To start cutting with a jigsaw, diagrams and drawings are prepared in advance. When creating furniture, interior elements (shelves, doors) and performing finishing work, you may need the skill of sawing with a jigsaw. This process requires attentiveness, clarity of movements and accuracy.
Sawing with a jigsaw may be necessary when finishing works, but most often in the process of making furniture with your own hands, shelves and other things.
Preparatory work
First, the master transfers the drawing onto a sheet of plywood. During sawing, it is necessary to hold the tool correctly, observing safety precautions.
The quality of the product depends on how accurately the master performs the work at each stage.
To cut parts with a jigsaw you will need:
Usually, with experience, masters immediately apply drawings to the surface, but for beginners they will need special adhesive paper and tracing paper.
- tracing paper and adhesive paper (necessary for accurately applying the design to the wood);
- a sheet of plywood (moisture-resistant or regular, depending on what product is required);
- a jigsaw, manual or electric (the first is used for cutting out carved elements, patterns, small parts, the second is used if you have to work with a large amount of wood, large parts);
- an awl or a drill (they are used to make holes for cuts; the diameter of the hole should allow a file to be inserted into it; the choice depends on which tool is more convenient for the master to work with);
- files (special sets are sold in stores, with the help of which, if necessary, the ends and edges of the product are cleaned);
- stop board (necessary for fixing plywood and tools);
- pliers;
- compass;
- hammer;
- pencil;
- knife with sharp replaceable blades.
When assembling furniture and creating large parts, straight cuts are made without artistic cutting on wood. In this case, experts recommend using an electric jigsaw. When cutting out small parts and shaped elements, hand tools are used.
When choosing a tool, care must be taken to ensure that it is suitable for the job being performed.
To cut a high-quality part with your own hands, high-quality raw materials are used. The electric jigsaw must be held vertically, without tilting or loosening, making smooth up and down movements while working.
In this case, the plywood moves towards the tool. The master must ensure that the jigsaw does not vibrate. Otherwise, the wood will split. Misuse may cause the tool to get stuck in the wood or cause the saw to break.
In the first case, the product will be damaged, and in the second, the master may be injured. Before sawing internal contours You need to make holes with an awl or drill. Then the tool is inserted into the holes and sawing begins. Experts recommend monitoring the position of the saw teeth and making turns without stopping cutting. The blade must be sharp, well tensioned, correctly positioned and firmly fixed to avoid injury.
A pattern carefully applied to the surface of the plywood is half the success when creating quality parts.
A pattern carefully applied to the surface of the plywood is half the success when creating a high-quality part. To do this, use pre-prepared sketches and tracing paper. The cost of tracing paper is low, but the process of transferring an image onto plywood will require high concentration and precision of movements.
Transferring patterns onto wood using tracing paper can be replaced by projecting an image. The required pattern is displayed on a sheet of plywood using a projector. The working surface must be firmly fixed so that the pattern does not move. The disadvantages of the method are the need to purchase a projector, the cost of which is an order of magnitude higher than tracing paper. This technique is used to transfer small images. The third way to transfer a picture to work surface– self-adhesive paper. The sheet with the image is glued to the plywood. Using this technique you can get precise lines.
Cutting out simple shapes
Plywood cutting simple figures Quite simple, you just need to strictly adhere to the drawn lines.
To cut simple shapes from plywood, it is recommended to correctly transfer the drawing to the surface, following the rules for working with hand tools(taking into account the lines marked on the wood).
Arcs and smooth lines are cut out without turning the tool, but by directing the teeth strictly along the line. You can make neat obtuse and acute angles if you know a few nuances. Obtuse corners are cut using the rotating technique (the craftsman makes a straight cut and then unfolds the plywood sheet).
Loop formation is suitable for creating sharp corners. To do this, you need to cut out one side of the corner, and then a loop is cut along the outer contour, allowing you to immediately create the 2nd side of a sharp outer corner. The following sequence of actions helps to make neat internal cuts:
- make holes for cutting;
- cut the sheet according to the pattern to the top of the corner;
- return the plywood to its original position;
- cut out the 2nd side of the corner.
For creating decorative elements Using a jigsaw, the craftsman will need plywood, tools, good lighting, and an eye. The work is done slowly and carefully. Haste can lead to uneven corners and oblique cuts.
Help for beginners step by step instructions, advice from professionals (to create artistic elements you need to know special techniques for working with a jigsaw) and regular practice. Sawing with a jigsaw requires patience and diligence. Decorative wooden products Made with your own hands, you can decorate the interior of your home and office.
Wood and sheets (plates) based on it are one of the cheapest and most pliable materials. For those who like to work with a jigsaw, plywood is primarily of interest.
It is her home craftsmen who most often choose to make various crafts. If you organize your work correctly, you can create real masterpieces.
Crafts made from this material are made for various purposes, but basically they can be divided into two groups - for decorating premises or areas (for example, fences with inside, garden plot and so on).
Type of plywood
If you focus on optimal combination such indicators as quality and price, then FSF or FC products are selected. It is characterized by resistance to dampness and temperature changes. This alone is enough to ensure the durability of a handmade craft. But between these varieties of plywood there are fundamental difference– in the component composition of the glue that holds the veneer layers together.
In the first case, it is toxic, so FSF sheets are used only for outdoor work. But for crafts intended to be placed in the house, FC plywood is quite suitable. Its analogues are much more expensive, and therefore are not considered as a material for simple, easy-to-make crafts.
Type of sheet sanding
It’s not difficult to figure it out: Ш1 and Ш2 – respectively, one- and two-sided; NSh – rough-processed plywood. That is, the craft will still have to be “brought to mind” and polished. The choice of this parameter depends on how it is planned to be designed and placed in the future. A sample mounted on the wall and, for example, a figurine (stand, vase, toy, or other) that is visible from all sides are different things.
Plywood texture
A lot depends on personal preference here. If planned during application protective coating save crafts natural look wood, then it is better to purchase birch veneer plywood for varnish. But for subsequent painting it is advisable to choose pine.
For various crafts made from plywood, it is advisable to focus on oil or acrylic base. The explanation is simple - they are less susceptible to fading in the sun, and therefore do not have to be updated frequently outer covering; it will not change its original appearance for several years.
Plywood grade
When choosing a sheet for crafts, you must first inspect it for knots and inclusions. Significant defects will not only complicate the cutting of the material, but also initiate the appearance of cracks or “holes” (as a result of the same knots falling out). Next is an inspection of the end surfaces. During the cutting process, plywood is subjected to dynamic loads (vibrations). If there are even signs of veneer peeling on the side parts, you should not purchase such material, even if its price is too tempting.
In the future, in the process of making crafts, many problems will arise. As a result, plywood is rejected and its consumption increases. In total terms, the money will be approximately the same compared to purchasing high-grade material, but in terms of time spent and quality of work, it will be a big minus.
Sheet thickness
If crafts are cut out with an electric tool, then it is limited to 30 mm. For a hand jigsaw, it is advisable to use relatively thin plywood; maximum three layers. That is, no more than 9 mm thick.
What you need for work
Jigsaw
This is a priori, since we are talking about making crafts using such a tool. The question is different - which one is better to work with. Electric models They are much more expensive than manual analogues, but have many advantages. About in .
For example, high speed and cutting accuracy, clean edges, the ability to change cutting parameters and a number of others. If crafting from plywood is not a one-time, short-term hobby, then it’s worth spending money on an electric jigsaw. It is universal and will come in handy on the farm more than once, since depending on the type of file it can “work” not only with wood, but also with non-ferrous metals, plastics, and plexiglass.
It is somewhat more difficult with a hand jigsaw. Its design is quite simple - a frame with screw clamps and a handle + a file.
The nuance is that cutting blades break quite easily (from excessive pressure, changing the position of a hand tool), and therefore it is advisable to purchase them with a reserve; Fortunately, they are cheap.
Hacksaw
It is needed only at one stage - when cutting dimensional sheet into separate fragments. Doing this with a hand jigsaw is an unpromising and unprofitable activity; A lot of time and files will be wasted.
Stand
No one will cut plywood by weight; It's clear. Cutting out parts by laying the sheet on the tabletop risks damaging it. It is precisely in order to ensure the “safety” of the latter that the stand is needed. You can make it yourself from scrap boards. What such a device looks like (one of the options) can be seen in the figure.
The stand is fixed to the base using clamps (on a non-working table) or self-tapping screws (if there are carpentry workbench). Although these are not the only mounting options. It is not difficult to understand what to do, depending on local conditions.
Skin
The ideal tool for fine woodworking is the . But for crafts made from plywood that do not have large areas, it is not suitable. Therefore only sandpaper; medium-fraction - for primary grinding of workpieces and with fine grain - for finishing.
Additionally
- Files and needle files.
- Awl.
- A simple pencil and carbon paper.
- Glue, if the craft is created as a composite or multi-level one, that is, with two or more shaped fragments fixed on separate areas.
- Varnishes, paints, stains.
Examples of drawings and sketches of plywood crafts
Copy one to one to in this case hardly advisable. Any work done with your own hands is a process with a creative component. That is why the dimensions should be determined independently, depending on where you intend to place (or how to use) the craft. For example, will it “look” in a particular place, will it fit organically into the interior of the room.
Even if you liked the drawing, it is not difficult to change the geometry of the figure by applying the scaling rules. Especially when it comes to drawing a contour on plywood with a simple pencil; It’s quite easy to correct any mistake, or to correct anything in certain areas. It is not much more difficult to modify any sketch, introducing something of your own, original into the sample.
There is another solution - you can download any picture you like from the Internet. Printing it to the required scale is not a problem. All that remains is to transfer it onto the plywood using carbon paper and shade the areas that need to be cut out. This is if we are talking about figurative crafts. It's even easier with a contour pattern; cut exactly along the line - and that's it, ready. All that remains is to work on the artistic design of the product.
Basic rules for cutting with a jigsaw
- Laying under a sheet of rigid backing. It is to ensure the hardness of the surface under the plywood that a stand is used. A sheet, even a small one, bends quite easily (under pressure), so without this device a high-quality cut, strictly along the line, will not work.
- The working body of the jigsaw (file) must be strictly perpendicular to the end of the sheet. And constantly, throughout the entire process of cutting the material.
- The tool is fed along the line in a forward motion, but without effort. Otherwise, the file will break immediately. The same goes for when it deviates from the “vertical”.
- Sawing out “blind” holes, that is, somewhere along a sheet of plywood, indented from its edge, is done as follows. A “hole” is drilled at any point on the outlined contour with a slight offset towards the center of the fragment. The diameter is chosen so that the file can easily fit into it. After attaching it to the tool frame, you can cut in any convenient direction.
- A figured cut in plywood involves sharp turns, smooth bends, and so on. First, at the point of change of direction with a jigsaw, without changing its position, you need to make a small hole in the material. To do this, you need to continue cutting with a file, strictly maintaining the orientation of the tool, and at the same time rotate the piece of plywood. As soon as the plane of the cutting part coincides with the required direction for further cutting, it can be carried out along the intended line.
Having mastered production sufficiently simple crafts made of plywood, you can take on more complex options. As an example - self-assembly furniture (racks, bookcases, original hanging shelves). With a skillful approach to business, plywood produces excellent countertops, cutting boards, window frames and so on. It’s easy to make a folding chair from this material, in various modifications. Who is interested in this?
Plywood also makes excellent frames for paintings and photographs. Those who have a plot will be able to do some decoration outbuildings; the same gazebo, a house over a well or something else. There are many options. The main thing is to want to learn.
In the process of preparing for cutting with a jigsaw, you should not forget that all drawings and drawings are nothing more than the basis for developing your project. A little imagination, time, effort, and you can make a truly real masterpiece from plywood.
The dominance of gadgets in everyday life modern man has not destroyed many people’s desire to work with wood and plywood with their hands. An activity accessible to everyone - cutting out with a jigsaw - removes nervous tension, 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 can be easily accomplished if thought out 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. Regular manual model It is a metal arched 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 planks thickness up to 140 mm. 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 according to 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 are transferred to the wood base, tracing the lines with reverse side sheet of plywood 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 do a huge amount of useful and simple 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 drawing, to have quality tool and 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 place convenient location under right hand without cluttering the space with unnecessary details.
Sawing should begin with internal elements drawing made from a 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 electric jigsaw sawing 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, hand saw, has more than 450 years of existence. 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 - view creative activity, with which most people are familiar 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 use. Manufactured products can act as souvenirs: various boxes and toys, and also have practical applications in everyday life. Decorated elements of the house porch, 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. Shaped sawing using hand jigsaw is the most 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 works from electrical network 220 W and is a plastic case with working elements, equipped with a control knob. Its main component is 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. Important characteristic 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.
An electric tool differs 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 towards the cutting blade when figure sawing. 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 figure cutting trees showed that the best jigsaw turned out to be a tool from the company Festool. Popular company Makita in this competition she showed herself not with the 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 with sewing machine, which has a jigsaw blade instead of a needle. The quality of the products obtained using this unit is incomparably better. Perpendicular cut error at large thickness workpiece 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 performance at highest quality 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 invent and draw it yourself, or use it ready-made solutions. There are many collections containing drawings and diagrams of crafts. The Internet also abounds in diversity 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 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 file and then hard to reach places It will be much easier to process.
The principles of sawing with a manual or electromechanical jigsaw are similar, but there are also differences.
Working with a hand jigsaw
When using this tool you must additional device - 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. Only move the workpiece, turning it smoothly without stopping translational movements hand jigsaw.
Sawing with an electromechanical tool
The operating principle is very similar to a hand tool. The difference is that for manual jigsaw no need optional equipment(machine with clamp). And also when sawing, the shaped movement is produced not by the workpiece, but directly by the tool itself. Wood blank it 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.
Patterned cutting of plywood is one of the most beautiful works of art, which contains grace and lightness. At the same time, in order to translate your ideas into ready product there is practically no need to resort to any expensive equipment– in most cases, having a jigsaw and the desire to create is quite enough. At the right approach— acquiring initial skills is not as complicated a procedure as it might seem at first glance.
The main role in the process of cutting patterns from plywood is played by the ability to use a jigsaw, as well as the properties of the material used. Also, a lot depends on how successfully the drawings for cutting out of plywood are copied - only through a correctly transferred sketch will you be able to turn common leaf plywood into a real work of art.
Sides - drawings for cutting out a box from plywood with a jigsaw This article will provide you with detailed instructions about how to learn how to cut out basic shapes from plywood with your own hands. Having mastered cutting simple drawing lines, you will understand the basic principles of this process - in the future you will not have any difficulties mastering the next levels of skill. It will also describe the most common methods of transferring drawings to workpieces.
Basic shape cutting skills
There is also an electric modification of the jigsaw, which runs on a 220W network - its use is also acceptable, which significantly speeds up the cutting process. However, the increased weight of the tool makes it more difficult to cut smooth lines, which can be a serious drawback for a non-professional - if you are learning the basics from scratch, then it is much more convenient to use a manual analogue. 
Body positioning
The most optimal position for cutting is a sitting position - cutting while standing is quite tiring. The workbench (work table) should be low enough so that you can sit with a straight back.
To reduce the load on working hand her elbow can be placed on her knee - this way she will get less tired. Ideally - workplace must be fully adapted to the above requirements.
Tool
To implement figure cutting you will need:
- Jigsaw complete with file– the main tool for cutting;
- Awl or drill with a fine tip– to create initial holes;
- Set of files, needle files and sandpaper– for processing edges;
Basic moments
Before you seriously think about the question: what can you cut out of plywood with a jigsaw? — you should pay attention to the main features of this process, failure to comply with which can lead to damage to the tool and uneven cuts.
- The position of the jigsaw must be strictly vertical - the sawing movements must be carried out up and down. Even a slight tilt of the jigsaw will make the cut oblique and the file will “lead”;
- The sawing movement should be carried out smoothly, without excessive force and pressure - this can damage the file and cause it to break;
- When cutting out the internal contours using an awl or drill, an initial hole is created into which the file is installed and only after that it is fixed. IN correct position the teeth should point towards the bottom of the holder;
- The file must be well secured and tensioned - this required condition normal operation of a hand jigsaw. If the blade is not tensioned enough, the cut will have a wavy structure, which will make the work impossible;
- Vibrating the plywood during the cutting process is unacceptable - this will lead to chips and breakage of the blade. If the sheet is thin and small in size, you must use wooden block with a cut that is fixed on the workbench;
- As the teeth of the blade cut through the wood, the sheet of plywood should be moved towards the jigsaw. The jigsaw must be kept in a strictly vertical position throughout the entire cutting process.
Sawing simple shapes
Smooth lines
There is no need to apply additional effort or create pressure - continue to saw smoothly, returning the jigsaw to a vertical position until the blade levels itself.
Acute and obtuse angles
Obtuse corners - drawings for beginners for cutting out plywood with a jigsaw To cut obtuse corners, you need to master the “turn on the spot” technique - after cutting to the corner, stop moving the plywood and start turning it, without ceasing to cut, until you reach the required degree. You can cut sharp corners in the same way, but in some cases this is not possible - in this case, the method described below is used.
One of the sides of the angle is formed, then a small loop is cut along the outer contour of the line, through which an acute angle is formed as in the figure below. 
Internal corners cut out like this:
- A hole is made with an awl or drill - the cut begins from there, which continues to the top of the corner.
- Then the blade returns along the cut to its original position.
- After which a small hole is cut out, in which the file is turned to form the second side of the corner.
Plywood drawings for cutting with a jigsaw - sharp corners Transferring a drawing
Almost all patterns are transferred to plywood from a paper sketch - in most cases this process cannot be avoided. Most cheap option This is the use of tracing paper - with its help, a drawing is transferred from paper to a workpiece.
Its price is quite affordable, but the process itself is quite labor-intensive, since each line has to be traced with your own hands.
A less labor-intensive way to transfer drawings for cutting out plywood with a jigsaw is to use a projector, through which the image will be projected onto the workpiece. This option is also suitable for cases where initial size The image is not large enough and cannot be transferred without first being enlarged.
Note!
Although this method takes place in modern practice, is obsolete.
One of the most modern options is the use of self-adhesive sheets of paper, onto which the desired sketch is applied using a printer, after which they are glued to the workpiece.
The paper adheres quite tightly to the plywood, and its presence has practically no effect on the cutting process. The only disadvantage of this method is the relatively high cost.
Bottom line
Our guide will help you master the basics of this skill, which will later allow you to move on to more professional level. In the video presented in this article you will find Additional information on this topic.
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