Perpendicular-At a right
angle to the surface
(square)through the wood, start pushing the saw handle down to get more of the
teeth cutting across the whole width of the board.If all has gone well your first time, you’ve done
much better than most. Sawing sometimes takes a
while to catch onto, especially when muscles
become tired. The trick to using a saw well is to
keep the saw moving in a straight line and keeping
the body of the bladeperpendicularto the piece you’re cutting. This will
come with practice, so, practice, practice, practice! One way to help keep
your mind on cutting in a straight line is to draw a line across the width
of the board you’re cutting. Start your kerf right on the line and try to
follow it all the way across. If the saw becomes hard to push or pull you
know you’re either not cutting in a straight line or you’re not keeping the
blade perpendicular, or both. Again, this takes practice. Take a break if
you’re getting tired and come back to it when you feel better. Sawing is
a skill that all woodworkers must master. With time no piece of wood
will be safe in your house!
Coping Saw
Handsaws are great for cutting straight lines in wood, but what do you
do if you need to cut curves? First, you need a blade that’s narrow and
thin so that it doesn’t bind when cutting a curve. Second, the saw would
need to have a way to reach deep into a piece of wood to cut out circles
and different shapes. A coping saw was designed to do all these things.Theteethonacopingsawareveryfinesoitleavesasmoothsurface,
often times needing no sanding. The blade is held taut by tension of the
metal frame. The handle of the coping saw turns to increase or decrease
the tension. The two spigots need to be kept at the same angle. You can
move both spigots together to change the angle at which the blade cuts.
This comes in handy when you need to at an angle but the frame gets in
the way of the work piece. By turning the blade you can keep the coping
saw’s frame out of the way.