Coping With a Broken Saw
Cason t -
Hello and welcome back to my blog!
It is always best to prepare for problems that may arise, but this one caught me a bit off guard. More on that later, though. First, I want to update you all on what I’ve been up to. Lately, I’ve been working diligently on making dovetails and have just completed my first attempt at creating the border of the board. As I had more experience with making the dovetails, I better understood the process and I now feel pretty good with making them.
Since the essence of my work lies in the process, I’d love to take you all through each step of making the board. To make the actual dovetail, I mark the areas that will be cut out. At the edge of the wood, I measure a 1/2in from the edge and then 1 1/2 in down I mark it 7/8in from the edge. After connecting the two marks and repeating on the other side, you get what the image shows. The shaded areas being the parts that will be cut out.
The image below shows one of the notches cut out, which was done only using the coping saw.
The image below shows the other notch cut out, which was primarily done with a chisel, only using the saw to ensure the wood didn’t split. While the side using the saw is cleaner and more precise, the side using the chisel went by a lot faster, and was admittedly more fun to do.
After completing the tail of the dovetail joint, the next part is to make the section that will hold the tail. To do this, the tail is placed on the other board, where the shape of the tail is then traced onto the other board. This will ensure the tail will fit into the eventual recess.
After tracing the shape, I extend the lines 1 1/2in down the board and mark the area that needs to be removed. The colored area is what will become the recess and the notches that hold the tail are called pins. I will say this part of the process was the most labor intensive for me and where I spent a majority of the time. I would begin with cutting along the sides to isolate the block that needs to be removed, but then there is a bit of a problem, how do I cut out the block? I can’t just turn the saw sideways and start cutting, I could if I had a wire saw, but not with a coping saw. I can’t really use the chisel as I’d have to cut against the grain. So what ended up doing was cutting back and forth. In reference to the image, I would start somewhere in either top corner and cut the corresponding bottom corner. Then I cut down the chunk piece by piece. Another thing that made it more difficult is that one side has more being cut out than the other, like in the image where it tapers off towards the back.
This part is also where the problem occurred. One moment I’m sawing away at the chunk, the next I hear a ping—now I’m just sawing the air: the coping saw broke. It had been a thought I had since I first saw the saw, as with the smaller blade comes with the trade-off of being weaker. While it is very inconvenient, I’m glad I was not injured in the incident from the smaller bit of the saw flinging out.
And after repeating the process three more times, I had enough to form the border. Thankfully, the saw chose the best time to break, snapping on the final cut out of the pins. Though it’s sad, the saw served me well in refining my skills, and I shall carry its legacy in the completion of the final board. See you all next week!
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