From The Bench

After I woke this morning (Tuesday), I noticed I had been tagged on Instagram by oopswoodworker regarding cutting curve's with a Ryoba saw, in which he states he had seen me cut curves, and was skeptical as are many. However he did proceed to cut a circle and report his observations/how he carried out the process. It's similar to the way I cut circles and curves, but I do things a little differently which is the topic of today's mini article. If you'd like to compare the two you can see oopswoodworkers' post here and give him a follow over on Instagram.
First of all, to all the naysayers this is possible, I've done it many times with video evidence that still receives criticism today, with comments like "Get this guy a jig saw", ironically I own a jigsaw which doesn't do a good job of cutting a circle, and will not get you the same finish as the Ryoba saw. I think the problem is that people don't see the finish, so can't appreciate the little clean up needed afterwards, even with a jig for the jigsaw I personally think I would get better results with the Ryoba saw. If done correctly you won't lose any teeth, or bend your saw, but you will end up with some good results, with minimal clean up required. As with anything, the more you do the better you get.

I'm right-handed so I like to cut circles out clockwise, this way I can see/track my line as I would ripping or crosscutting any other piece of wood. Once you start the cut stay in the cut until your done, or at least as much as you can, feeding the saw back in mid cut can be a pain, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Cut out circle's in one piece and not in sections, this helps to keep your cut square, and also to stay on your line more easily. I think where possible it is a good idea to leave a bit of meat next to the edges of your circle. It's common to cut a circle out of a square, so the edges (perimeter middles) of the square can become thin, which can allow the saw to wonder out of square at the edge (thickness measure), which can have a knock-on effect causing a flare, or bevel like effect over the thickness of the edge. This is a problem with cutting the circle in quadrants (4 pieces), the saw cut will nearly always flare out towards the end of the cut, which is why I recommend cutting a circle in one piece. The flare out is also an issue at the end of a cut with a full circle cut out (one piece), although it is less, and can be minimised by clamping the waste material, so the saw kerf can't open up which causes the flare out, I sometimes even twist the handle clockwise a little to try and compensate for any flare out if I see it happening. So why does the flare out happen? Even though you start the cut at 90°, the fact that the saw is being bent to a radius, it's fighting to straighten itself out. That coupled with the pulling motion on a radius, makes it more prone to drift out of square. So when the kerf is allowed to open a little as discussed above, the problem will present itself. One key factor with the whole process is to keep the saw angle low, around 25° so that there's very little of the tip of the saw protruding on the underside, so basically I'm trying to keep a large proportion of the teeth in the work piece. Keeping with this angle should keep you from having to remove the saw, and refeeding which can be a pain to do. Another thing I do is to use the rip teeth on the saw, this is for quickness or otherwise you'd be there all day, and yes this is perfectly fine for the crosscutting sections of the cut. Something else to note is that I think this is a lot easier cut on a lower bench like a Roman workbench.

Obviously there are limitations with the above, and I personally wouldn't cut out a circle any less than a 20" diameter. Any less than this will give you problems, smaller curves with relief cuts yes, but circles no. All of the above is not set in stone, and little tweaks may be needed from one piece of wood to another. Click the image above to see a reel of myself cut a full circle out in high speed.

Maker Spotlight

This is a sound hole from a lute made by the hand of Klemens siatkowski. The detail is amazing, and the time spent on this must be long. Click the image to head over to Instagram to see his other beautiful creations.

Question Of The Week

Q. I'm making my first coffee table and not sure what product I should use? Any advice would be appreciated.

Barry - UK

A. This is a good question, and will change from person to person to person. My personal preference is that of a wax and oil blend and I like a rub on/off finish. Osmo oil is pretty good with a hard wearing finish, ideal for table's and could be anywhere from 3-5 coats. Rubio mono coat is ok too, and I've used this on my own dining table which gets a lot of abuse, and it's held up fairly well so far, and is obviously only one coat. Lately I've been making my own Sam maloof mixture (watch the video here), which is bee's wax, tung oil, and boiled linseed oil. This is a good finish but longer drying times are needed, and again 3-5 coats are needed. If I'm in a rush maybe making something for someone, I'll use one of the above. These are my three go-to's, and I don't usually stray to far from them. Hope this helps.

Do you have a woodworking related question? Reply to this email, or login and leave your question below. I read them all and will feature one in the next issue.

What Caught My Eye

This was the latest get together of wood by wright, rex and Eoin, they also meet up with Chris Schwartz too, very cool! I don't think I've ever seen so many hand tools in the same place. All those planes! I would love to have been there walking through the building. Click the image to see the reel with a ridiculous amount of hand tools. I've watched this so many times!

Final Shavings

I should be back home tomorrow and finishing up that Irish chair. I'm already thinking about my next project - a foot rest (I'm showing my age).

In case you missed it, my last video (building a drill guide) can be watched here, and a podcast is available to those who are interested. You can listen on Spotify here, and Apple Podcasts  here, and watch on YouTube here.

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Until next time

-David 

DW Woodworks