If your new hobby is sawing out various decorative elements, burning or carving wood, then our advice would be to start with a material such as plywood.
There are several significant reasons for this:
Plywood is quite easy to work with.
If you have a good tool in your hands and you start with small figures, then making them will only take you a couple of hours.
The material is universal in use, so you can make literally anything you want from it: furniture, toys, small decorative elements.
All this can be a wonderful addition to the interior of your home.
Features of working with the material
What is a plywood sheet? It consists of several sheets of veneer, which are connected to each other using glue.
Important: plywood can be of different types: based on beech, birch, pine.
Not only the quality of the finished product, but even its structure and color depends on which sheet you choose.
If you are going to cut out various figures using a jigsaw, then you need to choose the highest quality types of plywood.
They are particularly durable, which ensures that the plywood will not crack, ruining the entire appearance of the product at the most unpredictable moment.
If you are going to start working immediately, immediately on the day of purchase, then choose only dry sheets of wood.
They won't break the jigsaw blade every 10 minutes.
To work with plywood, you will need to acquire a number of tools.
In principle, they are always the same for all types of products, so you only need a one-time investment:
- Jigsaw
- Jigsaw files
- Hand or electric drill
- Ruler
- Grinding machine
- Burner.
Framework
If you want to beautifully decorate your home or give an original gift to someone close to you, make a plywood frame with your own hands.
The preparation process will not take you much time, because you just need to get the necessary materials.
Note!
They are standard for all cases, and we have already mentioned them before.
We will offer you master classes on light crafts made from plywood. You can make either a regular straight frame or plan various patterns and figures on it.
First you need to make a template, and after that you can cut it out, trace the contours with a pencil on the plywood and begin the manufacturing process.
This stage is not only the most responsible, but also the most exciting. If you put a piece of your soul into your work, everything will definitely work out. The finished structure must be opened with varnish. Ready!
Doll furniture
This task will be a real test for parents.
Note!
The so-called test of acquired design skills.
The peculiarity of creating doll furniture is that children do not tolerate falsehood at all.
If they see that the furniture is not worked out in detail, and instead of a kitchen stove for your favorite doll you brought an ordinary rectangular block, then you simply cannot avoid serious grievances and childhood disappointments.
The second feature of making such a craft from plywood using a jigsaw is that all this furniture must be carefully worked out with sandpaper or a grinding machine.
Your child will constantly come into contact with these self-made toys, and if the edges are poorly processed, they may get hurt.
Note!
Well, the last feature of crafts made from plywood and the house is that the materials for such furniture must be absolutely non-toxic and normal for constant contact with the child, because he can drag it into his mouth or take it to bed with him.
This is not a simple applique or paper craft, so you need to take the matter seriously, following a whole list of actions that need to be completed.
Carrying out work from plywood
Just as simple furniture is made in detail and then assembled into one piece of furniture, do-it-yourself plywood crafts should be done separately.
To do this, first of all, prepare special drawings of plywood crafts, on which you will specify the dimensions of all parts and their fastenings.
Take a ready-made plywood sheet and attach a paper part template to it.
Trace the part with a pencil and plan out the outline with a jigsaw.
After this, each part must be cleaned with sandpaper or a grinding machine and only then the piece of furniture must be assembled.
When you are done with the entire set, open it with varnish.
Below are different options and photos of plywood crafts. Choose the one you like.
Photos of plywood crafts
Sawing wood with a jigsaw is one of the most popular activities for home craftsmen. It should be noted that both adults and schoolchildren engage in carving - mastering all the subtleties of the process is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance: the main thing is to have the desire and availability of the necessary tools. The popularity of wood carving with a jigsaw is primarily associated with the desire to make original interior items with your own hands, decorate furniture, carpentry, and make intricate photo frames or bookshelves (Photo).
However, while mastering the basics of wood and plywood carving techniques with a jigsaw is quite simple, coming up with your own original ornament or pattern is much more difficult. However, you should not despair and try to reinvent the wheel: many different stencils, templates and drawings for carving are available on the Internet today. You just need to choose the drawing you like, download it, print it and transfer it to plywood. However, before you start buying tools and looking for stencils, let's talk about the tools you will need for sawing wood.
Hand jigsaw
The tool has a fairly simple design and low cost. A jigsaw is a U-shaped metal structure with a mechanism for securing and adjusting the saw blade (Photo). Today, hand-held jigsaws are available for sale, the frame of which is made of sheet metal and pipes. We would recommend purchasing a tool made from tubular structures. According to reviews from experts, it is more reliable and practical to use.
Hand jigsaw
A modern manual jigsaw is equipped with a mechanism that allows you to secure files, creating different planes for sawing. However, the tool has a number of disadvantages, the main one of which is rapid overheating and wear of the saw blades. Therefore, we recommend purchasing several dozen files at once. We also recommend buying a vice or clamps - the workpiece must be well secured. For interior work (for example, cutting out an oval or circle), you will need a drill whose radius should be slightly larger than the width of the file. It is also worth purchasing or making your own auxiliary board, which will protect the table and help position the workpiece as conveniently as possible for the operator.
Jigsaw
A more complex, expensive and productive tool. When purchasing an electric jigsaw, you need to consider the tasks you intend to perform with it. To cut patterns and ornaments on plywood (up to 15 mm) and wood up to 25 mm thick, it is enough to buy a tool from a household series. For more serious work, we recommend purchasing powerful professional jigsaws.
Jigsaw Sturm 900 JS4090Q
Don't forget to also buy the necessary equipment. First of all, we are talking about saw blades. There are a great variety of them on the market; files differ in their purpose, size, material of manufacture and many other parameters. You may also need a guide bar or rip fence. Some manufacturers provide this equipment as part of the basic jigsaw package; more often, the accessories must be purchased separately.
Tools and materials
- Manual or electric jigsaw;
- Vise or clamps;
- Hacksaw;
- Drill;
- Awl;
- Auxiliary boards;
- Sandpaper and files;
- Stencils, drawings, patterns;
- Paper, pencil, marker, scissors, glue;
- Plywood or board.
Selecting material for cutting with a jigsaw
Particular attention should be paid to the last item on our list. The quality of the product largely depends on the correct choice of material. For cutting with a jigsaw, it is better to take plywood, 2–10 mm thick, made from birch. In addition to plywood, regular wood of varying thicknesses is also used. It is more difficult to work with, but the quality of the products is slightly higher than that made from plywood.
- Use only well-dried plywood or wood;
- Plywood for sawing must be of high quality (grade 1 or 2);
- Check the selected material for knots, cracks and stains - such plywood or wood will not suit you;
- You should also inspect the plywood sheets for delamination;
- Do not use wood with resin stains as workpieces.
Finding and preparing a stencil
As we already mentioned, there are a huge number of different designs and designs available online that you can choose from to make templates. The vast majority of materials are freely available; their use does not entail additional material costs.
Once you find a design you like, print it on A-4 paper. If you are going to cut out larger parts, then to print the drawing you will have to contact a service that has special equipment for printing large-format sheets.
Now we have to work with scissors. The design is cut out along the printed lines, special attention should be paid to the accuracy and quality of cutting.
Important: When cutting out a stencil, you should take into account the specularity of the image, if present in your project;
Now the drawing can be transferred directly to the back side of the plywood or wood, tracing the lines with a pencil or thin marker. You can also transfer the drawing to the workpiece using carbon paper; special self-adhesive paper is also available for sale for these purposes. Provided that you know how to draw well, a stencil can be applied to the workpiece without using carbon paper.
Jigsaw cutting technology
The process of cutting with a jigsaw takes a lot of time and requires certain skills and perseverance from the operator:
- Prepare your workplace, place all materials and tools in such a way that they can be reached without getting up from your chair. Everything unnecessary should be removed from the table;
- Choose a chair of such a height that you don't have to reach for the table, but you don't have to slouch either. Take care of your health and comfort;
- Sit up straight, while making sure that your arms and legs do not become numb - the process of making an ornament or figure takes a lot of time;
- Take care of high-quality lighting of the workplace;
- When working with a jigsaw, avoid lateral forces. This will cause loss of accuracy and saw blade malfunction;
- You should not put too much pressure on the jigsaw; it should move almost under its own weight;
- Make sure your saw blades are in good condition;
- A hand jigsaw should be used without excessive effort or jerking, using the entire length of the file;
- When cutting out parts, you should take into account the thickness of the file and cut not directly along the markings, but slightly to the side (file thickness + 0.5 mm);
- When cutting a circle, oval or inner radius, you should first drill the workpiece in the place from which you will make the cut. The radius of the drill should not be much larger than the width of the file;
- Start learning how to use a jigsaw by cutting out simple elements (straight cuts). Don’t be discouraged if some details (circle, radius, oval) cannot be cut out well the first time - try again several times;
- Make sure the jigsaw and other tools are in good working order, follow safety rules, and ensure the room is ventilated.
Interesting ideas: what can be done with a jigsaw
In fact, your capabilities when cutting with a jigsaw are limited only by your own imagination, time and patience. Most often, home craftsmen cut out picture frames, trim, various toys, trays, shelves, baskets, candlesticks, coasters and many other useful and beautiful things. In addition, using a jigsaw, you can decorate furniture, make comfortable armrests for a chair, or cut out elements of a chest of drawers, cabinets, or beds. Craftsmen often use a jigsaw to make models of weapons, airplanes, cars, and motorcycles.
You can come up with the necessary drawings, patterns and drawings yourself, or download them for free from the Internet. Toys or other crafts can be painted. Of course, the coloring process is not difficult to do yourself, but it is better to involve children in this activity - you will see how interesting and beautiful your products will turn out (Photography).
Sawing with a jigsaw using a stencil: video review
Where to get drawings and drawings for cutting with a jigsaw:
Stencils, patterns, patterns, drawings - tips for beginners:
Tools and accessories for cutting with a jigsaw on plywood:
What they write about on the forums: sawing using a stencil and template
Vasily Okunev, 43 years old, Leningrad region:
Sergey Pankratov, 55 years old, Novgorod region:
I’ve been friends with jigsaws since my school days, and now I’ve decided to introduce them to my grandson. To begin with, I ordered a children’s set for cutting with a “Fantaser” jigsaw. I’ll say right away that it is a very useful thing for a child’s development; it not only develops patience and hard work, but also instills work skills. The set has excellent components. In addition to the jigsaw, the basic package includes all the necessary equipment, including several stencils for cutting, an auxiliary table and a clamp for fastening. I immediately went to the store and bought a couple of dozen saws - for small ones they quickly break, and all the tools are of high quality, no more expenses.
Advantages of the “Fantaser” set: rich equipment, affordable price, high-quality jigsaw in the set, availability of patterns for cutting;
Flaws: When attaching the sawing table, the child will need the help of an adult; there are few saw blades in the set.
Any building materials are adjusted to the required dimensions by cutting. And plywood is no exception. Sawing plywood can be done manually or using special tools. Cutting plywood involves not only using it in construction, but also as a decorative element. Lace lattices, boxes, stands and other variety of decorative items are created using artistic cutting of a plywood sheet.
Construction cutting of plywood
How to cut plywood on a construction site and how to do it without chipping? Most often, at home, a knife, jigsaw, or circular saw is used for this.
Some rules for working with plywood sheets:
- thin sheet, the thickness of which does not exceed 2 mm, can be cut with a mounting knife
- sheets from 3 to 6 mm can be cut with a jigsaw
- if the sheet thickness is more than 6 mm, you will need a circular saw
- remember that coniferous timber has a viscous structure due to the presence of resins, so this material dulls the cutting edge of the tool
- You need to work with plywood along the grain. If it is necessary to cut across the fibers of the outer layer, you must first make weakening cuts with a knife, and then work with a jigsaw
- if your work involves screwing in self-tapping screws, then before doing this you need to drill a hole of the appropriate size.
Figure cutting from plywood
Shaped cutting of plywood is a fairly popular activity among decorators and furniture makers. Using a plywood sheet and special tools, you can make not just a craft, but a real work of art.
The choice of tool for this procedure depends on the complexity of the pattern and the thickness of the plywood sheet. If the bend radius does not exceed 1 cm, then you can use a hand jigsaw. A round hole is made using a drill. When the bending radius exceeds 3 cm, you should use an electric jigsaw. Which saw is suitable for plywood? Remember that the finer the saw teeth, the smoother and more complete the cut edges will be. For this purpose, for very small and complex figures it is better to buy a metal canvas.
It is better to apply the sketch on the back side of the sheet. In this case, if the chips rise, it will not be noticeable. At the same time, you should not rush, because the quality of the future product depends on the drawing. Drawings for cutting out plywood are available in large quantities on the Internet. Here you can find everything: from children's crafts to the most complex patterns.
You can create a craft from plywood using the following tools:
- hand jigsaw
- laser machine
- electric jigsaw
- CNC milling machine.
Sawing with a hand jigsaw
For this work you will need the following tools:
- saw for plywood. You may need several files of different sizes
- pencil and ruler.
Start with a simple drawing. If you have a 5 in drawing, you can apply the pattern to the sheet with a simple pencil. If you are not very good at drawing, use carbon paper to transfer the pattern. For the first time, animal figures, flowers and other light designs are perfect.
Before starting cutting, it is necessary to secure the plywood sheet with a special machine to prevent the occurrence of defects, for example, in the event of the sheet shifting. However, if such a machine is not available, try to hold the sheet as tightly as possible. During cutting, only the jigsaw moves.
If you need to create through elements, you should use an awl. The file must be held strictly perpendicular to the sheet. Upon completion of cutting, it is necessary to sand the edges of the product with sandpaper.
Laser cutting of plywood
A laser machine burns a pattern onto the surface of a plywood sheet with a beam.
The main advantages include:
- the quality of the cut is the highest, the thickness is the smallest. Such indicators are quite difficult to achieve with other types of equipment.
- saving time and effort. No need to handle defects that occur when working with a manual or electric jigsaw
- high accuracy. All parts will be the same size, and the design may be the most complex.
Among the negative qualities we highlight:
- In case of excessive power, charring of the material may occur, as well as fire. Experienced craftsmen should work with such machines
- Each type of timber and type of adhesive composition requires its own processing mode
- if the machine operator is inexperienced, the beam may hit a knot, which is likely to fall out, and, consequently, there will be a defect in the work.
If we do not take into account the human factor, then we can say that laser equipment provides enormous opportunities for bringing design ideas to life.
Using a milling machine
The main advantages of this method:
- high speed
- There are no charred elements, as is the case with a laser machine. This machine is best used by beginners
- high precision, as with a laser machine
- there is no need to process or sand the edges.
Using a jigsaw
It is worth noting that jigsaw files are fragile and can only be moved in a strictly vertical plane. Any distortion will cause the fabric to break. The saw functions when moving downwards, and saws are positioned in the same way, with the teeth downwards. When working with complex areas, it is the workpiece that is scrolled, and the canvas should remain in one place. In the case when the outer perimeter does not contain difficult patterns that could be damaged while working on the internal scheme, then you can start working from the outer perimeter. This way you will lighten the weight of the workpiece.
It is imperative to control the temperature of the canvas. The file tends to heat up quickly, and overheating causes damage. For this reason, it is worth letting the nail file cool from time to time or changing it to another one.
In this article we tried to answer the question: how to cut plywood? Cutting plywood is more labor-intensive than cutting wood. This is mainly due to the multidirectional nature of the fibers and viscous adhesive mixtures. However, with the right equipment, these problems can be overcome with ease.
The dominance of gadgets in the everyday life of a modern person has not destroyed the desire of many to work with wood and plywood with their hands. An activity accessible to everyone - sawing with a jigsaw - relieves nervous tension and allows you to make useful and beautiful things.
A lot can be done when ready-made drawing samples are available. Stencils for cutting out plywood with a jigsaw allow you to choose the item that is most accessible for novice craftsmen or the most interesting and useful item.
What is needed for sawing
The work is easy to complete with thoughtful preliminary preparation, when everything you need is nearby. You can enthusiastically cut out any crafts without being distracted by trifles.
Mechanical jigsaw
The main tool for cutting is a jigsaw: simple mechanical or electric. The usual manual model is a metal arc-shaped frame with a handle on which a blade with teeth is fixed. Clamps ensure the tension of the tape in the required amount and position, allowing you to cut out a wide variety of shapes.
Jigsaw files heat up during operation, undergo heavy loads, and therefore often break. It makes sense for a craftsman to immediately buy a set that will allow him to do the job without being distracted by searching for a new blade. This is especially important for beginners who like to cut plywood, whose skills are still imperfect. Experienced craftsmen feel the material, automatically adjust the speed of movement and the force of pressure of the jigsaw on the plywood. They have to replace the blade much less often.
Note! For stencil cutting with a mechanical jigsaw, you can only use thin plywood (9 mm).
To cut out the internal patterns of stencils, you will need a board that allows you to secure the workpiece on any table. This will ensure ease of use and protect the tabletop from damage.
Jigsaw
For craftsmen who regularly do sawing, it is useful to have a jigsaw. The tool will save physical effort, increase the speed of work, ensuring high quality and accuracy of reproduction of the pattern according to the diagram.
Electric jigsaws of all models have a set of attachments that significantly simplify stencil cutting and ensure smooth edges on craft elements of any degree of complexity.
If an amateur plans to start working with not very thick plywood (9 mm or a little more), it makes sense to use a household electric jigsaw with low power ratings (350-500 W).
Professionals work with more powerful jigsaws, which allow them to cut patterns on wood not only using easily reproducible patterns, but also the most complex stencils. The process can be carried out quickly and accurately with thick plywood (up to 30 mm) and wooden boards up to 140 mm thick. Setting up the instrument is carried out according to the instructions, the availability of which must be checked upon purchase.
Additional tool
In addition to a jigsaw and material for cutting, you may need a hacksaw, an awl or drills, with the help of which holes are made in the plywood in several places along the contour of the stenciled pattern. The edges of the patterns are processed with files; sandpaper can be used for these purposes.
Both beginners and professional carvers most often work using ready-made stencils. You can come up with an easy pattern yourself, but with the availability of a huge number of different sketches for cutting out plywood with a jigsaw in electronic and printed publications, the process of creating a pattern is simplified. Parts cut from a stencil can be glued together, covered with stain, varnish, or paint.
Preparing the stencil and transferring the design
If you have to cut out a small funny craft, then the drawing found in special online publications is printed on a regular printer. The A4 format allows you to make a small stencil.
When you plan to cut larger parts from plywood, such as trim, shelves, interior elements, the capabilities of ordinary home printers are not enough. You will have to look for a service that can print large-format sketches using special equipment.
The finished pattern for the stencil is first cut out of paper, paying attention to the contours of the internal slotted parts and the specularity of the display (if this is important for the part). Then they transfer it to the wood base, tracing lines on the back of the plywood sheet with a pencil or marker.
Note! It is better to use a simple pencil, because, despite the less visible lines, they can be erased with an eraser and corrected if necessary.
You can transfer the design for the stencil using carbon paper, tracing the lines with a sharpened pencil. Self-adhesive paper with a ready-made template is also sold. It is glued to plywood, and after cutting with a jigsaw it is removed. There are ways to transfer using a projector (when you need to zoom in) or pricking with a needle. With good drawing skills, you can draw a stencil directly on plywood, without carbon paper.
What can be cut from plywood
The possibilities of mastery are essentially endless. If you have the skills and desire, you can make a huge number of useful and simply decorative items. The following crafts are most often made:
- toys;
- trays;
- keychains;
- caskets;
- stands;
- flowerpot;
- shelves;
- candlesticks;
- baskets.
The list of products can be continued as long as desired, because there are no limits to the possibilities of stencil cutting. It is important to choose a suitable pattern, have a high-quality tool and the skills to use it.
The simplest wood pattern templates for working with a jigsaw - without through holes. These can be animal figures, hearts, fruits, toy cars. As skill develops, the complexity of the stencil will increase.
Features of the sawing process
Doing the job requires good lighting. It is advisable to prepare the tools in one convenient place under the right hand, without cluttering the space with unnecessary details.
Sawing should begin with the internal elements of the design applied from the stencil. To perform slotting work on plywood, holes are first made in some places on the contour.
When cutting with a regular hand jigsaw, hold a piece of plywood with your hands. When working with an electrical apparatus, the workpiece is fixed on a workbench or table using a vice. If you have experience working with an electric jigsaw, cutting is easy and quick; As a result, the lines are smooth, neat, requiring minimal subsequent sanding.
Successful carving is only possible if the nail file is properly and firmly secured, which is subject to mandatory inspection. Carelessness leads to distortion of the drawing, which will turn out to be completely different from the stencil. Inattention can provoke traumatic situations.
The presence of stencils, a good jigsaw and the desire to start cutting - all this together can bring pleasure to the work process and the result both to the master himself and to loved ones or customers.
Fretwork, a hand saw, has been in existence for over 450 years. The first mention of this instrument appeared in 1870 in a book about ornaments. For the last few centuries, this wonderful jigsaw has been used to make all kinds of decorative items: picture frames, various furniture inserts, stylish boxes and boxes.
Much has changed since then. The jigsaw has also undergone changes - now it has become electromechanical. And this is not surprising. The need for this tool has not gone away, just like in previous times, people are engaged in creativity, some for pleasure and others for profit.
Tool for making decorative and openwork crafts
Sawing with a jigsaw is a type of creative activity that most people are familiar with from childhood, from school. At least it wasn't that long ago. When labor lessons began at school and girls learned sewing and needlework, boys were introduced to such a tool as jigsaw.
It is not difficult to use, and crafts made with a jigsaw from plywood carry not only artistic value, but also practical application. Manufactured products can act as souvenirs: various boxes and toys, and also have practical applications in everyday life. Decorated elements of the porch of a house, windows, stylish benches with carved legs, beautiful kitchen furniture and many other useful wood products can be made using this wonderful tool.
Ideal hobby tool
A hand jigsaw is a tool for cutting shapes out of plywood or some other material, for example, plastic. Its manual version is budget-friendly - its cost does not exceed several hundred rubles, and its scope is very wide. Figure cutting with a hand jigsaw is a very interesting activity. This is not only a pleasant pastime, but also practical benefits, not only financial, but also moral.
The design of this tool is very simple:
Electromechanical jigsaws
The electric hand jigsaw has become an indispensable tool in the household. It can be used to cut various materials: plywood, wood, plastic, metal, ceramics, etc.
This tool operates from a 220 W electrical network and is a plastic case with working elements, equipped with a control handle. Its main component is the saw blade, which is mounted on a rod located in the front of the device.
The rod is driven by an electric motor. The movement of the cutting blade is reciprocating. To speed up the sawing process, some samples of this tool use the pendulum principle, that is, the file moves not only up and down, but also back and forth.
Cutting blades - consumables and they need to be changed from time to time. They are functionally different from each other - there are attachments for wood, metal, and ceramics. There are thicker blades, with more or less rigidity, with larger or finer teeth. An important characteristic of files is their shank. The most common saws today are those with U-shaped and T-shaped shanks. It is with such files that you need to purchase a jigsaw - then there will be no shortage of consumables.
Electric tools differ in many respects, but in this article we will pay attention to only one important factor - this saw blade play. This characteristic affects the movement of the cutting blade towards the side during figure cutting. Many brands of jigsaws cannot cope with the task of perpendicular cutting, this is especially sensitive when cutting thick wood - the error can be up to 5 mm.
Conducted experiments on figured cutting of wood showed that the best jigsaw turned out to be a tool from the company Festool. Popular company Makita in this competition it did not show its best side - the error of the perpendicular-shaped cut turned out to be quite large (up to 5 mm), and the jigsaw of this brand also enters the tree with large chips.
- this is already professional equipment for sawing. Its design is more complex than the equipment discussed above. The principle of its operation can be compared to a sewing machine, which has a jigsaw blade instead of a needle. The quality of the products obtained using this unit is incomparably better. The error of a perpendicular cut with a large workpiece thickness is zero.
The only disadvantage of this electromechanical device is its high price. But this is compensated by the comfort of working on it and high productivity with the highest quality of the resulting products.
Manufacturing technology of decorative and openwork products
To work you will need the following:
- Plywood or wooden blank.
- A template, drawing or drawing of a future product.
- Manual or electric jigsaw.
- Files and needle files of various configurations.
- Wooden square and ruler.
- Skin of various grain sizes.
Cutting drawings
To begin work, you need to determine what should happen at the end of the work. To do this, you will need a drawing or template of the future product. You can come up with it and draw it yourself, or use ready-made solutions. There are many collections containing drawings and diagrams of crafts. The Internet is also replete with a variety of interesting ideas. And for almost everyone there will be an interesting diagram or drawing.
Typically, diagrams of small crafts are printed on A4 paper. To create drawings of decorative and stylish furniture or other large household items, whatman paper in sizes A0 and A1 is used, however, other paper and cardboard media, for example, pieces of unnecessary wallpaper glued together, can also be used for this purpose.
After the drawing is selected, it must be transferred to the material from which the craft will be made. There are several ways to do this:
Technology
After applying the drawing to the workpiece from which the future craft will be made, they begin to cut it out. Sawing begins with the internal elements of the workpiece and only then the outer contour is cut out. This order of work is more convenient - holding the workpiece is much easier.
Holes for the jigsaw blade are drilled in sharp places on the internal contour, which also makes work easier. You need to drill holes carefully, as chips may form on the back side.
To avoid this, you need to follow a simple rule - do not drill holes completely. For example, if the thickness of the plywood is 3 mm, then the depth of the hole to be drilled should also be set to 3 mm. This is easy to do if you limit the depth of penetration of the drill into the plywood using electrical tape - wrap it around the drill, leaving only the 3 mm long tip without electrical tape. After drilling, turn the workpiece over and use an awl to make holes.
After the workpiece is cut, it needs to be process and polish. If the outer contour is not difficult to process, then grinding the internal elements is sometimes difficult, especially in sharp corners. It is difficult to sand such places with a file or needle file. Therefore, ingenuity can come to the rescue. You need to cut a thin strip of sandpaper and insert it instead of a jigsaw and then it will be much easier to process hard-to-reach places.
The principles of sawing with a manual or electromechanical jigsaw are similar, but there are also differences.
Working with a hand jigsaw
When working with this tool, an additional device is required - sawing machine. It must be equipped with a clamp for attaching to a workbench or table. This device serves as the base on which the workpiece is sawed. This addition can either be purchased at the store, or you can make it yourself from a piece of thick plywood.
When working, the workpiece should be secured at chest level - this will make work more comfortable and maintain posture.
When working with a hand jigsaw, you need accuracy and patience.. The files of this tool are quite fragile, so you need to avoid sudden movements and distortions of the blade, and also not allow the file to overheat during operation; to do this, you need to pause work every 10 seconds and let the cutting blade cool.
When sawing, the jigsaw file should remain in one place, that is, it should not be moved forward or backward, the movement of a hand jigsaw is vertical, reciprocating. They only move the workpiece, turning it smoothly, without stopping the forward movements of the manual jigsaw.
Sawing with an electromechanical tool
The operating principle is very similar to a hand tool. The difference is that a manual jigsaw does not require additional equipment (a machine with a clamp). And also when sawing, the shaped movement is produced not by the workpiece, but directly by the tool itself. The wooden workpiece is firmly pressed or attached to the workbench, and all curly movements are made directly with a jigsaw.
A jigsaw has an advantage over a hand saw- this is the thickness that he can cut out figuratively. A wooden blank 50 mm thick is inaccessible for processing with conventional, non-electric tools. So, if you need to decorate elements of a porch or furniture, then you can’t do without a jigsaw.
You need to be very careful when choosing a power tool, since not all tools allow you to perform high-quality figure sawing of great depth.
Safety precautions
Basic safety precautions are required for all types of physical work.
