Cut chipboard without chips with a circular saw. How to make an even cut of chipboard at home? Preparing the tool for cutting chipboard

Any home craftsman sooner or later faced with the need to cut chipboard. It can be making furniture with your own hands or wall cladding with MDF or chipboard panels. As you know, cutting chipboard is not difficult, but making the cut even and without chips is not an easy task.

Do it yourself or order?

Custom cut will be smoother

High-quality sawing of chipboard is difficult to do manually due to big size sheets. Dimensions standard plate 2440x1200 is not the limit. However, if you often work with chipboard or MDF, it makes sense to get an expensive instrument and work for pleasure. If you only need to cut a few sheets, you can go two ways:

• Cut the slabs yourself using the available hand tools;
• Order cutting chipboard in a specialized workshop.

What to choose is up to you, and we will consider each of these options.

Cutting panels at home

You can also cut with a jigsaw

It is quite possible to cut a sheet of chipboard or chipboard manually. True, in this case, you are unlikely to be able to avoid the appearance of chips and burrs, but you can try to reduce their number and size.

There are several rules that should be followed when cutting chipboard panels:

• cutting sheets must be done on a flat, solid surface. For sawing large panels, two large tables can be adapted (their height must be the same!);
• in order to prevent the appearance of chips, stick adhesive tape or a good masking tape along the cut line, which will hold the edges of the laminated layer;
• for sawing with a hand saw, select a blade with a grinding tooth. The saw teeth should be well sharpened. You need to drive the saw with a little pressure, at an acute angle to the surface, constantly monitoring its position;
• to cut chipboard and chipboard with a jigsaw, the cut line should be scratched or even cut. It is best to use a sharp knife to cut through the tough laminate layer;
• install a file with a small back tooth;
• select top speed jigsaw work, turn off the "pendulum";
• fix a flat rail along the saw line and guide the jigsaw strictly along it;
• the jigsaw should be firmly pressed against the sawn surface.

All these recommendations help to properly cut and cut chipboard, but chips, nevertheless, cannot be completely avoided. Therefore, if it is so important to get a perfectly smooth, even cut line, without chips and saw marks, you should contact specialized workshops, where any figure will be cut out of a chipboard sheet for a moderate fee.

Accuracy and quality

Accurate cutting is the key to success

Panel saws for sawing chipboard and chipboard have high quality cut, which allows to reduce subsequent costs for processing cuts (grinding, removing chips and burrs, and so on). That is why on such machines it is possible to cut any complexity and configuration, which means almost inexhaustible possibilities in the production of furniture. Fantasy children's furniture, comfortable tabletops computer tables, figured through carved decorations in the doors kitchen facades– all this is possible with the use of machines.

There are two types of panel cutting machines:

• vertical, which is a strong rigid vibration-resistant welded frame (frame), installed vertically with a back deflection of 50 °, with guides located above and below, along which the saw beam moves. It is a bracket for the saw unit, which moves up and down along the beam, and also rotates 90°, which allows you to make both vertical and horizontal cuts. The cutting precision is amazing. For sawing laminated chipboard, as well as solid, wavy or porous slabs, a special scoring unit is used. The rotational speed of the saw reaches 15 thousand revolutions per minute;
• horizontal, consisting of a table for a plate, a carriage for moving the saw along the saw mechanism and the actual saw mechanism, consisting of one or two cutting units. The cutting units themselves are equipped with a main and scoring saw. The principle of operation is simple: the main saw deeply cuts through the chipboard, and the scoring saw accurately and clearly cuts the bottom edge (veneer or laminated surface). The saw unit can also be tilted up to 45°.

The miter saw is a "domesticated" and greatly reduced copy horizontal machine. It will not be possible to cut a wide sheet of chipboard or chipboard on it, but it will cope with fine details.

Sawing other types of panels

MDF panels also need to be cut exactly

Cutting MDF is different from cutting chipboard panels. The high density of the material quickly dulls the teeth of the saw, so it often has to be sharpened or even changed. You can cut unfinished MDF on conventional machine, however laminated board requires a machine with an optional bottom saw.

Sawing panels from chipboard and other materials

This is especially important when sawing boards with a double-sided finish.

Cutting fiberboard can be done at home using an electric or manual jigsaw. Of course, the file must be sharp, with a fine tooth, it is necessary to set the maximum speed on the jigsaw. Install the fiberboard horizontally on a support that should not interfere with sawing (between two tables or chairs, for example), secure with clamps if necessary.

The electric jigsaw should be held with both hands, pressing firmly against the surface, moving smoothly, strictly along the marking line, without jerking and pressing.

The same applies to working with a manual jigsaw.

In the case when you need to cut a lot of sheets of material, it is more convenient to contact a specialized company. This will save you time and effort.

Video on cutting chipboard with a circular saw

Cutting chipboard beautifully and without chips is not always easy. See how to do it right:

How to cut chipboard without chips

So, I collected a sufficient amount of material and decided to dash off another analytical note. This time the topic is sawing laminated chipboard without chips.

There is a fairly fair opinion that it is possible to cleanly cut chipboard only on professional equipment (that is, a panel saw).

The whole highlight of this machine is that it has two saw blades located strictly on the same axis. The first cuts the chipboard, the second cuts it through.

The cost of this unit is about 700,000 - 1,000,000 rubles (of course, there are more expensive))). FOR THE AMATEUR NOT VERY ACCEPTABLE.

Of course, if you decide to make a wardrobe with your own hands. it is better to order a sheet cut (five square meters piece) in the workshop, and then quietly assemble it. BUT WHAT TO DO IF YOU FUCKED UP IN THE CALCULATIONS AND YOU NEED TO CUT A PIECE. I don’t want to drag myself back to the shop, but I need to cut.

This article aims to answer this question. The overview of options will go from simple to complex. Unfortunately, not all methods will be illustrated (I ask you to forgive me in advance), I will try to compensate for this lack of text????

Method 1 - Scratch

The grandfather's way. It used to be used for sawing Soviet laminated chipboard covered with a thick layer of varnish. Now rarely used. With it, we scratch along the ruler with an awl or simple nail marking line on the thickness of the decorative coating.

After that, we cut along the line, trying to ensure that the edges of the saw teeth fall exactly into the scratch and not a step past. You can cut with both a jigsaw and a hand saw.

In principle, in the photo on the right you can see that all the chips remained on the piece without a scratch, but they did not go beyond the scratched line.

Detailed tutorial on this method

The cut is much cleaner than when sawing without a scratch, but chips do occur. It is difficult to keep the tool strictly in line. So slow.

Small cuts of acceptable quality can be made with a simple electric jigsaw. For this, several conditions must be met.

First, the file must be with minimum size teeth (that is, for metal) and a new one. At the same time, on one side (where the teeth enter the material), the cut will be almost clean. On the opposite side, there will be chips, but relatively few.

Secondly, the tool must be fed smoothly, without pressure. Turnovers set not maximum (slightly above average.

The disadvantage of the method is that it is quite difficult to maintain a strict straightness of the cut, as well as the presence of a small number of chips.

Method 3 - Circular Saw

To work with a circular saw, we need a “finishing” saw blade (again, with a fine tooth). Circular saws are more convenient than long straight cuts with a jigsaw. But at the same time, chips are formed much more (the side where the teeth cut into the material (top) is usually clean. It breaks off pieces from the opposite side (bottom)).

You can cut like a free saw (it is quite difficult to drive exactly along the line). It is difficult to cut several identical parts - a lot of trouble with markings.

So is the saw fixed in the table. When using guides, sawing is much more convenient. Both hands are free. You can use a guide, which will increase the accuracy of the cut and allow you to stamp the same parts.

Even when using a finishing disc, there will be many chips on one side.

Method 4 - Undercut Sawing

This is a modification of working with circular saw. Ideally, it will require a plunge-cut saw. but, in principle, you can do with the usual circular. For work, we need a ruler (tire), which is fixed on the workpiece with clamps. It can be purchased or homemade (pictured is a simple circular with a homemade tire).

The whole point is, by analogy with a panel saw, to make two cuts strictly along the same line.

This will help us cut on the tire (long ruler). The tire is placed along the marking line, after which we first make the first cut, cutting the laminate, with a depth of about 6-10 mm.

At the same time, the teeth run almost parallel to the surface of the laminate, without pulling out pieces of it.

If you enlarge the photo, it will look something like this

The second cut is through. At the same time, as we remember, no chips are formed at the place where the tooth enters the material. And at the exit point, the laminate has already been cut off and there is nothing to prick.

Not a bad way to trim incorrectly marked parts, but you can’t cut the whole cabinet in this way. Chips, of course, are present, but in an amount that is quite comparable with the formatter (it also, in secret, leaves a small number of small chips). A lot of hassle with markup. Only straight cuts can be made.

Provides the cleanest edge of the workpiece; the quality is no different from the formatter, often even better.

With it, we first saw the workpiece with a jigsaw, departing from the marking line 2-3 mm, and then align the line according to the template (I usually use the second piece of chipboard, sawn on a formatter, of a suitable size). The cutter must be copy, that is, with a bearing.
Very clean cut. The possibility of carrying out curvilinear cuts, that is, the manufacture of many radius parts. including several that are exactly the same. Cons - a lot of trouble: the need for accurate marking, preliminary sawing of blanks, setting a template or tire under the router, that is, not very suitable for mass use.

The furniture in the store is beautiful, attractive. Road. And it does not always turn out to be exactly the most desirable addition to the interior, as it was drawn in the imagination that was played out in earnest.

Another thing is custom-made furniture. The master came (at least that's what they call themselves), measured everything, asked everything, assessed everything, left to fulfill the order. Sometimes for a long time. Less often - not quite what was required. But the price of custom-made furniture often turns out to be even higher than its analogue, which is languishing in the store.

Guided by such considerations, the heads of middle-income Russian families often think that it would be nice to acquire the skills of the legendary Pope Carlo themselves and sculpt masterpieces of furniture architecture right at the place of their future residence. That is, at home.

Starting, as a rule, with "light infantry" - stools, bedside tables, coasters - simple hacksaw and ax workers inevitably face one problem. Her name is Smooth cut chipboard. Making reciprocating movements with the same hacksaw, or (worse) leading a vibrating jigsaw along the drawn marking line, they get anything but an uneven cut of the material. Well, maybe even. But this is a rarity.

But for cabinet furniture, geometrically flawless ends wooden boards have, one might say, critical value. This is the quality of fitting elements together, and appearance decor and so on.

In what ways did our ancestors, who were more skilled in this matter, achieve this level of processing?

When working with a hacksaw, the tool itself is primarily important: its choice depends on the material being processed, its qualities and properties. For chipboard, which is now common, it is highly desirable to use a hacksaw with fine teeth, diluted by half the thickness of the canvas. A larger divorce will give a wide propyl and unwanted chips; narrow - to jam the tool in a chipboard sheet, which leads to mild psychosis. In addition, if the hacksaw is armed with hardened teeth, this only goes to her "plus" - and the wiring is preserved better, and the sharpening is lost more slowly. It is important.

However, sawing long cuts with such a hacksaw is fraught with significant fatigue, since small and frequent “teeth” are quickly clogged with wood dust and are no longer able to effectively perform their functions in this state. But still, at home, using a tool with just such parameters is most preferable. The very same sawing should be done at the most acute angle of the cutting edge of the hacksaw to the sawn plate. This is less tiring, and besides, it gives the desired even cut.

Of the electrified devices in this area, such figurants as an electric jigsaw and a miter saw are known.

The first is characterized by a rather riotous nature with uncontrolled conduct of his harvesting. Techniques for his restriction of freedom here are quite simple and unpretentious. This is, first of all:

• guide - flat and straight, preferably a metal ruler, fixed with clamps along the marking line. Resting against it with the sole, the tool passes its distance almost perfectly, without “blockages” and chips.
• the file itself - its parameters, this is rigidity and purpose - for a simple chipboard - with small teeth directed upwards and without wiring, for a tree - divorced large teeth, predatory sticking out in different directions from the plane of the canvas. But about the first ones, it should be remembered that, after about a meter of cut, their canvas will inevitably heat up, lose its qualities and “tear” to the side. Almost always this happens with inevitability of 100%;
• adhesive tape pasted from the side where the teeth exit to the surface. Better yet, both. You never know ... Chips appear in these places. However, it is useful to monitor the strength of the bonding of the adhesive tape itself with the surface to be treated: if it is subsequently removed, it itself is capable of heaping up characteristic flaws, even worse than a file;
• two parallel cuts with a carpenter's knife on both sides of the marking line for the entire length of the intended cut. It also saves from chips, and is especially true for laminated chipboard sheets.

After sawing, you can modify the cut with a milling cutter or grinder, however, firstly, this is due to circumstances, and secondly, too many tools are already required for a cabinet that will appear in life once and for many years.

Only one thing can be said about the miter saw: it is needed.

Any home craftsman sooner or later faces the need to cut chipboard. It can be making furniture with your own hands or wall cladding with MDF or chipboard panels. As you know, cutting chipboard is not difficult, but making the cut even and without chips is not an easy task.

Do it yourself or order?

Custom cut will be smoother

High-quality sawing of chipboard is difficult to do manually due to the large size of the sheets. The dimensions of a standard plate are 2440 × 1200, and this is not the limit. However, if you often work with chipboard or MDF, it makes sense to get an expensive tool and work for your own pleasure. If you only need to cut a few sheets, you can go two ways:

• Cut the slabs yourself using the available hand tools;
• Order cutting chipboard in a specialized workshop.

What to choose is up to you, and we will consider each of these options.

Cutting panels at home

It is quite possible to cut a sheet of chipboard or chipboard manually. True, in this case, you are unlikely to be able to avoid the appearance of chips and burrs, but you can try to reduce their number and size.

There are several rules that should be followed when cutting chipboard panels:

• cutting sheets must be done on a flat, solid surface. For sawing large panels, two large tables can be adapted (their height must be the same!);
• in order to prevent the appearance of chips, stick adhesive tape or a good masking tape along the cut line, which will hold the edges of the laminated layer;
• for sawing with a hand saw, select a blade with a grinding tooth. The saw teeth should be well sharpened. You need to drive the saw with a little pressure, at an acute angle to the surface, constantly monitoring its position;
• to cut chipboard and chipboard with a jigsaw, the cut line should be scratched or even cut. It is best to use a sharp knife to cut through the tough laminate layer;
• install a file with a small back tooth;
• select the maximum speed of the jigsaw, turn off the "pendulum";
• fix a flat rail along the saw line and guide the jigsaw strictly along it;
• the jigsaw should be firmly pressed against the sawn surface.

All these recommendations help to properly cut and cut chipboard, but chips, nevertheless, cannot be completely avoided. Therefore, if it is so important to get a perfectly smooth, even cut line, without chips and saw marks, you should contact specialized workshops, where any figure will be cut out of a chipboard sheet for a moderate fee.

Accuracy and quality

Accurate cutting is the key to success

Panel saws for sawing laminated chipboard and chipboard have a high cut quality, which reduces the subsequent costs for processing cuts (grinding, removing chips and burrs, and so on). That is why on such machines it is possible to cut any complexity and configuration, which means almost inexhaustible possibilities in the production of furniture. Fantasy children's furniture, comfortable tabletops for computer tables, figured through carved decorations in the doors of kitchen facades - all this is possible using machine tools.

There are two types of panel cutting machines:

• vertical, which is a strong rigid vibration-resistant welded frame (frame), installed vertically with a back deflection of 50 °, with guides located above and below, along which the saw beam moves. It is a bracket for the saw unit, which moves up and down along the beam, and also rotates 90°, which allows you to make both vertical and horizontal cuts. The cutting precision is amazing. For sawing laminated chipboard, as well as hard, corrugated or porous boards, a special scoring unit is used. The rotational speed of the saw reaches 15 thousand revolutions per minute;
• horizontal, consisting of a table for a plate, a carriage for moving the saw along the saw mechanism and the actual saw mechanism, consisting of one or two cutting units. The cutting units themselves are equipped with a main and scoring saw. The principle of operation is simple: the main saw deeply cuts through the chipboard, and the scoring saw accurately and clearly cuts the bottom edge (veneer or laminated surface). The saw unit can also be tilted up to 45°.

The miter saw is a "domesticated" and greatly reduced copy of a horizontal machine. It will not be possible to cut a wide sheet of chipboard or chipboard on it, but it will cope with fine details.

Sawing other types of panels

Cutting MDF is different from cutting chipboard panels. The high density of the material quickly dulls the teeth of the saw, so it often has to be sharpened or even changed. It is possible to cut untreated MDF on a conventional machine, but laminated board requires a machine with an additional bottom saw. This is especially important when sawing boards with a double-sided finish.

Cutting fiberboard can be done at home using an electric or manual jigsaw. Of course, the file must be sharp, with a fine tooth, it is necessary to set the maximum speed on the jigsaw. Install the fiberboard horizontally on a support that should not interfere with sawing (between two tables or chairs, for example), secure with clamps if necessary.

The electric jigsaw should be held with both hands, pressing firmly against the surface, moving smoothly, strictly along the marking line, without jerking and pressing. The same applies to working with a manual jigsaw.

In the case when you need to cut a lot of sheets of material, it is more convenient to contact a specialized company. This will save you time and effort.

Video on cutting chipboard with a circular saw

Cutting chipboard beautifully and without chips is not always easy. See how to do it right:

AT this material we will touch upon such a topical issue for garage craftsmen dealing with chipboard furniture, how to cut chipboard without chipping. In fact, the question is quite topical, because professional equipment(format-cutting machine) on which cutting is carried out in furniture workshops costs about a million rubles, which not everyone can afford, and the area for its placement should be slightly larger than the standard 18 square meters. meters. A feature of such machines is the presence of two saw blades (the first is a small scoring and the second main, following exactly behind it). What can replace such a machine in an amateur workshop?

The most optimal, in my opinion, replacement is a plunge-cut circular saw complete with a guide rail. That's what we're talking about today.

Personally, I use the Elitech plunge-cut saw - this is a domestic budget model, which, despite its simplicity, allows you to achieve good results.

Professional models (e.g. Festool saws cut even better, but also cost 5 times more).

So, how is a plunge-cut circular saw different from a regular one? Firstly, with its spring-loaded working part with a depth limiter. Due to this, it is very easy to set and change the depth of cut, in addition, the “head” returns to starting position independently in the absence of operator pressure. Secondly, these are the obligatory grooves on the sole for integration with the guide rail. Thirdly, a rigid structure that excludes backlash (the cut passes strictly in one place).

The tire itself is equipped with an anti-splinter tape (as a rule, this is a tape made of hard rubber - the black stripe on the right)

The tape presses the laminate, preventing pieces of it from coming off at the points where the teeth of the saw blade come out. The tire also has grooves for fixing on workpieces with clamps and tapes for more easy slip(red bars).

By the way, the Festool saw is equipped with anti-splinter inserts on the side opposite to the bar, which makes the cut clean on both sides of the blade.

The tire itself is rigidly attached to the workpiece and does not move. Fixation is carried out with special clamps (their shape is somewhat different from the standard F-shaped ones. The price, by the way, is also).

All these features allow you to cut in "two passes". The first - not deep cuts off the top layer of the laminate. The second - through cuts to the full depth. At the same time, there is no longer any material at the point where the tooth exits the workpiece, therefore there is nothing to pull out, respectively, chips are not formed. All this is in theory. Let's see how this all works in practice.

The markup is quite traditional. Using a tape measure, mark the start and end points of the cut (you can use a carpenter's square).

We draw a marking line, connecting these risks.

We set the guide rail along the line so that the edge of the anti-splinter tape is aligned with the markings.

Please note that the tire lies on the part that should remain (there will be no chips on it - the tape on the tire will help). On a free-hanging piece, they are possible due to the lack of an insert on the saw itself.

You can, of course, saw, laying chipboard sheet on the workbench, but this damages the surface of the workbench and you have to use interchangeable tabletops (I don't do this, although with large pieces this may be the only true method).

The tire is attached to the workpiece in pairs F-clamps, brought into special grooves on the tire.

We take a saw in our hands and set 11-12 mm on the depth regulator, which corresponds to 5-6 mm of cutting depth (the tire itself “eats” about 5 mm).

We put the saw on the tire, combining the grooves on the sole with the protrusions on the tire.

We carry out the first shallow cut. The photo shows that there are a small number of chips on the part of the workpiece not covered by the tape.

And another photo from a different angle.

And close up

We change the depth by 35-40 mm and make a second through cut without changing the position of the tire.

Having removed the tire, we see a fairly neat cut that does not require additional processing.

Separately photographed the detail after removing the tire from above

And from the bottom side.

By the way, the cut from below is traditionally more “clean”, because in this place the teeth of the disk only cut into the material, they tear it out at the exit.

Let me also note one more important fact. Work with sharp discs. The disk used in this lesson is already pretty tired and needs editing. I think that with a zero disk, there would be no chips at all.

In addition to the sharpness of the teeth, the quality of the cut is also strongly affected by the material being cut. There are more caustic coatings and more durable coatings. In this example, 16 mm Lamarty chipboards were used - one of the best domestic boards. Chipboard Egger or Kronospan are much more prone to chipping, and I most likely would not have had such a result with this disc.

All these moments come with experience, it's up to you to get a divorce for the purchase of this device.

In principle, it is possible to cut in “two passes” with ordinary circular saws with homemade guide rails, the main thing is that the sole does not hang out, but doing this is less convenient than with plunge-cut saws, primarily due to the inconvenience of rearranging the sawing depth.

It is believed that without professional tool high-quality wood cut or sheet materials do not execute. Today we will talk about ways to make a clean, even cut without chips, on our own and without using expensive equipment and consumables.

Tools for cutting and the mechanics of their work

If you do not take into account stationary machines for cutting, alternatives for self made not so much. From available tools you can offer circular and pendulum saws, commonly referred to as miter saws and electric jigsaws. It is also possible to perform a sufficiently high-quality cut with using angle grinder, on which a saw blade for wood with victorious teeth is installed. But this is not the most effective and, moreover, far from safe option.

In the process of cutting with any type of power tool, the working bodies move at a very high speed, and therefore the mechanics of processing remain, as it were, behind the scenes. However, understanding it is the key to getting a clean, chip-free edge. The simplest principle underlies the operation of pendulum saws. The cut is carried out with the direct movement of the saw blade, while the size of the removed fragments depends entirely on the size of the tooth and its wiring.

Chips appear due to the inhomogeneity of the material being processed, in particular due to the hard crust of laminated sheet materials or because the fibers solid wood have different densities. Chips can form with different parties products depending on the shape of the tooth, the feed force and the speed of movement of the working body. When working with a jigsaw, the appearance of chips is due either to the fact that the teeth pull out large fragments from the wrong side, or due to the pushing of the upper layer, in which it is not cut off, but broken out in large fragments.

The work of the teeth of a circular disk is in many ways similar to a jigsaw, with the only exception that their movement is directed strictly in one direction, and they move with a very high speed. Also a significant factor is the direction (angle) of the applied force: if the jigsaw saw moves strictly perpendicular to the surface, then the circular saw cuts at an arbitrary angle, depending on both the diameter of the disk and the thickness of the part. This can play into the hands: oblique immersion of the tooth contributes to a more accurate cutting of chips, but with reverse side Due to the tangential movement of the cutting edges, rather large fragments can break out. Of course, only a straight cut can be made with a circular saw.

Choice of saw blades and blades

When cutting, cleanliness and processing speed are inversely dependent quantities. It is worth noting that chips on the cut will appear in any case, so the main task is to reduce their size to such a value that they can be easily eliminated by subsequent processing. The size of the chips will be the smaller, the smaller the size of the tooth and the closer to right angle where the cutting edge touches the surface of the material. When choosing a circular saw blade, these are the two most important factors of the three.

The third can be called the amount of wiring - the displacement of adjacent teeth, which is quite simple to determine by attaching a ruler to them. To ensure a clean cut, the wiring should be minimal, but do not forget that in this case, when trying to cut a thick board or a sheet of plywood, the disk may simply be clamped or the end will burn from strong friction.

Saw blades for jigsaws are more diverse. For chip-free cutting, a series of saw blades are used, for example, BOSCH has a line of blades called CleanWood. Their main difference is the small size and the absence of a pronounced direction of the teeth. They usually take the form isosceles triangle and carry out a cut in both directions of movement.

Also, saws for a clean cut are distinguished by the almost complete absence of wiring and the opposite direction of sharpening of adjacent teeth. In order to ensure the possibility of small wiring curly cut, the files have a very small width, which is why they become quite fragile.

For finishing cutting of sheet materials, blades designed for working with metal products can also be used. These saw blades have the smallest tooth size known, so the cut is slow, but with the highest quality. Due to the considerable width of metal sheets, a fine figured cut can only be carried out with a significant bending radius, on average about 60-80 cm.

Also note that the blunting of the teeth, which is typical for low-quality files with a “mileage” of 3-5 meters, also leads to the formation of chips. Therefore, do not be stingy when purchasing consumables if the quality of processing is really important to you.

Zero Gap Technique

Masters of carpentry most often use the principle of finalizing the sole cutting tool, which consists in reducing the gap between the working body and the pressure pad. This is almost guaranteed to eliminate the "breaking" effect of the crust in top layer material.

Zero clearance is achieved by fixing the overlay plate on the support sole of the tool. The pad has only one narrow hole (or slot) that fits snugly against the cutting body. Because of this, even with a large feed force, the teeth are guaranteed to cut off small chips, and not turn out the chips in the top layer of the part.

When using overlays, it is extremely important that they do not scratch or damage the surface of the part. Therefore, most often they are made from a material that is inferior in hardness to the processed one, for example, MDF or drywall. Unfortunately, such a lining is not enough for a long time, which is why it has to be changed every 4-5 meters of cut.

More durable pads can be made from sheet plastic (PVC, fluoroplastic), fiberglass or metal. In the latter case, the pad surface must be carefully polished and soft metals such as aluminum or duralumin should be used to reduce vibration.

Use of adhesive tapes

By the same principle, you can protect the back side of the cut material. A tape should be glued along the cut line, which will protect against pulling out large fragments. Pasting surfaces is one of the few ways to ensure the cleanliness of the figured cut with an electric jigsaw. Unfortunately, masking tape is not the best for this because of its low strength.

The best quality cut can be obtained by pasting the part with aluminum or fiberglass-reinforced tape-tape. It should be wide enough to cover 15-20 mm on each side of the cut line. The density of the sticker is also important: the tape must be pressed down well with a dry rag swab and wrinkling must be avoided by any means.

Tapes with very tenacious glue should be avoided. In the process of tearing off, they can carry away small fibers and fragments of the laminated surface, dissected by microcracks that form during cutting. Also pay attention to how easily the glue marks are removed and whether the adhesive has enough adhesion to work with rough materials such as unsanded plywood or OSB.

Providing a perfectly clean cut

For most parts, it is enough to reduce the chip size to 0.2-0.5 mm. Such small irregularities of the cut edge are not striking, if desired, they can be easily eliminated by chamfering with an emery bar or smearing it with a wax corrector pencil. It is also possible to grind the end face with sandpaper if a sufficient allowance was given when cutting.

However, even at home, it is possible to achieve a cut quality comparable to that of a panel saw with two high-speed discs. This is possible only when the tool moves along the guide rail, in extreme cases - along the temporary stop bar.

First you need to make two notches about 0.5 mm deep on both sides of the part to indicate the thickness of the cut. Along the edges of the cut line, you need to scratch two furrows under an even ruler. This is done either with a segment or oblique shoe knife (for chipboard and uncoated wood), or with a sharply honed drill or a chisel (for laminated materials).

The depth of the furrows should be at least half the thickness of the outer layer, which is heterogeneous with respect to the main body of material. This method requires high precision comparison of furrows and cut lines, but this is the only way to ensure a perfectly even cut end that does not require additional processing.