How to cut plywood - recommendations and instructions. Standard parameters and cutting plywood Circular saw for plywood

Plywood is one of the most popular finishing materials today. In this regard, many people have a question, how to cut plywood? To answer this, it is worth familiarizing yourself with some useful information.

"Golden" rules for cutting plywood

In order to cut plywood as efficiently as possible, you need to adhere to several simple rules. Firstly, you first need to cut across the grain, and then along it. This measure allows you to avoid splitting corners and other deformations of the material.

Secondly, depending on the side of the cut, you should use various instruments. So, if we're talking about O inside, then the most optimal choice will it be manual or band saw. If you need to cut the material from the reverse side, you should use a contour or circular saw.

Thirdly, you need to know that when cutting manually circular saw, the speed of revolutions should be maintained at high level. In this case, it is best to feed the material itself slowly and smoothly, since otherwise there is a high risk of damaging the material.

Fourthly, every person should know that regardless of the type of saw, its teeth should be fine. In this case, the risk of defects such as sheet bending is significantly reduced.

Finally, the fifth rule is to understand that when cutting you need to stick adhesive tape. This allows you to protect the surface of the sheet from chipping.

Is it possible to make a cut using a regular hacksaw?

The above information can help a person understand the question of how to cut plywood? Depending on the specific situation, the optimal tool may vary. But what to do if you only have a hacksaw at hand? If everything is done correctly, you can even cut the material evenly using such a primitive tool.

So, if immediately after marking you take a hacksaw and start sawing, the edges will turn out terribly uneven. This is due to the characteristics of plywood, however, there is a way out. Before you start sawing, you need to pour boiling water over the material, let it soak in a little, and then remove excess liquid. This measure allows you to achieve an even and smooth cut.

There is another way - before cutting, make cuts using a sharp knife. Moreover, they should be located at a distance of only 1-2 mm from each other (depending on the thickness of the tool). This measure allows you to avoid the hacksaw breaking and, as a result, an uneven cut.

Thus, it can be stated that any tool can produce high-quality cut. The main thing is to follow simple rules for cutting. However, in order to guarantee the desired result, it is better to purchase professional tools or seek help from specialists.

In addition to stationary cutting machines, other devices can be used. The most accessible tools include pendulum and circular saws (jigsaws). You can make a high-quality cut using an angle grinder, on which a wood saw blade with sharp pobedite teeth is installed. But this option will not be the most effective or safe.

In the process of cutting plywood with any type of power tools, their working parts move at very high speed, so the mechanics of the process remain “behind the scenes.” But understanding it is the key to getting the cleanest, chip-free edge. Generally, the basic operating principle electric tools lies in the fact that the cut is carried out with the direct movement of the saw blade. At this time, the size of the removed fragments depends only on the size and setting of the teeth.

Chips may appear due to the heterogeneity of the material being cut. Very often, chips occur on laminated plywood sheets due to the fact that the constituent fibers have different densities. In addition, chips can form with different sides plywood sheet, regardless of the shape of the teeth, the speed and force of movement of the working body. When working with a jigsaw, chips may appear due to the fact that the teeth literally tear out large fragments from the underside. In addition, the top layer of the panel can be pressed through or break out in whole fragments.

The principle of operation of a circular disk is similar to the operation of an ordinary jigsaw. However, the movement of the circular teeth is directed only in one direction. The main factor is the angle of force applied. If the jigsaw blade moves perpendicular to the surface, then the circular saw can cut at any angle, depending on the diameter of the disk and the thickness of the part. This circumstance can be an advantage, since the oblique immersion of the teeth facilitates accurate cutting of chips. However, on the other hand, due to the movement of the cutting edges, individual fragments of plywood may be torn out tangentially. Also, a circular saw can only make a straight cut.

Selection of blades and saw blades

During cutting, cutting speed and cleanliness are inversely related. Chips on the cut will appear in any case. That is why the main task is to reduce their size to such a value at which they can be easily eliminated by subsequent types of processing. The size of the chips will be smaller if the saw teeth are small. In this case, the sawing process must occur at a right angle so that the cutting edge touches the surface of the material. Therefore, choosing a suitable circular disc is the most important factor for accurate work.

In addition to the above factors, the size of the teeth may have an influence on the appearance of chips. It represents the displacement of adjacent teeth by a certain distance, which can be measured with a ruler. To make the cut as clean as possible, the tooth set should be minimal. But there is a risk that when cutting thick boards or sheets of plywood, the circular disk may burn due to strong friction or stop due to pinching.

There are different saw blades for jigsaws. Typically, a series of clean-cutting files are used for chip-free cutting. They are distinguished by their small size and lack of pronounced directionality of the teeth. As a rule, these teeth have the shape isosceles triangle and can cut in both directions.

Saws for clean cutting are characterized by the complete absence of setting and the opposite direction of sharpened adjacent teeth. So that with a small wiring the master has the opportunity figure cutting, the files are made narrow in width. For this reason, they are often fragile.

For clean cutting sheet materials blades can be used that are designed to work with various metal products. Such files have the smallest tooth size, so the cutting process occurs very slowly and efficiently. Due to the small width of the blades for cutting metal, a shaped finishing cut can be carried out with a small bending radius of 60-80 centimeters. Low-quality blades can quickly become dull, leading to chipping. Therefore, there is no need to purchase the cheapest consumables.

Zero gap technique

Carpentry craftsmen often use the principle of modifying the sole of their cutting tools, which consists of reducing the gap between the pressure pad and the leg. This event is guaranteed to eliminate the effect of “breaking” the crust in the upper layers of the material.

Zero clearance is achieved by securing the cover plate to the tool support leg. The lining has only one narrow hole (slot), which fits tightly to the cutting organ. Because of this, even a small feed force of the teeth can guarantee cutting of small chips, and not turning out the chips in the top layer.

When using overlays, it is very important that they do not scratch the surface of the part. Therefore, they are often made from a material that is inferior in hardness to the material being processed. Of course, such an overlay will not last long; it has to be changed every 4-5 meters of cutting.

The most durable linings are made from sheet plastic (fluoroplastic, PVC), metal or fiberglass. If the linings are made of metal (soft aluminum or duralumin), then they must be carefully polished to avoid vibration.

Application of adhesive tapes

Adhesive tape (duct tape, electrical tape, fiberglass) can be used to protect the back side of the material being processed. To do this, you need to stick a tape along the cut line, which saves the material from tearing out large fragments.

Surface gluing is one of the effective ways ensuring the cleanliness of the figured cut with a jigsaw. But masking tape is not suitable for these purposes due to its fragility. The highest quality cut can be obtained by covering the material being cut with aluminum or fiberglass reinforced tape. It should be wide enough to cover at least 15 centimeters of the surface of the material on each side of the cut. In addition, the density of the sticker is important. The tape must be carefully pressed down with a dry cloth and wrinkles must be prevented at all costs.

You should not use tape with very strong adhesive, since during the tearing process it can carry away small fragments of the laminated surface or. In addition, strong stripping of the tape will lead to an increase in microcracks that have already formed during cutting. You also need to pay attention to how easily adhesive traces are removed and whether the adhesive adhesion is high for working with rough materials (unsanded plywood and OSB).

Ensuring a clean cut

For many parts, it is enough to reduce the chip size to 0.5 millimeters. Such minor edge irregularities will not be noticeable, and if desired, they can be easily eliminated by chamfering with sandpaper or covering up the chips with a correction pencil. In addition, it is possible to grind the end with sandpaper.

At home it is quite difficult to achieve high quality cutting, which will be comparable to the result of a real cutting machine with high-speed disks. This is only possible when the tool moves along a guide rail or along a temporary stop bar.

First you need to make two cuts 0.5 millimeters deep on both sides of the part to indicate the future thickness of the cut. It is necessary to scratch two even furrows along the edges of the cut line. This can be done with an oblique shoemaker or segment knife (for uncoated wood or chipboard), or with a sharp drill and a pobedit cutter (mainly for laminated materials).

How to saw plywood without chipping?

The depth of the grooves when sawing plywood should be at least half the thickness of the outer layer, which is non-uniform in relation to the bulk of the base material. This method requires high precision when working and perfectly matching the cutting line and furrows. If you follow all the cutting technology correctly, you can create a perfectly smooth end that does not require additional processing.

> > > Probably mark it out, and then use a ruler
Absolutely right. I quote my first message:
Remont_Forever> > > I carried out the ideal straight line using laser level, ruler and ballpoint pen.
Remont_Forever> > > sawed along the drawn straight line

> > > How long is the cut? 2400mm?
2440mm
> > > What is the accuracy - fractions of a mm?
The line has been drawn ballpoint pen. The line width is approximately half a millimeter. The jigsaw was guided exactly along the line (so that the line was approximately in the middle of the file). But very slowly. After cutting, no traces of the ink line were visible on either side. Visually, the final cut was absolutely straight, no waves were visible.
By the way, the factory edge of the plywood turned out to be crooked (a 2-3 millimeter wave at the specified length), so I had to saw it off too.

In two weeks we'll start working on the floor, that's when we'll have to cut down the plywood. You've got me so intrigued that I'll take my husband's jigsaw away and try to saw it myself. Moreover, super quality is not required there.

> > > technology for drawing lines using a laser level

We take the UL-S level (see VDSiR 36-2004, pp. 135-136). Turn on vertical markings. UL-S builds a vertical line on the wall, respectively, on a sheet of plywood that lies in front of the wall - just a straight line.
We place UL-S and plywood relative to each other so that this line runs where we need it. Centered laser line We put lines with a ballpoint pen or a sharpened pencil every 20-30 cm. We connect the outlined lines with a single thin line using a thin metal ruler. Turn off UL-S. We're sawing.

It is especially convenient to mark UL-Som on curves brick walls vertical lines for beacons for subsequent plastering. This, of course, without a ruler, I just move the pencil along the laser line, and that’s it.

> > > Or did you guide the cutting tool along the laser beam?
No. We tried it at first, but it was inconvenient. The file reflects laser beams in all directions, the laser hits the eyes, etc.

> > > Or do you have a laser marking the surface?
Unfortunately no. If I came across one like this, one that marks ANY surface, and hits 2 planes, and for 2,700 rubles... I would buy it right away. I'm afraid, however, that such things have not yet been invented.

Dear masters and experts!
To be honest, I don’t see any deep professionalism in sawing plywood. Need steady hand, accuracy, patience + some experience. I don’t understand what the bazaar is all about.
This is still not ventilation, for example, to calculate.

I think about what was the goal of the topic initiator. Get some trick, which allows you to cut quickly and smoothly, without showing patience and accuracy?

Or find out about a tool like magic wand, who will make a neat cut himself, in the absence of a steady hand from the owner?
Or what...?

Despite the huge range of power tools, new models are appearing that perform better certain work. If, for example, you cut plywood, laminate or chipboard with a large circular saw, it is difficult due to the size of the saw, since a circular saw is a universal tool and can cut workpieces up to 55 mm thick.

A small circular saw is another matter, especially when you are sawing only plywood, which perfectly cuts laminated chipboard for furniture, and with excellent quality I drank it away.

Such a tool appeared in 2014, from the company BOSCH, circular saw PKS 16 Multi. In appearance, this tool looks more like a jigsaw, but it is a mini circular saw that can be used for cutting various materials, up to 16mm thick. This tool fits perfectly in one hand and weighs only 1.9 kg. With a power of 400 watts, the speed of the circular saw is 6400 rpm. For sawing various materials, the kit includes three saw blades with a diameter of 65 mm, one diamond and two with soldered teeth.

Of course, it cannot be said that this is the only tool of this type, since there are similar analogues, including the Chinese mini circular saw from Aliexpress, the universal circular saw Rhythm UPD-900 and many others. But such a mini circular saw is well suited for home renovation, carpentry or practicing your favorite hobby.

With such a saw, you can in a matter of moments get a cut of any desired shape: straight, curved or angular, and with use, the accuracy of the seam improves.

Moreover, a diamond blade can cut hard materials. The cutting depth is adjustable, so you can start cutting in the middle of the sheet, which makes it possible to make cuts for kitchen sinks and other cuts in the middle of a sheet of plywood or chipboard.
Author RVT

It is believed that without professional tools it is impossible to make high-quality cuts of wood or sheet materials. Today we will talk about ways to make a clean, even cut without chips, on your own and without using expensive equipment and consumables.

Cutting tools and the mechanics of their work

If you do not take into account stationary sawing machines, alternatives for self made not much. Among the available tools, we can offer circular and pendulum saws, commonly referred to as miter saws and jigsaws. It is also possible to perform a fairly high-quality cut using an angle grinder, on which a wood saw blade with pobedite 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 parts move at a very high speed, and therefore the mechanics of processing remain behind the scenes. However, understanding it is the key to getting a clean, chip-free edge. The simplest principle is the basis of the work pendulum saws. The cut is carried out with direct movement of the saw blade, and the size of the removed fragments completely depends on the size of the tooth and its setting.

Chips appear due to the heterogeneity of the processed material, in particular due to the hard crust of laminated sheet materials or because the fibers of solid wood have different densities. Chips can form on different sides of the product depending on the shape of the tooth, the feed force and the speed of movement of the working element. When working with a jigsaw, the appearance of chips is caused either by the fact that the teeth tear out large fragments from the underside, or by pushing through the top layer, during which it is not cut off, but breaks out in large fragments.

The operation 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 at a very high speed. Also a significant factor is the direction (angle) of the applied force: if the jigsaw blade 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 work to your advantage: the oblique immersion of the tooth contributes to more accurate cutting of chips, but on the reverse side, due to the tangential movement of the cutting edges, quite large fragments can be torn out. Of course, you can only make a straight cut with a circular saw.

Selection 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 smaller the size of the tooth and the closer to right angle, under which the cutting edge touches the surface of the material. When choosing a circular saw blade, these are the two most important factors out of three.

The third can be called the setting value - the displacement of adjacent teeth, which can be easily determined by applying a ruler to them. To ensure a clean cut, the routing should be minimal, but do not forget that in this case, when trying to cut a thick board or sheet of plywood, the disk may simply jam or the end will burn from strong friction.

Jigsaw blades are more varied. For cutting without chipping, a series of clean-cutting saws are used, for example, BOSCH has a line of blades called CleanWood. Their main difference is their small size and lack of pronounced directionality of the teeth. They usually have the shape of an isosceles triangle and cut in both directions of movement.

Also, saws for clean cutting are distinguished by the almost complete absence of setting and the opposite direction of sharpening of adjacent teeth. In order to ensure the possibility of a figured cut with a small setting, 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 files have smallest size teeth are from known ones, so the cut is performed slowly, but with the highest quality indicator. Due to the significant width of metal blades, finishing figured cuts can only be carried out with a significant bending radius, on average about 60–80 cm.

Please also note that dull teeth, which is typical for low-quality saw blades with a “mileage” of 3–5 meters, also leads to the formation of chips. Therefore, do not skimp when purchasing consumables if the quality of processing is really important to you.

Zero gap technique

Carpentry craftsmen most often use the principle of modifying the sole of a cutting tool, which consists in reducing the gap between the working tool and the pressure pad. This is almost guaranteed to eliminate the effect of “breaking” the crust in the top layer of the material.

Zero clearance is achieved by securing the cover plate to the tool base. The pad has only one narrow hole (or slot) that fits tightly to the cutting organ. Because of this, even with a high feed force, the teeth are guaranteed to cut off small chips and not turn out the chips in the upper layer of the part.

When using overlays, it is extremely important that they do not scratch or damage the surface of the part. Therefore, they are most often made from a material that is inferior in hardness to the material being processed, for example MDF or plasterboard. Unfortunately, such an overlay does not last long, which is why it has to be changed every 4–5 meters of the cut.

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

Using adhesive tapes

Using the same principle, you can protect the back side of the material being cut. Tape should be placed along the cut line to protect against large fragments being torn out. Pasting surfaces is one of the few ways to ensure the cleanliness of a figured cut with a jigsaw. Unfortunately, masking tape is not the best choice for this due to its low strength.

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

You should avoid tapes with very tenacious adhesive. During the tearing process, they can carry along small fibers and fragments of the laminated surface, dissected by microcracks that form during cutting. Also pay attention to how easily traces of glue are removed and whether the adhesive adheres well enough to work with rough materials such as unsanded plywood or OSB.

Ensuring a perfectly clean cut

For most parts, it is enough to reduce the chip size to 0.2–0.5 mm. Such small irregularities in the cut edge are not noticeable; if desired, they can be easily eliminated by chamfering with an emery block or covering them with a wax corrector pencil. It is also possible to grind the end with sandpaper if sufficient allowance was given during cutting.

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

First you need to make two cuts about 0.5 mm deep on both sides of the part to indicate the thickness of the cut. Along the edges of the cutting line, you need to scratch two grooves under an even ruler. This is done either with a segmented or oblique shoemaker's knife (for chipboard and uncoated wood), or with a sharply sharpened drill or pobedit cutter (for laminated materials).

The depth of the grooves should be at least half the thickness of the outer layer, which is non-uniform in relation to the main body of material. This method requires high precision in matching the grooves and the cutting line, but this is the only way to ensure a perfectly even cut end that does not require additional processing.

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