Thread: Simple guide for cutting sheets

Last week I bought a red ironwood post for building a handle + D-ring for a hanging strop and a paddlestrop in the first place and secondly for some scales. I had it cut in half for transportation, both halfs measure 7.8 x 7.8 x 79.5 cm (3 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 31 5/16 inch).

I wanted to start off by making scales and for that I had to cut a sheet out of one of the big posts. I don't have a bandsaw or tablesaw so for cutting I use an ironsaw. I first cut off a block measuring 16cm (6 5/16") in length. This first cut didn't need to be perfectly straight but the sheet has to be pretty straight. My cutting skills are limited so I needed an aid.

The idea I came up with was clamping two small straight blocks of wood to the big block as a cutting guide. The cutting went really slow because the wood is really hard and the weather was hot, but the guide worked really well though. I could just cut away without having to worry about cutting straight.

The little softwood blocks received some damage so I will sand them straight again for next time or use hardwood blocks instead. The sheet I cut is about 8mm (5/16") in thickness. That way I can first cut out the shape of a scale with my scrollsaw and then cut it in half to get a pair of near identical scales.

I wet the sheet a little to show off the wood