Cutting out a jigsaw out of plywood, how to move the drawing

Cutting out with a jigsaw may be required for finishing work, but most often in the process of making furniture with your own hands, shelves and other things. The cutting itself is not so difficult, but in order to perform this work qualitatively, it is necessary to immediately prepare all the materials and tools, strictly follow simple rules and recommendations.

This refers to transferring a drawing to a plywood blank, cutting out simple and complex artistic elements. It is also important to properly hold the jigsaw while working, to ensure all safety measures, as well as when working with any other tool.

Tools and materials

Jigsawing requires not only experience, but also the use of a certain set of materials and tools. These include:

1. Plywood sheet. You must select the material that best meets the requirements of the work. A thin sheet consisting of multilayered hardwood is usually used. Depending on the complexity of the work, ordinary or moisture-resistant plywood of any suitable grade can be used.
2. For cutting, an ordinary manual jigsaw can be used, if the works are not very large-scale, they consist in cutting out fine artistic details. But you can also use an electric tool that is suitable for a large amount of work.
3. The awl is used to make holes for the cuts. At points, a hole is carefully punctured with a diameter sufficient to enable the file to be inserted. After this, the cutting process begins. Instead of sewing, you can use a drill with a drill of the required diameter, so it will turn out to prepare the holes much faster. The choice of one or another option depends on the convenience of work.
4. Cutting out with a jigsaw can not do without buying a set of files. They are necessary in order to properly clean all the edges of the cuts. It often happens that a not very experienced land master is a bit torn. In this case, the file that most closely matches the material is selected, all edges and ends are carefully cleaned.
5. The stop plate is used to strengthen the material and tools. To work with thin and fine details, it is important that the working surface is kept exactly, not loosened.
6. There are other tools that may be required. This is usually a carpenter's hammer, pliers, a sharp knife with replaceable blades, compasses and a pencil, which are required for applying a stencil to the surface.

Usually, with the experience of the master, the drawings are immediately applied to the surface. But for beginners you will need special adhesive paper, tracing paper. In this case, it will turn out to make the drawing on plywood as neat and beautiful as possible, and the lines will be smooth.

When choosing a tool, care must be taken to ensure that it corresponds to the work being done. For example, for small parts it is best to use a hand tool, which is most convenient, but for large volumes, for example, when assembling furniture, shelves and other things, electric jigsaws should be used. Art cutting is rarely used, mostly straight cuts are made, cutting large parts.

How to use a jigsaw for artistic cutting?

For artistic cutting by plywood, you need to know special techniques and techniques for working with a jigsaw, they will make it much easier to work. In addition, it is necessary to use the tool properly and carefully to avoid injury.

It is necessary to begin work only with good lighting, all tools and materials must be prepared in advance. Jigsawing out artistic details has some peculiarities, you cannot be in a hurry, work must be done carefully and precisely. If you do not follow the established recommendations, then the cut will be uneven, the cuts will be "torn".

Recommendations for working with a jigsaw:

1. The power tools should be kept strictly vertically, movements should be made up and down while working, and in no case should the tool be swayed and tilted. If you do not comply with this condition, the file is stuck in the tree, and the cut itself will be oblique. Another problem - the gap saws, and this can already lead to injuries.
2. When internal contours are cut out of plywood, you must first make a hole with a drill or an awl. After that, the file is inserted into the prepared hole, the cutting process begins.It is important that the teeth are in the correct position; turning is required without interrupting the cutting process.
3. It is necessary to ensure that the file is stretched evenly, well fastened, otherwise injury may occur. This is a prerequisite for working with any tool. And the work itself will become inconvenient and poor quality.
4. During cutting, the file cannot be allowed to vibrate, as the sheet of plywood will begin to crack, break off. The edges are not so smooth, the work will have to start anew. If the jigsaw is used for thin plywood, then you need to additionally take a bar to fix the working surface on the workbench.
5. As you cut, you need to move the plywood towards the jigsaw, but you cannot be in too much of a hurry. The jigsaw itself must move upright and cannot be tilted.

Jigsawing simple shapes

Cutting simple shapes from plywood is quite simple, you just need to strictly adhere to the lines drawn. Smooth lines, arcuate, straight lines are made in this way: the saw teeth should be directed strictly along the line, while the jigsaw is not deployed - this is the main condition for a neat cut.

If you do not follow this rule, then the file will simply "get stuck" in the tree, it will twist, and the work will no longer be possible. It is impossible to exert strong pressure on the material, the file should go smoothly, should not be in a hurry . Jigsaw itself returns to the vertical position, the canvas is aligned on its own.

Sharp and obtuse angles must be learned to cut out slowly. For obtuse angles, the “turn in place” method is used, i.e. the cut is made exactly, after which the plywood unfolds. The result is a smooth and beautiful cut with the required degree of turn.

If you need to drink a part with sharp corners, you can use the loop formation method. At first, one side of the corner is formed, then a loop is carefully cut along the outer contour so that it can immediately form the second side of the outer acute angle of the required size.

All these methods are used for cutting various parts, and how to make internal cuts? To cut out obtuse and sharp corners (for example, stars, leaves, flowers, geometric ornaments), you need to carry out the following set of actions: plywood to the top of the future corner.

How to transfer a drawing to a sheet of plywood correctly?

In order for the patterns to turn out even and beautiful, it is necessary to transfer the drawing to plywood neatly. As a rule, it is impossible to do without a previously prepared sketch; it is obligatory for performing the work.

The simplest option when performing artistic cutting is the use of tracing paper. The drawing is transferred to the workpiece, and then cut out. The price of such tracing paper is low, it is quite possible to buy it with a margin. But the process itself requires care and patience - each line will have to be moved manually, observing evenness and accuracy.

You can use a less laborious method of drawing a drawing on a plywood sheet. To do this, use the projector, which only projects the desired image on the working surface. But there are some nuances here. The projector should be available, and its cost is not the lowest. Plywood can not be moved, it should be fixed literally "tightly".

You can only use the projector if the image is not too large and you won't need to zoom in.

Many experts consider it obsolete, although amateurs use it actively and successfully.

Artistic sawing with a jigsaw can be done by sticking self-adhesive paper to the surface. Using the printer, first print out the desired pattern, after which the sheet is pasted on the plywood. The quality of cutting paper does not affect, but the pattern does not mix, all the lines can be observed exactly.

Plywood cutting is a very laborious process that requires experience and patience; not everyone can do something worthwhile the first time. But the exact observance of all the recommendations and rules of cutting allows you to quickly master this art.

A large number of high-quality materials, easy-to-use tools makes this work quite fascinating and not so problematic.Many, starting cutting with minimal skills, gradually move to a professional level, creating real works of art.