How to Saw Chipboard at Home
Fiberboard (or hardboard). the material is not too thick. But if you start sawing it with a hacksaw, there will be such a “fringe” that there can be no question of any accuracy. Are there any other methods? What do fiberboard masters cut with? How do they manage to make the cut even and accurate?
Options for cutting (sawing) hardboard
In fact, there are many options. Most often, a tool for cutting is selected in accordance with the scale of the work. The most commonly used tools (in the home) are:
- jigsaw;
- hand circular saw;
- sharp-pointed knife;
- scissors for metal;
- hand saw with small teeth.
It is clear that it will be difficult to cut large workpieces with a knife. As with a relatively small workpiece, it would be inappropriate to use a circular saw. Scissors for metal can be used only when it is not necessary to maintain the structure of the edge of the fiberboard sheet in integrity, since cracks can diverge along the edges of the plate from the action of cutting parts going to a break. We will figure out how to properly cut fiberboard, in more detail.
Option with a jigsaw
As already mentioned, what fiberboard is cut in depends primarily on the size of the sheet. Using a jigsaw it will be easy to cut (saw) sheets of any size. To do this, we need a jigsaw and a file with small teeth. It is advisable to stay on a metal file. Her teeth are small and not very dilated to the sides, which means that the edge of the cut hardboard will not be very marked on the “fringe”.
We install the plate on a flat surface. This is a prerequisite, because if there is no tight adhesion between the surface and the plate, the cut will be clumsy, since the plate will vibrate during the operation of an electric tool, and there can be no talk of any smooth cutting in this case. At the same time, press the fiberboard plate to the surface. Then the seam will be even, and there will be no burrs, just as there will be no spreading of the edges on the “fringe”.
After the cut is completed and the necessary part (blank) is cut, its edges are cleaned with a file or sandpaper. All is ready.
Hand Saw Option
When asked what fiberboard is cut, the first thing that comes to mind after a jigsaw is, of course, a circular. It is also good if you need to saw a large amount of hardboard. It can be cut at once on several plates. But it violates the edges of the plate even more than a jigsaw file. That is why sometimes masters use for cutting fiberboard not the usual circles for sawing wood, but circles for the angle grinder on wood. They are great for circular saws, and in this case, the edges of the cut are more even. With a slight grinding of them with sandpaper, you can not distinguish them from factory cutting.
Video: How to Saw Chipboard at Home
But here the guarantor of a correct and even cut is also a flat surface. If this will not be, as well as if the plate is not pressed to this surface during the sawing process, the vibration simply will not allow for accurate cutting.
Option with a knife
What is fiberboard cut so that the edge of the workpiece is the most even and holistic? Here, without a doubt, the knife will be the best tool. Of course, this will be a more time-consuming process, because you have to work with your hands, but the final result deserves it. But such a cutting method is suitable only for small-sized fiberboard blanks.
In order to cut the hardboard with a knife, again, you should lay the plate on a flat surface. But here it is not necessary that the edge of the cut part of the plate hangs over the edge of the surface of the countertop on which the cutting will be performed. First, marking is done with a simple pencil, and then a ruler is applied to the marking, it is pressed very tightly and firmly to the surface of the plate, and the first cut is made along the planned line. When the first groove is done, further work is more fun.
Over and over again, the plate material is cut to ever greater depths and in the end, after another jerk, the plate is cut. You can also lightly strip the edges of the workpiece along the edge with fine sandpaper, and the result will be excellent.
Option with scissors for metal
This is the most aggressive method when accuracy and quality can be neglected for the sake of speed. Here you can not bother with any smooth surfaces, just when cutting, you should not raise the plate strongly to a break, otherwise it can crack very much. In order to bring the edges of the workpiece to normal after such a cutting, you will have to work a long time with a rasp and sandpaper.
Hand-Held Option
If you don’t have a power tool at hand, and if the work plan is too large for a knife, you can use an ordinary wood hacksaw with small teeth. This, of course, will be better than cutting fiberboard with scissors for iron. Yes, and much faster.
Among the preparatory operations, again, is the preparation of a flat surface with a flat edge of the countertop itself. When there is a surface, a marked sheet of hardboard lies on it, we explain how to correctly cut fiberboard sheets in half with a hacksaw. If you really cut the sheet in half, you will definitely need a partner who will support the other edge of the fiberboard sheet, or you will need a second countertop that will not allow this edge to sag and go to a break (as, indeed, in previous cases with a jigsaw and a circular saw).
The hacksaw cutting line should be located at a very sharp angle from the surface of the fiberboard sheet. This is necessary so that there are less fringes. And the accuracy of sawing will be higher. When a sheet is sawn in half, its edges are also cleaned with sandpaper, and that’s it. The process is completed.