Thread: hand tool scaling, newbie

Originally Posted by forsten

If I have a 1 1/2 X 8 blank, 1/4 thick what should I use to cut two 1/8 thick blanks from it? I have a coping saw and a Japanese hand saw. What is the best cutting guide tool to get this done?

Thanks again --

You can't. You would be losing material when sawing, the amount depending on the saw kerf width, But you can easily thin your stock down to 1/8" thick on a belt sander or by hand lapping it on a sheet of coarse sandpaper. A table saw or bandsaw would make short work of thinning. Now if you had maybe 3/8" thick stock and you had a particularly steady hand and eye, maybe you could saw your material into two 1/8"+ thick pieces.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

Now if you had maybe 3/8" thick stock and you had a particularly steady hand and eye, maybe you could saw your material into two 1/8"+ thick pieces.

OK say I had a 1/2 blank. If I wanted to section it is there a particular cutting guide or tool that would be useful with my hand saw?

Or just clamp/stabilize the blank and hope I don't botch it (having minimal hand tool background) -- thanks again CCR

Originally Posted by forsten

OK say I had a 1/2 blank. If I wanted to section it is there a particular cutting guide or tool that would be useful with my hand saw?

Or just clamp/stabilize the blank and hope I don't botch it (having minimal hand tool background) -- thanks again CCR

A miter box and a jig made for the purpose would probably enable you to saw your stock into thin planks with a reasonable accuracy. But really, to rip stock accurately you are talking table saw. You could make one for the purpose, using wood and a circular saw. Remember to make some sort of guard and you need an easily accessible and clearly marked off switch. You could just C-clamp your fence to the table. Use a wood pusher, not your fingers, or sooner or later you will lose them. Youtube is your friend. A small hobbyist type table saw is pretty cheap, cheap enough to pay for itself ripping precious woods into scale blanks, eventually. Ryobi is a decent brand, but be careful not to crack the plastic table models. A tabletop bandsaw from Harbor Freight would work, too, and enable you to cut a stack of scales roughly to shape at once.

'What is the best cutting guide tool to get this done?"

Eyeball.

A bandsaw and hand plane with a sharp iron, to finish to final thickness. Or as said a sander.

You could use a hand saw with a rip blade and a vise depending on your handsaw skills. At 1.5 in wide you could get 2 scales from the 1/8th in piece depending on you scale design.

You can also hot glue to a piece of MDF and run through a thickness planer.

If you don’t have the tools or skills, find a local woodworker and buy some beer. It is amazing what some beer can get you.

But really, just buy some horn, unless you have some very special wood.

Buy 1/8th inch material. It can be found all over. With skill you could use a japanese pull saw to rip thin wood blanks but its not an easy thing to do. A guide for the blade to hold the blade true could be done. But for a few bucks you could buy the 1/8" blanks and be done messing with it.

[QUOTE=Euclid440;1912838]'What is the best cutting guide tool to get this done?"

A bandsaw and hand plane with a sharp iron

Thanks Euclid. Excuse my limited knowledge but what is a sharp iron in relation to a hand plane? Small hand planes abound on Amazon, no sharp iron reference.

I'm only set on two special woods--bog oak & kauri. You're talking natural horn or synthetic? Given the limited number of projects before me I'll likely be using a coping saw and Japanese hand saw.

Find some scrap wood and practice cutting blanks. If you use a gauge line it’s pretty easy to cut straight. Draw a line all the way around the blank you want to rip in half, making sure the line is parallel to the face of the wood. Start the cut at a corner and slowly saw while staying on the line. Once you get a good straight line established the job gets much easier as all you have to do is saw. Just follow those lines around until you’re through. A small vise or even a couple of clamps can be used to hold the piece while you saw.

The Iron is the plane blade, make sure it is sharp and properly adjusted.

Starting with real horn, will make your project much easier. It is inexpensive and will cut easily with a coping saw and shape easily with a file or sand paper. You can drill with a pin vise, (a holder for a drill bit) by hand.

And you can sand easily to a fine finish and polish with metal polish. In short it is super easy to work and looks great.

Once you get the process down, then you can move to other materials, that may require more tools and skills.

Wood -

Let me try and help

The hardness of wood is determined much like metal is tested for RHC only it is called the Janka Rating (Not Jenga, LOl)

I try and not use woods that are below 2000 unless I am able to either use a CA finish or a Liner for strength or both


To give you an idea of many favorite woods

Gaboon Ebony = 3080
Amboyna Burl = 1260
Lignum Vitae = 4380 (the best waterproof woods in the world)
Cocobolo = 2960
Olivewood = 2690

This gives you some idea

If you go to this page on Bell Forest you can see the ratings on all their woods


I am not finding an actual Janka Rating for Bog Oak but most oaks are below 1500, I have used Bog Oak only a couple of times, I found it rather temperamental and I had to Skim Coat it to get a good final sanding on the scales for final finishing


I hope this helps you a bit

Plus one on the Lignum Vitae. It's not the prettiest wood in the world, but man is it a workhorse. I've actually used it as knife guards in the past.