it is blocked by the machine’s guard. Because the marking can not be seen, the cut is uneven.

To cut the board evenly and get a perfect cut, you need to position the tool so that the saw blade is against the marking. On the other side of the machine, place an angle against the board and move it to the sole of the machine. Secure the angle piece with a clamp. You will get a guide that is set at a right angle. Cut the board. The result is a perfect 90° cut.

A guide bar is used for making a longitudinal cut on a board. It can have longitudinal slots, in which the electric hand saw is installed. You can also make your own simple long guide rail. In the second case, one of the sides of the machine’s sole will run along the guide rail (ruler) attached to the workpiece while sawing. The result is a straight, longitudinal cut.

The following illustrations show the homemade guide rails, the width of which depends on the size of the hand saw sole.

How to level a board on a circular saw?

Today we will learn how to make an uneven board “live” edge, using only a circular saw, handy tools, and straight hands.

To be able to cut the board without problems on a circular saw, it must have at least one straight side. The one that is adjacent to the guide parallel stop. There should not be any protrusions or large depressions that can affect the smoothness and parallelism of the movement of the workpiece along the guide. Otherwise shifts and misalignments are inevitable, which will lead to a crooked non-parallel cut, or even to equipment failure and injury!

In our case, the walnut boards do not have any suitable flat side.

Large, well-equipped factories use formatting and slicing machines and planers to straighten the edge. But what to do if you only have a simple saw? Let’s see how it can be used!

To begin with, we again take the homemade device, already known to us from the master class about planing in the planer.

Clamp the workpiece on it so that it does not protrude beyond one of the long edges of the plywood, in this case the right one.

For fixing, you can use the easiest way a bar with an oblique hole through which a screw is passed and screwed into the plywood base at an angle. This creates pressure that presses the workpiece against the back board. Its advantage is that it is very simple and accessible, and also allows you to not make holes in the board itself. It is also worth placing a couple of wedges if the workpiece is unstable.

We set our whole construction on the saw, set the width of the saw to the width of our plywood substrate and raise the saw unit to the desired height.

The straight edge of the plywood rests against the guide and ensures parallelism in the saw.

Friends, I remind you of the need to use the personal protective equipment. Do not neglect your safety and health!

In our case the thickness of the board was half a millimeter thicker than the maximum height of the kerf. But that’s okay, you can cut it with a knife, or even just break it.

From there you can proceed as usual, using the sawn straight edge as a base.

Well, today you and I again convinced that the wit and simple improvised means are sometimes enough to solve the most unexpected problems. Thank you for your attention, see you soon!

Sawing a log into boards with a chainsaw and a wooden guide

According to the presenter of the YouTube channel Advokat Egorov, this method is most suitable for the plot, where there are fallen trees. To saw logs, it is enough to have a medium-power chain saw with a short bar and two planed boards. Boards are screwed together with butt joints, and the resulting rectangular structure for rigidity is reinforced with rectangular bars.

Log prepared for sawing

Start sawing the log by removing a small slab. To make the cut was even, a corner is attached to the log, and it is used as a guide.

board, boards, manual, circular

Putting a corner on the log

Turn the log over, and again fix the guide angle at the cut. To make installation easier, a chock is installed.

Guide angle with uprights

The height of the guide angle depends on the thickness of the resulting lumber.

Cutting a second slab on a log

After cutting two slabs, you get full planks. If the log is long and when sawing the board clutches the blade, then wedges are inserted.

When sawing a long log you need to monitor the heat of the saw and stop to allow the tool to cool down.

Sawing a log along the guide

After sawing the log by this method boards of different quality and thickness are obtained.

A log sawn into boards

How to saw a log into boards

No building project is complete without the use of wood. If you have logs, you can saw it into boards yourself. This way you can save money, and the log will be useful.

First you need to prepare the log for sawing. To do this you will need to remove the bark. The easiest and most effective tool for this purpose is considered a scabbler. Because the cleaver, when it removes the bark, does not touch the wood.

To remove the bark you can use a shovel or an electric jigsaw. If using a shovel, remove the bark “away from you.

There are three ways to saw a log. We will not consider one of them, namely the diagonal saw. Since this method is used for specialized projects and developments.

How to saw boards with a circular saw

The circular saw helps you save on purchasing finished lumber. With its help, you can get racks and laths of different widths by sawing along the standard boards 150 x 50 and 200 x 50. The circular saw makes longitudinal cuts quickly and accurately, providing a perfect result under simple conditions.

For longitudinal sawing boards fit any manual circular saw with 1100-1800 W, equipped with a saw blade diameter of 180-200 mm. Cutting quality depends on the sharpness and number of teeth. the more cutting elements, the cleaner the cut.

Table Saw Tip. Cutting Logs Into Boards. HNB #14

Besides the saw you need a workbench with supports (laths) for the lumber. As an alternative to hand tools, a table circular saw can be used, which is designed with a work table with workpiece retainers.

Set kerf depth of cut to 50 mm if you are making 50 mm boards. Under these conditions you can put the lumber on any work table.

When sawing the lower guard will open by itself if the edge of the board protrudes slightly over the edge of the table.Use the riving knife to prevent the saw blade from jamming and to avoid kickback.

Supplement the tool with a parallel stop to create a straight cut.

How to fix the board on a homemade workbench

It is important to hold the board securely in place when making the bucking cut. Otherwise the lumber will “go” in the direction of the circular saw’s movement or will deflect sideways.

For fixation you can use a wooden lath (length 100-150 mm) and the stop, the thickness of which should not exceed the thickness of the board (ideally. 20-30 mm). A long rail prevents the board from sliding sideways, and a short stop prevents the lumber from moving forward.

Secure support and guide rail with screws from the other side of the workbench. Clamps should not interfere with the tool and the cord.

Tip: Use screws for extra security if you are not experienced in sawing longitudinally. It is better to screw in the fasteners at the sections that will be later sawn off.

Make a marking along the entire length of the workpiece, using a ruler and an angle piece. Cutting accuracy is ensured by a special notch (groove) for cutting at an angle of 90 degrees. The circular saw is placed with the notch on the marking and is drawn forward along the entire mowing line.

To improve accuracy, a guide stop with a ruler is used that rests on the edge of the board. Some craftsmen provide the sole of the circular saw an additional stop by means of a guide rail, which is attached to the board with clamps.

Drive the circular saw carefully, without applying too much pressure. Take short breaks after every two or three cuts. After completing the cut, lift the circular saw up, holding the tool with the blade away from you (until the blade stops completely).

Types of Log Sawing

Sawing logs into boards is done in two basic ways:

Additional methods are also possible:

Radial sawing. It is a type of sawing during which the axis of the cut goes through the core of the log and as a result the annual rings in the cross-section of the board form an angle of 76. 900 Lumber obtained with this cut has even color and texture. The sawn timber hardly deforms when shrinking and does not swell when wetting, as the dimensions of the timber change mainly by the beveling of the rings (across the fibers). In radially sawn logs, the annual rings are arranged with a thickness of. These materials are characterized by high performance compared to other types of lumber.

Tangential sawing is done by tangentially cutting the annual rings a short distance from the heartwood. The layers of the obtained boards are characterized by a pronounced texture and a bright wavy pattern of annual rings. Such lumber is characterized by higher shrinkage and moisture absorption rates than radial lumber. As a result, they deform strongly when exposed to moisture. Such boards are in demand for use in dry conditions.

Rural (semi-radial) and mixed types of sawing have signs of two basic types of sawing simultaneously: radial and tangential. Therefore, they exhibit an average rate of shrinkage and swelling. Rural boards are characterized by straight lines of annual rings, which are arranged at an angle of 46. 75 degrees. To the layers. Mixed lumber is characterized by the fact that the bevel line changes from straight at the edges (in width) of the board, to arched to the middle.

The center cut is made right in the center of the body and contains the core. Bearing in mind the fact that the core of the trunk. Wood with low strength values, lumber that is cut in the center is characterized by a structure that is not strong on the level.

Basic handheld saws

In any domestic workshop there should be at least three or four saws of different types.

  • Saws with wide blade for rough cuts in large parts and workpieces. The longer the blade, the faster the work. However, for the same reason the mobility of the blade itself increases, which causes the saw, as they say, to drift to the side. That’s why it’s important to follow the cutting line carefully, not letting it deviate from the marks. A novelty in recent years is the Teflon coating of the hacksaw blade, which greatly facilitates the sawing of fresh wood, and also protects the saw from rust.
  • A saw with a “back” differs from an ordinary hacksaw not only in that it has a rigid nozzle that “dampens” the vibrations of the blade, but also in that it has smaller, closer-moving teeth. This saw makes it possible to make clean and precise cuts.
  • Finishing saw for a clean cut.
  • Saw with a narrow blade is designed for sawing rounded parts and large holes. The basic rule of care for any saw: its blade must always be dry and clean. Sharpening chainsaw teeth. even if hardened. at regular intervals.

How to saw a log lengthwise

For a straight cut you need a straight template, like a straight ruler or a guide.

BigMill saw by Timberjig (Logosol) is a great help for your work. Made in Sweden. The cost of such a set is considerable. about 9 000 p. Do the math to see your profitability. Giving you the opportunity to saw logs at the sawing site saves on transportation costs.

Sawing is done with a two-stroke saw with two bar mounting nuts. The attachment allows you to fix and cut a log with a diameter of up to 60 cm.

To saw a log into boards you will need a longitudinal sawing chain. If you cannot buy such a chain, sharpen an ordinary chain at an angle of 10°. Remember the chain loses its sharpness during cutting and needs to be sharpened periodically A well sharpened chain will make your work easier.

Includes fixtures and parts to help you set up the wood guide. The frame attached to the chainsaw slides on the guide and prevents the guide bar from sliding to the side.

  • Take two straight boards. Tape them together at right angles. Boards support each other and you have a strong leading ruler.
  • Make a block of wood to support the prepared ruler. All necessary brackets and screws are included in the Timberjig set.
  • Move logs with log edger.
  • Place the log on a comfortable base. This will make it easier to continue cutting.
  • Use the nuts to secure the frame to the saw bar.
  • Secure the support legs of the leading ruler to the ends of the trunk. Check the level to make sure it is level.
  • Secure all clamps and components with self-tapping screws. Do not use nails, they are difficult to remove afterwards without damaging the components.
  • Clamp the guide rail to the supports with the clamps. Adjust the height of the guide rail. Note that the kerf will not go along the ruler, but about 1 cm higher.
  • Turn the trunk and fasten another plank which should rest on the ground and support the trunk.
  • Start the saw and make the first cut.