Clean cut - very basic question

[Pietrach]

Hi
I am VERY new to wood working. I set myself a picture frame as a first project, as my philosophy is that you learn best by doing things. However, I am struggling with the most basic of tasks - sawing. Howe do you get a clean cut? I am talking here about all sizes of wood, whether making a picture frame or cutting a thick beam. Whenever I cut across the grains, the edges of the cut... splinter? The worst is the bottom of the cut. I tried to overcome this and mark the cut line around the entire piece with a sharp knife. This helped massively and the cut looks very clean, even at the bottom. However, the waste side of the cut still splinters at the bottom.
Is it always like that? Do I need to simply assume that out of each cut, only one side will be good, and the other is a waste?

Thanks for your help.

 

[marcros]

Use a knife to score the line first- that will sever the fibres and should prevent splintering.

What saw are you using? You don't need to spend a or tube but a standard hardpoint isn't going to produce the best if results

 

[SPSlick]

Put a waste bit of wood at the exit point of the cut to support the wood that's being cut. The splintering is caused by the saw pushing through the last of the wood rather than cutting it.

 

[Pietrach]

Thanks marcos,
I do now score the line and it works great but only for one side of the cut. Say I score a line around the piece of wood, and consider the left side a waste side. The I put the saw to the left of the line and do the cut. The right side looks very nice, but the lest (waste) doesn't. Do I just need to accept this or there is a method?
I have an old general purpose? saw and a new tenon saw 12TPI. Surprisingly the old one results in a better cut.

 

[dzj]

Clamp a sacrificial piece of wood under the one you are cutting.
This can also prevent 'splinters at the bottom'.

SPSlick beat me to it

 

[no idea]

Look into making a bench hook - this will support the bottom of both sides of the cut and, if the hooks are made large enough, they will also prevent the back of the cut from splintering.

 

[Paul Chapman]

If you are making something like a picture frame, the answer is to saw the pieces roughly to size, then finish with a plane on a shooting board, like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMpp9xj9pVU

Hope this helps.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Jmcp]

Great video, many thanks for posting.

Cheers, John

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I guess if it is really tight to get the parts you need from the available wood, there's nothing to stop you knifing two lines a couple of mm apart and sawing between them ?

 

[undergroundhunter]

use two knife lines, they need to be the saw kerf apart or a little more, then plane to the line. I use this all the time when cross cutting.

Matt

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

A good way to avoid break out and to get an accurate cut is not only to knife the line but to chisel out a little ridge from the waste side to the knife line. Check out Paul sellers videos, he calls it a "knife wall". if you do this on the exit side as well as the entrance side there is nothing to break out. It also gives you a clear guide to plane to if the piece is too big for the shooting board.
Paddy

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I use the scoring method too, but actually I am moving to the view that the saw should be seen as a rough tool. Which you then follow up with a hand plane or sanding to reach your final desired dimension.