How to Select the Right Sawing Tools for Wooden Gifts
There are several ways to cut large wooden gifts, which can be categorized into hand tools and power tools, so you can just buy tools for different budgets and combinations. In this post we will focus on two types of hand tools, bench vise and hand saw.
Vise
A vise is a tool that is fixed to a tabletop and clamps the wood to stabilize it. When you choose to pay attention to two dimensions, one is the clamping thickness of the base plate, take a straightedge to measure the thickness of your desktop. Below the maximum clamping limit of the rod, in your desktop can be clamped within the limit on it.
The second is the maximum opening of the jaws, to be able to clamp the maximum thickness of your wood. Generally, we handcraft wooden gifts and use the smallest size vise we can find. In the position of the jaws, that is, where the wood is clamped, you can stick a layer of small leather pads, because linden wood is also relatively soft, clamped will be easy to leave clamp marks on the wood so a calfskin as a cushion is very good.
Of course, if you're making a larger size piece, it's okay to go with a larger jaw. This vise, for example, will also clamp wood more consistently when the jaws are wider, and the maximum jaws may be 13cm in the end so you can clamp larger, thicker, and wider pieces of wood.
These larger vices are usually more expensive, so for beginners who don't want to spend more of their budget, we recommend starting with the smallest vise, which will be enough for you to practice carving wooden gifts.
Hand Saw
Moving on to hand saws, a fast saw with fine teeth will make for more efficient cutting. There are many options for hand saws, and there are two main types.
The first is the clamp-backed one, which means that the back of the saw blade is clamped. The blade of a clip-back saw is fixed and immobile, so it will cut more consistently, but there is a requirement for the thickness of the cut, and it won't be able to cut up to this point on the clip-back.
A saw without a clamped back can cut any thickness of wood, and the wood can pass through the area as shown in the picture.
Both saws can be used to cut small pieces of wood, but please do not purchase a flat cut saw such as the one shown. Flat cut saws are used to cut the tenon between two board splices, these saws are very soft and cannot cut through thick wood, so they are not suitable for use in making handmade wooden gifts.
To summarize
This post has given you an explanation of two common tools for manually cutting wood blocks to help wood carving beginners better choose the cutting tool that works for them. We will continue to bring tutorials on wood block cutting in the future, thanks for your support.
