Wood Working

Tips For Cutting Plywood for use in your Woodworking Projects

Here are some tips to use when cutting plywood for your woodworking projects.

First you want to avoid cross cutting.  This is because plywood has a
tendency to chip when you cut across its grain.  Make your cut with
the grain and you will reduce chipping.  Be sure to choose the right
blade too.  Blades are specially manufacturer for different purposes
and jobs.  Choose a blade that is the best match for the job you are
doing.  All those things that go into the blade such as the width,
angle and number of teeth all have an impact on how it cuts.  If you
are like me sometime you get lazy with your wood working and figure
you will just make the cut with the blade that is already on your saw.
 While this will save you a minute initially it can cost you time and
money if you end up being forced to cut another piece of wood because
you were too lazy to switch blades.

A good idea is the score the cut first by running plywood through the
saw and removing only a small amount of wood.  When you do the next
cut it will be a much cleaner cut.  Placing masking tap over the cut
line will help keep the fibers on the edge of the plywood from pulling
up.  Using double stick tape you can also attach a backing panel which
will end up taking most of the damage.

When using a table saw cut with the best face up.  If you are using a
circular saw it is the opposite – cut with the best face down.  You
can also use a router with a straight bit to cut a nice clean line.  A
straight edge and a router can combine to provide a clean line.

If you really want the ultimate plywood cutting solution for your
woodworking projects you can buy a panel scoring setup.  Some saws can
be fitted with a plywood panel scoring attachment that consists of a
smaller blade the scores the surface before it reaches the main
cutting blade.  This is a great choice to get good cuts when working with
plywood and I highly recommend you choose this option if you work
often with plywood.

I hope these tips gave you some good ideas on how to make your
woodworking projects easier to complete. I recommend you pick up this
collection of thousands of woodworking plans: