As a beginner, I try to figure out my way to cut a straight line with hand saws. Hand saws are inexpensive, quiet and safe to start out. Several times of practice is enough to cut straight with them by yourself.
During this self-learning woodworking process, I’ve found a number of very useful resources and learned a lot from woodworkers/youtubers. I’ll link some of my favorites at the end of this post. Here Paul Sellers and his website (common woodworking) are highly recommended for beginners on woodworking knowledge and skills about hand tools.
Contents
- Pick your hand saws
- Mark the cut
- Start the cut
- Continue the cut
- Start over from the other end
- My favorite woodworkers/YouTubers
Pick your hand saws
Choose the right saws: Crosscut VS. Ripcut saws
According to the cutting direction against the wood grains, there are two types of saws: crosscut saws and ripcut saws. Crosscut saws are to cut wood across its grains, while ripcut saws are to cut wood along its grains.
I illustrate cutting a straight line using hand saws on a half-inch plywood board. To deal with the mixed grains in plywood, I need crosscut saws for this task.
Choose your hand saws: Push VS. Pull saws
According to the cutting direction of saw teeth, there are two types of hand saws, push saws (or western saws) and pull saws (or Japanese saws). With a push saw, we cut wood while pushing the saw blade forward. With a pull saw, we cut the wood while pulling the saw blade back towards ourselves.
There is no better or worse between the two types, but a matter of personal preference. I think it’s better to try them out yourself to choose the right saws for you! I currently own three pull saws and one push saw, so pull saws will help me with my cutting this time.
Start with a back saw
The back saw is a type of saws with reinforced metal edge on its back, which can prevent its blade from being distorted. It is designed for cutting fine lines.
As a beginner, I highly recommend a back saw to start the cutting. It has generally a small body, light weight, a thin blade, and a back edge. All the features a saw can offer to help you control the direction while making the cut.
Mark the cut
For beginners, I recommend to start with S4S (surfaced on 4 sides) solid wood boards or plywood boards. They have flat surfaces and right corners. I’m cutting a 12 inches by 12 inches half-inch plywood board this time.
Let’s practice with a right-angled cut to the board. You can mark the cut by drawing straight lines on its surfaces with a pencil and a ruler. A woodworking square would be very useful to transfer a line to its vertical side.
Once you are sure about the mark, you can reinforce it with a marker or even a knife. Knife mark at corner is recommended because it provides a shallow but accurate position for the saw blade later.
Start the cut
Always remember to wear the safety gloves before using a hand saw. Fasten the wood board to your workbench or a table or a saw horse.
Finally, we are ready to cut now. Put your saw blade in the knife mark on the corner. A tip here is to use the other thumb to support on your saw blade. This way helps you control the angle and the depth while you are making the cut.
Start cutting with fast but shallow movements back and forth. Try best to keep the saw blade vertical to the surface until it starts cutting the opposite side.
Continue the cut
Once the beginning cut is established, try not to deliberately twist the saw blade to change the cutting direction. Instead, just continue cutting while keep the saw blade in the established cut.
Tip number one is to utilize the gravity and adjust your cutting angle gradually. Take the pull saw for example, I fasten the plywood board vertical to my workbench, and pull the saw downward along with the direction of gravity. Sometimes I even squat down or get down on one knee to follow the sawing movement.
Tip number two is to cut in a small angle against the surface while keep the saw blade in the established cut. This helps keep your cutting along the right direction. And it’s kind of like making a precut on the surface.
Tip number three is to speed up by change the saw direction to vertical to the board afterwards. I find myself cutting much faster this way along the precut mark.
Start over from the other end
When you find your cut drifting away from your mark and cannot get it back on track, or when you simply already cut it halfway through, you can consider starting over from the other end. It’s much more difficult to adjust the direction in the middle of the cutting when you are already drifting away from your mark.
Try to avoid perfectionism
The cut would always come out not perfectly straight!
However, we can always refine it later with a variety of methods and tools.
Don’t worry. You already did a very good job! Just dump the dumb perfectionism.
My favorite woodworkers and their YouTube channels:
Paul Sellers: https://www.youtube.com/@Paul.Sellers
Wood by Wright: https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodByWright2
Custom 3X3: https://www.youtube.com/@3x3CustomTamar