When you cut longer pieces, miter saws are best used with supports on both sides. One way is to cut in a drop-down section into a bench for the saw. Another is to build up raised supports on both sides of the saw on top of the bench. An upright along the back of the supports will let you use a stop block for repetitive cuts.
When sawing wood, take time to consider which side of the material to having facing up. Keep the good side up when you are using hand saws, scroll saws, bandsaws, tablesaws and radial-arm saws. Keep the good side down when using a portable circular saws or sabersaws. The principle is to have the tooth of the blade first break through the rough side of the board or panel.
Always wait for a circular blade to completely stop before pulling from a cut. Otherwise it may bend or kickback.
If you have ever tried to cut or trim veneered pieces like a door, you know splintering can be a problem. A solution is to use a utility knife with a new blade and a straightedge to mark the cut line deeply on both sides. Some carpenters also use masking tape before making the knife cuts to stabilize the edge and protect wood from the saw making the final cut. Most important is to have a sharp fine-toothed blade in the saw.
One of the more dreaded occurrences for any woodworker is when a tool collides with a metal object in recycled wood. Before you start to cut, plane, or sand, be sure to thoroughly inspect the wood for metal objects such as nails or screws, especially if you are using power tools
A rule can be used to quickly divide a board into equal parts. Lay the rule on the board with the start of the scale against one edge. Then angle the opposite end to a number that is easily divided by the number of parts you want. (If you want to divide a board into three equal parts you might use 9 and mark the board at 3 and 6.) Likewise, if you need four equal parts, angle the rule to numbers divisible by four, like 8, 12 or 16.
When measuring, the old adage “measure twice and cut once” can be excellent advice. Pros, however, have their own variation; they usually only measure once, but then will read the measurement twice. They will mark the cut line, then cut the wood just so the saw kerf is touching the line.
Use a well-sharpened pencil to make cut marks for your shop projects. A blunt pencil, held vertical to the rule, will make a line too far away from the edge. Angle the pencil about 45 degrees to keep the line at the edge of the rule. For greater precision, make your cut marks with a utility knife using a sharp blade.
Say you’re building a deck in your yard and have to cut a 10-in. thick post in half. How do you do this with a circular saw with just an 8-in. blade? Make matching straight cuts on opposite sides of the timber. Set the thickness guide to just over half the woods width.
Here’s a fast and easy way to reduce the amount of splintering that occurs when cutting wood with a hand saw. Apply a strip of masking tape along the cutting line on the backside of the piece. You’ll notice a significant improvement. Another way is to use a utility knife to score the cut. This will give you an accurate measurement and make the cut smoother.
