How to Saw Straight with a Handsaw | Paul Sellers
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- Опубликовано: 11 июл 2019
- Ever wondered how to saw straight? Paul shows in detail how to cut an accurate and straight saw cut.
This provides some skills you will need to challenge yourselves to bigger and better projects. Using a handsaw to may prove harder than you think but with these tips and tricks, you will be able to saw straight and accurately.
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The best man I have ever seen with a handsaw was my late father. His cuts were laser straight. Ironically he had one arm but always found a way to hold the wood steady with a foot. Incredible skill, I miss him RIP.
That's amazing
Mmmmmm deer feet
My son's cop out for DIY, is that he has part of his arm missing, I will show him this to clear that excuse :)
@@raymondo199blackberry2 He'll kick you with one although he's all the way up there you know?
I have no arms and cut straighter
Many people don't even realize sawing is a skill, let alone understand how much skill is involved. You have made a great service to the new woodworking generation with your saw videos.
Thanks so very much, Paul. I followed your instructions and resawed an 18 inch piece of poplar with my Grandfather's 100 year old Disston D-8 that I had restored and sharpened (your videos also). Then I planed the pieces flat with his Stanley planes (again, your videos) and made a box for the picnic table. I never knew my grandfather as he died when I was about six months old. However through restoring and using his tools, I feel like I have come to know him better. Thank you for showing me the way.
Bob Brewer that's the most moving woodworking story I've ever encountered
I've always appreciated the realness of your videos and your teachings. The encouragement you offer is so valuable.
Instantly liked and subscribed. I can recognize a good teacher when I see one.
same!
I love this username
You are definitely correct. Paul is my go to guy when I want to know what to do with wood. He is so calming and makes things simple to understand while at the same time covering some very technical tasks. When I'm stressed over a subject I can always count on him giving me a calm approach to what I'm trying to learn. And he does it without making people feel stupid. He is the best woodworking teacher I've ever seen.
Whether I'm using a wood saw or hacksaw, I often seem to cut straighter with less important jobs than with ones where the cutting is quite important. Thanks for your techniques.
Go loose! 😄😊🌎✨
I could watch Paul saw, plain or chisel wood all day long. I would love to work alongside him for the day. I love wood. Magical.
I could always use another refresher on the basics!
Good to see ya again.
Thanks Paul for sharing your knowledge so generously!
Thanks Paul, my father was a carpenter before he became a civil engineer and he taught me how to use hand tools. The saw is my arch nemesis and my father always tease me and challenge me to make a straight cut. My cuts were always swervy.
Same here. I'm good with most tools and I don't seem to have too much problem with a tenon saw but I'm really not very good with a rip saw.
I've always thought it was impossible with a handsaw, and without a guide until one day I started to get it right! This video helps me perfect my technique thanks!
Wow! Never heard of this technique! Thank you Paul.
Thanks Paul. I've learned how to saw mostly from you and your videos and Kevin Drake from Glen Drake tools. The two key things that helped me were
1. When you say saw to the line, what I found that meant was that I focused on where the bottom of the saw was cutting and looking and focusing one the the line that is no more than about an 1/8" to 1/4" below the saw.
2. Not to over tense my hand. I found that as I was learning, if I was drifting in the cut I would go to a death grip and the drift would only get worse. Keeping my hand relaxed on the saw and letting the tool do the work really helped.
It didn't take me that long to learn how to saw straight. Maybe about 100 to 150 hours of working at the bench and I could saw straight. Of those hours it was maybe 20% spent actually sawing.
Basic sawing tech everyone should learn. Great tips!
Thanks Paul. I’m always grateful for your insight and tutelage.
I believe sawing is an art and the first skill to master in our craft. You’re a great teacher. Practical and applicable for anyone.
I like your perspective.
This is enormously helpful. Thanks, Paul!
Useful info. A "simple" straight cut with a hand saw for beginners like me is actually quite difficult. Thanks
Thanks for sharing. Good, clear instructions. This should help all new to wood work.
Thank you Paul. All always good to remember how to do it well. I tried to cut a 3/16. Pine. Went well for beginning but everything went crazy after 4”. Will do it again now. Cheers.
Another excellent tip and encouragement helping us to perfect our skills
I was always afraid to cut long lines, and when I get off course I'd always try to twist the saw instead. Will have to try bending method. I use a Japanese saw by the way (and love it). I love tips and tricks all the way down to very basic things, always great things to learn. Thanks Paul,
Thank you for making this video it was very helpful!
Best video ever for cutting straight.
Just perfect and exactly what I needed to clear some thoughts and concerns about what I was doing. Very well, thank you.
Thank you for making and uploading this video. I look forward to trying this method as I consistently cut at an angle. I have a lazy eye and my glasses have a prism to correct this, and I’ve always blamed this on my cuts being so inconsistent. I use pull saws mainly for my DIY. Would be great to finally feel I can accomplish straight consistent cuts without machinery to assist me. Really looking forward to trying this! Got to remember the first ten strokes are paramount 👍🏻
As always - amazing video. Thank You for Your work
Awesome tips . Thank you
Another excellent video from Paul!
Very helpful and I learned something new! Thank you!
Always a pleasure!
Thank you Paul. This was very informative
I think the problem most beginners have is a lack of carpenter's vise. It's common for experts to forget that beginners don't have the tools that they see as basic. I have a saw, a few chissels, and a yard-sale plane, and I struggle through my hobby happily. But... The cost of a work bench AND a vice is so difficult to approach for most entry level hobbyists.
Found my new favourite woodworker!!! Awesome video thank you
Thank You Paul!!! I have been having a heck of a time. 😃👍😎
Paul because of you I have lost my technique of cuting wedge free-handed
Best comment here. Over many folks head though :(
Hahahaha
ballzack57 true
@@ballzack57It went over my head, I must confess (his technique was wrong perhaps???)
What is wedge? 🙂🌎
super helpful video, chair is coming along nicely as well
Thanks a million Paul!
The saw I am using here is a 24" Spear & Jackson I use all the time. It's sharpened to a rip cut and costs around £20. It is resharpenable and holds a good edge...as good as any premium saw at 5 - 10 times the cost.
Paul, would you escalate this approach to saw a 200 x 22 x 13 cm piece of oak? I want two pieces of 200 x 11 x 13
I could never cut a straight line for anywhere near that distance before. Using this technique works great!
Yeah, a few simple sounding tips can go a long way. The one that really helped me the most is when I heard Paul say to align your whole arm and body to the cut you're making, before that I never really thought much about my position behind the saw and was undoubtedly causing it to wander in the cut as a result.
Excellent video. Good technique in the video and some good points in the comments. To build some confidence buy or borrow a saw you know is set and sharpened correctly. Then try the techniques Paul illustrates in the video. Suddenly you’ll feel and see how it’s done. Thanks Paul!
Informative, thank you.
Thanks. It's a very helpful for me.
Beautiful chair Paul!! ...waiting for the project!!!!
This was incredibly usefull. It sounds very simple, but this is exactly what stops me to do carpentry. I feel stupid and bad each time I want to work on wood (I am a young piano technician). Thank you so much for this input Paul. See I am always between "Don't ask for help, learn everything yourself" and "ask someone to take care of you like a mother". This video is the exact between: you show, now it's up to me to make it happen, and practice.
Thank you for the great video. I'm living on a remote island in Cambodia and a friend just came to visit from the UK. I had them bring a mitre box with saw and an adjustable straight edge like you used (as I can't get stuff like that here, or even a plane - I made one using your recessed plane video.)
I'm about to start making wooden toys for the local kids to show a better way than plastic junk they get where the heads and wheels fall off the dolls and cars within an hour and they end up rubbish on a beach. There's not a straight piece of wood to be found in the entire country, yet. :D
All your videos combined will help me in this task.
Wow... Cambodia, huh...
Okay, I don't know how much help this will be, but it's a nice little trick I use when I'm "off in the boonies" and worried about a square... Old timers (who taught me) call it the "3, 4, 5 trick"
Basically, when you use a carpentry square to make two straight lines (hopefully square) you mark the "origin" where they connect with a small tick-mark. Then measure along one of the lines for "three units" and make a mark. Then measure and mark "four units" along the other, and make a mark. From the "three unit" mark to the "four unit" mark should be "five units" as exactly precise as you're measuring and marking... AND that means the lines are square... no need for a machine-striaght board or plywood or anything to test the square...
AND it doesn't matter what "units" you're using. It works as well in metric as in "Imperial"... AND you can even multiply the measurements AS LONG as you multiply all three by the same number.
SO... 3,4,5 works, 6,8,10 works, 12,16,20 works... and so on.
That's useful, because larger squares and longer lines tend to be easier to make more precisely... but you need something to check.
Another neat trick, using a straight edge, you can make a line any length... Mark two spots where ever you wish along the line.
Find a string that's more than halfway as long as the distance between the two points, and tie it to your pencil and a peg or nail (nail like objects work too)... Set the peg to one mark, and stretch the string tight so you draw a wide arc between the two marks with your pencil (essentially improvising a geometric compass)... AND repeat this step from the other point.
Optimally, you want both arcs to cross over each other at the ends.
Next, take that straight edge and make a line that exactly connects the two places where the arcs crossed over, AND the original line.
1. The second line EXACTLY crosses the first EXACTLY half way between the two chosen points. If you managed the string-compass trick and kept it precise to both marks, this is perfect every time.
2. The two straight lines are EXACTLY 90 degrees (square) to each other. It's only as exact and precise as you are, and practice makes perfect and then easy... BUT this is the kind of nifty stuff that lets you layout perfectly square corners, and to bisect linear measurements exactly WITHOUT expensive and difficult to find measurement devices.
SO if you can find material enough to fit your needs, you can also build some of your own metrics, tools, and utensils for further advancing your work. Good luck and HAVE FUN... ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Thank you so much. I have a lot to try there. That's great help. As well as making small things like toys, and today working on a nesting box, we have made all our own shelves and some tables etc. That's going to be a big help.
The quality of tools here is pretty low, for example the chisels I bought start to rust five minutes after sharpening them so we keep them dabbed with used motor oil, and the saw too. Next home made tool will be a mallet following Peter's method after having watched a few videos. I have a piece of beach found rosewood that looks like a smaller version of mjolnir and should look nice when done.
@@rojodiver3344 You're certainly welcome... and I might (as you get time of course) recommend some work around string and knots... Maybe take a look at Essential Craftsman (channel on YT, too) and his video about "pro tips with string" (I think?)
The really neat part about string in your "essential measuring kit" is that you can scale up or down with it handily. Some of the knots take a bit of practice, but most are really easy and quick, too... The ancients did A LOT with the stuff for layouts and surveying.
I don't know that rusting in five minutes is necessarily a "quality" problem so much as a "salty air island" situation... Salt (sea water) eats EVERYTHING... (ex-Navy... so used to it)...
Old cooking oil can be slathered on them too... AND you can "force a patina" on most steel without too much trouble by slathering in mustard, ketchup, or most "vinegar-ish" sauces... The sticky nature of the sauce or condiment holds the vinegar to the steel... AND acetic acid in the vinegar forms an acetate coloring the metal dark gray or black...
If you can find it, phosphoric acid creates a somewhat more durable "phosphate" that resists weather and even helps against mechanical ablating (beating against wood and stuff)...
BUT in Cambodia, you may be lucky to find citric... even if you just stick them into old fruits for an hour or so... It's the acid-wash you want... and "red rust" is the bad stuff you're trying to avoid.
Hoping you all the best out there... I just try to offer what I can. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 I have to thank you once again. You're brilliant. I have more research to do now. Cheers.
@@rojodiver3344 Always welcome... Best of luck!
;o)
So nice to hear a lovely soft Midlands(?) accent on one of these videos. Thanks!
Always wondered how to do this. Thank you
This video actually was very insightful and philosophical. I subbed as soon as the video was done!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing that, good teacher
Thank you, Paul for a knowledge that's worth fatherly advice cuz I never had one beside me.
Thank you nice technique and lesson.
Thank you for the instruction video
Awesome teacher. I even cut a bagel 🥯 perfectly.
Thank you Sir, I wish someone had taught me this 45 years ago. Going to try it out tomorrow ☺
Love that chair in the background!
Thank you Sir.🎉
So one of the biggest problems I had when doing cuts like this was finishing my cuts. I would cut parallel to my bench as you did when you started. But then when I got to the bottom of the cut the vice was clamping against my cut and it was very difficult to finish.
What you did was flip the wood so it wasn't pressing on the cut. I saw that and felt like an idiot for not thinking of something so simple.
lol
Very good thankyou!
Thanks for this. I want to do a few woodworking projects, but I don't trust myself to use power tools safely nor do I have the space to operate bigger equipment. Naturally this leaves using a hand saw but I'm hopeless with them. I'll pick up a vice and give this a try.
Thanks, i've done a couple of bad cuts for a bench, but i think i've got i now. Learning from mistakes.
Thanks Paul.
There's much good advice here. I was pleased that Mr. Sellers made a point of saying that in fact the problem MAY be your saw. In addition to the basics--sharpness, even set and jointing--there are several other factors that could be mentioned, but I will just mention two that seem appropriate to the level Mr. Sellers is aiming at here. One is that if your teeth are set too wide and your kerf is therefore too wide your saw can wobble in the cut or simply lean to one side. Mr. Sellers points out that the walls of the cut are your guide, so if your saw is not being held upright by the walls, but leaning to one side or the other, you'll get drift. The other point is one my father told me over and over as I was learning (I'm 74--we really did use handsaws back then) ; "let the saw do the work." He meant, don't force it; there's no way it's going to be effortless. But being relaxed and focusing on guiding the saw rather than forcing it is very helpful. If your saw is sharp, the weight of the saw itself should be enough; you don't need to bear down, just move it back and forth. I don't know if it's true, but I've felt that pushing too hard against resistance will bend the saw a bit and cause drift. One other thing. Perhaps for purposes of demonstration, so the camera could take in what the saw was doing, Mr. Sellers was cutting at heights and angles I would find very uncomfortable. As he said, aligning your body correctly is very important--you are part of the "set up." Especially for anyone without Mr. Seller's skill and experience, I would think finding what is comfortable is a big step toward successful sawing.
Thank you for sharing 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Damn!! You are awesome. Thank you. I'm learning so much.
Thanks & hello from Plano, Illinois
Excellent explanation. This exactly the cut i need to make for garden furniture slats. New subscriber. Cheers.
Great tip for a common problem... for me anyway. Ty.
Thank you... you made that look easy. I could not even have cut straight across the grain on that piece of wood.
Wonderful
Great video thanks🤠👍
Thank you for sharing these techniques, you've helped me a lot. I still need a ton of practice though :)
Having watched many of your videos, Paul, as in this one, a key to success seems to be the regular reversal of the workpiece to cut from each side in turn. I know that for me, anyway, the tendency to try to bash on without 'wasting time' reversing the workpiece is why what often seems OK from the front is revealed as way off line at the back when the cut is finished. This does not apply only to sawing, but to other cutting actions, where taking 'the long way round' produces accurate results that make the time spent repositioning the workpiece well worth the effort.
Are you in the USA?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills!! Never get to old to learn!! I'm 82 and still learning!😊😊
Perfect!
Thank you !!!
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Man, I sometimes have a hard time cutting straight with a table saw! Hahah, great tip, I'll definitely try this!
Thanks for doing this! I’ve needed this skill for so long. I get tired of having to use the machine. I don’t like using machines to saw. They frighten me because almost everyone I or my dad know has gotten their finger in the blade. I always just let my dad do the cutting on a machine, but now, if-no, when-I master this skill, I will no longer need machines.
Also, would it be a possibility for you to upload a video on sharpening brace ‘n’ bits? We have some really old ones that are really dull and I’ll be needing them one of these days. I also have the brace, but I bought it old and rusty and I need to rebuild it.
amazing
Good to see all my hours at the snooker table weren't wasted. Practising how to move the wrist in a straight line while staying in line with the elbow and shoulder. Do carpenters make good billiard-players as well as billiard-tables?
I've found that the set of the teeth influence the straightness of a cut more than anything else. Teeth on a mitre saw that aren't set right will cause the blade to cut to one side, binding the blade in the cut the deeper you go. I've found that a quick swipe with a diamond file, maybe one or two strokes only, can solve many problems. Great video sir, as always.
Beautiful, that.
always useful, sir Paul, any lesson from your Majesty)))
Yes! to avoid a bad vibrations
Great Mr. Sellers! Wish you had shown us the split.
lovely
Thankyou for the helpful advice I always learn a lot from you I have always struggled with straight cuts .I have tried sharpening my saws and still cut crooked I think it may be the set in the teeth as well.Also wondering if you could get another camera in closer and direct to the line would be very helpful to see exactly what you are doing.
Paul I appreciate your videos making woodworking looks so easy for beginners like me. My only issue is i have absolutely no space for a bench and only have a foldable one like you used in your work bench videos. I'm gonna try making the 3 legged stool, any tips for using one of those foldable benches?
Thank you for covering this. It's one of the simple things they completely overlook in many D&T classes, along with laying your index finger along the saw to guide the cut & keep your arm in line. Back at school they taught me how to use an engineering lathe but not how to use a saw. Ridiculous.
Remember that the D&T teachers often only went to teacher's training college or uni straight from school and usually have no relationship with working in the field of industry or craft beyond that so you can't really expect too much in terms of practical ability or experience.
He makes using a saw look so easy
I haven't used a panel saw in decades, although not too long ago I bought three old saws at a flea market with the intention of refurbishing them. I have saw files and a saw set and I'm in the process of making a saw vise. One problem I had in the past was my saw would frequently vibrate while sawing. Having watched many of your videos I think that my problem was two-fold: a very dull saw (never sharpened after it left the factory) and improper body posture. I didn't know about aligning my upper body with the saw so I was probably shifted a little too far over in order to better see the line I was sawing too. I also frequently would drift away from the line and have to do corrections like you demonstrated to get back on the line. I'll probably refer back to this video after refurbishing my saws. Thank you Paul.
Setting the teeth a hair bit “too much” helped me avoid that same issue.
I personally had to learn with too much set...and as I got better “more familiar with the correct rhythm” I was able to start setting the teeth not only correctly...but slightly shy “where I prefer it now”
If you don’t want to put more set on the saw then paste wax would probably help with the same issue.
Of course I'm still working on filing and setting my saws accurately. So, I guess I'll know I've got it set and filed correctly if I ever get a straight line?
My grandfather also taught me to cut perpendicular to the wood, to watch the reflection on the saw blade. Hand sawing is a dying art. Glad your trying to keep it alive.
Actually I have problems rip cutting tenons. I haven't really mastered the technique. On the other hand I amaze myself with the accuracy of my crosscuts. I learned cross cutting from Paul. But for some reason good rip cuts elude me.
I only came because this looks extremely satisfying.
I find extending the index finger makes a huge difference at the start. Also body alignment
Putting up wooden baby gates. I work late at night. Hand saw is the only option for me. Thank you sir
Thanks! xxx
so i had all the right ideas a skills , just was going to fast and not turning the piece enough , good to know
I don't know if this is coincidence. But I really appreciate this.. I am going to get some more scrap-wood and start sawing stuff. heh..
Thanks again.
I have a whole lot of wood I am willing to let you cut. You can practice all day long and I won't charge you a dime....as long as your cuts can be within 1/4" or so. Lol.