Thread: hand tool scaling, newbie

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 --

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.