Sawboard?

[R D S]

I may be being thick but I can't see the difference between a sawboard and just clamping a plank to what i need to cut.

Feel free to enlighten me.

[Andy Burns]

With the sawboard you just clamp the edge of the board to exactly where you want the cut to be (as it's already been cut by the exact same saw+blade).

With a plank, you need to offset by the distance from the relevant edge of the saw's soleplate to the blade, then remember whether or not to add the blade's kerf width depending which side you're cutting from.

I do have a handy dymo label with the 110/37mm offsets stuck onto my saw, both my coarse and fine blades have a 2mm kerf, so that's easy to remember.

[John Rumm]

An edge guide will guide the say but does not mark the cut position - you need to account for the offset of blade from base.

The sawguide will :

Mark the exact kerf edge - making mm precise cuts easy;

will protect the work from marking by the saw;

will reduce splintering on the top surface of the cut.

[pcb1962]

Still need to do that with the saw board. If the board is on the waste side of the cut it's no use placing it right up against the cut line unless you already added the kerf when you marked the line. Been there done that plenty of times.

[John Rumm]

Ideally you orient it so its on the piece you are keeping - that way it cuts to the edge and you get the tearout protection on the good bit.

[The Medway Handyman]

Wot he said :-)

[stuart noble]

If you have a "spacer" whose width is the distance from the blade to the edge of the saw base, then a plank is just fine (I keep an 8ft length of contiboard for longer cuts). My spacer is a scrap of hardboard that I cut circa 1990. I've lost everything else over the years, but that always turns up when the job is finished. One day I'll make a "proper" sawboard :-)

[newshound]

If you do you will never regret it. Hardboard sounds a bit thin to me. With a sawboard made from 9 mm ply you have a nice firm corner into which you force the non-cut side of the saw baseplate (probably more force than you are applying in the cut direction) and you get a very straight and accurate cut. Your contiboard will warp unless you have somewhere to keep it flat. With a sawboard typically being 18 mm ply in the thick part it is more stable and robust. The main thing to remember when making a sawboard is to have the "double" bit wide enough so that your clamps clear the motor overhang.

[Mathew Newton]

I notice on the Wiki

that it is constructed to accommodate the handle/motor on the guide side - howcome?

I was always taught that any guide should be on the *opposite* side of the blade from the handle to counter the natural inclination to steer that way when pushing the machine forwards. It also removes any issue with the clamp s fouling the overhanging motor, operator's arms, etc.

Am I missing something?

Mathew

[John Rumm]

That way 9/10ths of the base plate of the machine rests on the guide. If you try to do it the other way, then only the very small lip on the outside of the saw would be on the guide - a more difficult and unstable configuration.

The issue with motor fouling can be mitigated in two ways - you could make the guide fence section wider to clear the edge of the motor, or you raise the depth of cut on the saw by 1/2" to lift the motor clear.

Personally I tend to find myself more likely to pull the saw off line toward me - i.e. toward the handle rather than away from it. However as with any guide - it takes a bit of thought / practice to make sure you keep the saw snugly against the fence.

[Mathew Newton]

Ah, okay. Makes sense.

True. Perhaps it's better to be actively in control rather than absently-mindedly relying on anything else.

Thanks John.

Mathew

[John Rumm]

Well this is probably true, but my hand is not steady enough to maintain a perfectly straight line without something to guide the saw.

I also find it much easier to get the edge of the guide exactly where I want the edge of the kerf to go, rather than have to judge from the cut guides on the front of the saw, which are several inches away from the blade.

[Mathew Newton]

Apologies - yes - I meant better to maintain awareness of potential drifting even if using a sawboard, if you see what I mean!

[stuart noble]

IME there's no way of achieving anything resembling accuracy without a guide. Plus I don't need kickback when leaning across a 4ft board thanks very much.

[John Rumm]

Yup see what you mean....

(I will also confess to having a cut in one end of my sawboard that came about from starting a cut in the wrong direction!)

[The Medway Handyman]

I've had the same problem, so I make my sawboards double edged e.g. piece of 3mm ply with a piece of 6mm x 34mm stripwood down the middle, then cut each side & marked for direction of cut with a marker pen.

The 6mm strip fits under the saw body, so I only lose the 3mm of the ply.

Silicone spray on the sawboard makes a huge difference.

[newshound]

Two cunning plans! I'm a huge fan of silicone sprays but hadn't thought about them for that. Do you not find 3 mm for the sawboard "base" a bit thin? Mine, I think, are 9 mm which means you lose some cutting depth with a relatively small diameter saw, but means they are nice and rigid for clamping to the workpiece.

It's on my job list to make (shorter) sawboards for my new jigsaw, not that I would normally use a jigsaw for long cuts, but if I've got it out for a combination of straight and curved cuts it seems sensible to have a sawboard for it rather than to have to get two saws out. Plus the jigsaw is better of course for "stopped" cuts.

I also have one of the Aldi/Lidl plunge saws (because it looked really useful) but I havn't actually used it yet. No reason not to make a sawboard for them either, I suppose.

[GMM]

That always seems the right way around for me, whether using a guide or a saw board. Likewise, it always feels to me that saws are built left handed, although there are some exceptions on the market.

[newshound]

Really? If you use them on a sawboard (to the left) with your body more or less in line with the cut then to my mind the natural pressure from the right hand is holding the saw against the guide as you apply cutting pressure. And in fact you concentrate on holding the saw into the guide, and apply only as much force as required in the cutting direction.

[no_spam]

IMHO it isn't worth making one for a jigsaw - jigsaw blades always seems to go off the vertical when used with a guide.