How and with what to cut plywood without chipping? Laser machine for cutting plywood. How to cut plywood - recommendations and instructions Which disc is better to cut plywood

It is believed that without professional tool high-quality wood cutting or sheet materials do not execute. Today we will talk about ways to perform a clean smooth cut without chips, on your own and without using expensive equipment and consumables.

Cutting tools and the mechanics of their work

If you do not take into account stationary sawing machines, alternatives for self made not so much. Among the available tools, we can offer circular and pendulum saws, commonly referred to as miter saws and jigsaws. It is also possible to perform a fairly high-quality cut using an angle grinder, on which a wood saw blade with pobedite teeth is installed. But this is not the most effective and, moreover, far from safe option.


In the process of cutting with any type of power tool, the working parts move at a very high speed, and therefore the mechanics of processing remain behind the scenes. However, understanding it is the key to getting a clean, chip-free edge. The simplest principle underlies the operation of pendulum saws. The cut is carried out with direct movement of the saw blade, and the size of the removed fragments completely depends on the size of the tooth and its setting.


Chips appear due to the inhomogeneity of the processed material, in particular due to the hard crust of laminated sheet materials or because the fibers solid wood have different densities. Chips can form with different sides products depending on the shape of the tooth, the feed force and the speed of movement of the working body. When working with a jigsaw, the appearance of chips is caused either by the fact that the teeth tear out large fragments from the reverse side, or by pushing through the top layer, during which it is not cut off, but breaks out in large fragments.


The operation of the teeth of a circular disk is in many ways similar to a jigsaw, with the only exception that their movement is directed strictly in one direction, and they move at a very high speed. Also a significant factor is the direction (angle) of the applied force: if the jigsaw blade moves strictly perpendicular to the surface, then the circular saw cuts at an arbitrary angle, depending on both the diameter of the disk and the thickness of the part. This can work to your advantage: the oblique immersion of the tooth contributes to more accurate cutting of chips, but with reverse side Due to the tangential movement of the cutting edges, quite large fragments can be torn out. By itself, circular saw You can only make a straight cut.

Selection of saw blades and blades

When cutting, cleanliness and processing speed are inversely dependent quantities. It is worth noting that chips on the cut will appear in any case, so the main task is to reduce their size to such a value that they can be easily eliminated by subsequent processing. The smaller the size of the tooth and the closer to right angle, under which the cutting edge touches the surface of the material. To select circular saw blade these are the two most important factors out of three.


The third can be called the setting value - the displacement of adjacent teeth, which can be easily determined by applying a ruler to them. To ensure a clean cut, the routing should be minimal, but do not forget that in this case, when trying to cut a thick board or sheet of plywood, the disk may simply jam or the end will burn from strong friction.

Jigsaw blades are more varied. For cutting without chipping, a series of clean-cutting saws are used, for example, BOSCH has a line of blades called CleanWood. Their main difference is their small size and lack of pronounced directionality of the teeth. They usually have the shape of an isosceles triangle and cut in both directions of movement.


Also, saws for clean cutting are distinguished by the almost complete absence of setting and the opposite direction of sharpening of adjacent teeth. In order to ensure the possibility of a figured cut with a small setting, the files have a very small width, which is why they become quite fragile.


For finishing cutting of sheet materials, blades designed to work with metal products. These files have smallest size teeth are from known ones, so the cut is performed slowly, but with the highest quality indicator. Due to the significant width of metal blades, finishing figured cuts can only be carried out with a significant bending radius, on average about 60–80 cm.


Please also note that dull teeth, which is typical for low-quality saw blades with a “mileage” of 3–5 meters, also leads to the formation of chips. Therefore, do not skimp when purchasing consumables if the quality of processing is really important to you.

Zero gap technique

The principle of finishing the sole is most often used by carpentry craftsmen. cutting tool, which consists in reducing the gap between the working body and the pressure platform. This is almost guaranteed to eliminate the effect of “breaking” the crust in top layer material.

Zero clearance is achieved by securing the cover plate to the tool base. The pad has only one narrow hole (or slot) that fits tightly to the cutting organ. Because of this, even with a high feed force, the teeth are guaranteed to cut off small chips and not turn out the chips in the upper layer of the part.


When using overlays, it is extremely important that they do not scratch or damage the surface of the part. Therefore, they are most often made from a material that is inferior in hardness to the material being processed, for example MDF or plasterboard. Unfortunately, such an overlay does not last long, which is why it has to be changed every 4–5 meters of the cut.


More durable linings can be made from sheet plastic (PVC, fluoroplastic), fiberglass or metal. In the latter case, the surface of the lining must be carefully polished and soft metals such as aluminum or duralumin must be used to reduce vibration.

Using adhesive tapes

The same principle can be used to protect back side cut material. Tape should be placed along the cutting line to protect against large fragments being torn out. Pasting surfaces is one of the few ways to ensure the cleanliness of a figured cut with a jigsaw. Unfortunately, masking tape not suitable for this in the best possible way due to its low strength.


The highest quality cut can be obtained by gluing the part with aluminum or fiberglass reinforced tape It should be wide enough to cover 15–20 mm on each side of the cutting line. The density of the sticker is also important: the tape must be pressed down well with a dry cloth swab and the formation of folds must be prevented by any means.


You should avoid tapes with very tenacious adhesive. During the tearing process, they can carry along small fibers and fragments of the laminated surface, dissected by microcracks that form during cutting. Also pay attention to how easily traces of glue are removed and whether the adhesive adheres well enough to work with rough materials such as unsanded plywood or OSB.

Ensuring a perfectly clean cut

For most parts, it is enough to reduce the chip size to 0.2–0.5 mm. Such small irregularities trim edge are not noticeable; if desired, they can be easily eliminated by chamfering with an emery block or covering wax pencil- proofreader. End grinding is also possible sandpaper, if a sufficient allowance was given during cutting.


However, even at home, it is possible to achieve cut quality comparable to the result of a cutting machine with two high-speed disks. This is only possible when the tool moves along a guide rail, or, in extreme cases, along a temporary stop bar.

First you need to make two cuts about 0.5 mm deep on both sides of the part to indicate the thickness of the cut. Along the edges of the cutting line, you need to scratch two grooves under an even ruler. This is done either with a segmented or oblique shoemaker's knife (for chipboard and uncoated wood), or with a sharply sharpened drill or pobedit cutter (for laminated materials).


The depth of the grooves should be at least half the thickness of the outer layer, which is non-uniform in relation to the main body of material. This method requires high precision in matching the grooves and the cutting line, but this is the only way to ensure a perfectly even cut end that does not require additional processing.

http://www.rmnt.ru/ - website RMNT.ru

Multilayer wood-based materials are widely used in various fields of construction, but can cause many problems in processing. The heterogeneous structure is easily deformed and susceptible to chipping if a low-quality tool is used in the process of cutting it. IN household During the next renovation, the question may well arise: how to cut plywood? The material is familiar, but it’s not so easy to get an even cut. Can help in solving this problem household tools, and special equipment - the choice is made depending on the volume of work and the characteristics of a particular plywood.

Features of working with a jigsaw

Perhaps this is the most affordable and practical tool for cutting plywood sheets. Ordinary manual jigsaw has a crescent-shaped frame structure and a nail file secured with screw clamps. To start the work process, the user only needs to fix the workpiece in a vice and pick up saw blade the required format. How to choose a jigsaw attachment for plywood? You can focus on metal sheets 11-13 cm long. If you plan to work a lot with thick sheets, then you can use wide files with large teeth. For figure cutting Narrow arc-shaped attachments with a small sharp tooth are suitable, which will allow you to make careful maneuvers during cutting. Now it’s worth considering a few tips on techniques for working with a jigsaw:

  • Sawing is done by pointing the file down. The jigsaw moves strictly vertically and with each downward movement the operator puts slight pressure on the file, moving it forward. Deviations from the vertical should be minimized, otherwise the risk of jamming and breakage will increase. metal sheet.
  • When creating figures from a plywood sheet, it is advisable to adhere to the following sequence: first of all, the inner circuit, and then external.
  • Correction of the cutting angle is done not by rotating the tool, but by changing the position of the workpiece in the vice.
  • During the cutting process, it is important to remember the temperature of the blade. Overheating the saw also increases the risk of it breaking. Therefore, during long working sessions, you should take short breaks.

Alternative cutting methods

At home, choosing a tool for high-quality processing veneered wood is small. If the question arises about how to cut plywood without a jigsaw and its electrical modifications, then you can turn to an angle grinder (angle grinder) or a circular saw. In both cases, it is important to remember that this technique works rougher than a jigsaw, so it is more often used for continuous processing of sheets.

The quality of the cut itself will depend on the size of the tooth and its alignment. The smaller the pitch, the better - especially in the case of a circular saw. But there are also advantages to this equipment. Unlike a jigsaw, a circular saw moves strictly in one direction, and the disk rotates at high speed. The angle of the applied force is also a plus: the slightly beveled plunge of the tooth ensures a neat cutting of the chips. The disadvantages include the complete exclusion of the possibilities of figured cutting - only straight cutting is performed.

How to work with an angle grinder?

Not the best good tool for working with wood materials in principle, but if you need to process 2-3 sheets with a simple cut, and there is nothing on the farm other than an angle grinder for cutting, then you can try this method. But it is very important to adhere to the following recommendations:

  • The sheet thickness should not exceed 4 cm.
  • Only special attachments can be used. How to cut plywood if you use a grinder? On the market you can find discs for cutting wood materials with side teeth that increase the size of the cut.
  • Operation is performed at the lowest speeds available for specific model Angle grinder.
  • Any distortions in the direction of the disk are excluded. You should also dispense with the tool locking function - this button will be needed in case of a wedge.

Cutting with adhesive tape

Very simple but effective method prevent large fragments from chipping on the surface of the plywood. It has nothing to do with the mechanics of cutting, but it is very useful as insurance for processed multilayer sheets. Masking tape is usually used to cover edges, but it is only suitable when working with soft cutting. How to cut plywood at home to minimize the likelihood of back chipping when gluing the surface? In this sense, a jigsaw is the safest, but if rigid tape protection is used, then you can use more powerful angle grinders or even a circular saw.

Zero gap cutting

Professional carpenters know the principle of modifying the supporting platform of a cutting tool, which is to minimize the distance from the clamping base to the sawing body. Reducing this gap also reduces the likelihood of breakage. upper layers blanks. How to cut plywood using the zero gap principle?

All tools with a working sole are suitable - from a jigsaw to a circular saw. Technically, this task is achieved with the help of a special lining, which is fixed to the support sole. Its presence reduces the size of the slot, due to which the working body will select smaller chips, keeping the workpiece surfaces intact.

What is the secret to cutting plywood perfectly?

All of the above cutting methods help to varying degrees to reduce possible damage from chipping. For example, they will eliminate the possibility of a large fragment breaking, leaving a maximum of a small defect up to 0.5 mm in size. This is often an acceptable result, but it can also be improved. How to cut plywood without chips and small irregularities in the cut edge?

To do this, use a fine-grained abrasive and wax. First, the working surface is sanded along the line of the future cut, after which it is covered with a wax pencil. If you additionally use guide rails during the cutting process, then the chances of getting even a small chip will be reduced to zero.

Application of Laser Plywood Cutting Machine

This professional equipment, which is used in carpentry and woodworking shops. The accuracy of laser cutting of plywood is higher than on most machines furniture factories. The operator of such an installation literally performs jewelry work with an accuracy of up to 0.1 mm. The operating principle of a laser plywood cutting machine is based on light radiation, which is generated by a gas tube. A powerful luminous flux upon contact with the surface provides the effect of evaporation of wood particles without direct mechanical contact. The edges are not just smooth, but almost polished. But such equipment is not cheap - in the initial segment it costs about 50-70 thousand rubles.

Conclusion

The choice of tool has a significant impact on the quality of the cut, but not the only one. The formation of chips also depends on the characteristics of the material being processed - its density, quality of coating, veneer thickness, etc. How to cut plywood to minimize Negative influence its same structure? To varying degrees, each of the tools discussed can help achieve the desired cut. Before work, it is recommended to experiment with test sheets of plywood, the characteristics of which correspond to the target workpiece. In particular, it is worth trying processing with different parameters in terms of degree of pressure, amount of feed force, etc.

Despite the huge range of power tools, new models are appearing that perform certain jobs better. If, for example, you cut plywood, laminate or chipboard with a large circular saw, it is difficult due to the size of the saw, since Circular Saw, universal tool and it can cut workpieces up to 55mm thick.

A small circular saw is another matter, especially when you are cutting only plywood, which cuts perfectly laminated chipboard, for furniture, and with excellent quality I drank it away.

Such a tool appeared in 2014, from BOSCH, circular saw PKS 16 Multi. In appearance, this tool looks more like a jigsaw, but it is a mini circular saw that can be used for cutting various materials, up to 16mm thick. This tool fits perfectly in one hand and weighs only 1.9 kg. With a power of 400 watts, the speed of the circular saw is 6400 rpm. For sawing various materials, the kit includes three saw blades with a diameter of 65 mm, one diamond and two with soldered teeth.

Of course, it cannot be said that this is the only tool of this type, since there are similar analogues, including the Chinese mini circular saw from Aliexpress, the universal circular saw Rhythm UPD-900 and many others. But such a mini circular saw is well suited for home repairs, carpentry, or practicing your favorite hobby.

With such a saw, you can in a matter of moments get a cut of any desired shape: straight, curved or angular, and with use, the accuracy of the seam improves.

Moreover, a diamond blade can cut hard materials. The cutting depth is adjustable, so you can start cutting in the middle of the sheet, which makes it possible to make cuts for kitchen sinks and other cuts in the middle of a sheet of plywood or chipboard.
Author RVT

2Minkusha:
> > > Plywood?
Birch plywood FSF Sveza.
Format, mm:1220x2440
The grade is quite decent, I don’t remember, 2 or 3, polished on both sides.
http://www.sveza.ru/catalog.asp?m2id=3455&m3id=3486#m3494
> > > And the Thickness?
12 mm

> > > Probably mark it out, and then use a ruler
Absolutely right. I quote my first message:
Remont_Forever> > > I carried out the ideal straight line using laser level, ruler and ballpoint pen.
Remont_Forever> > > sawed along the drawn straight line

> > > How long is the cut? 2400mm?
2440mm
> > > What is the accuracy - fractions of a mm?
The line was drawn with a ballpoint pen. The line width is approximately half a millimeter. The jigsaw was guided exactly along the line (so that the line was approximately in the middle of the file). But very slowly. After cutting, no traces of the ink line were visible on either side. Visually, the final cut was absolutely straight, no waves were visible.
By the way, the factory edge of the plywood turned out to be crooked (a 2-3 millimeter wave at the specified length), so I had to saw it off too.

In two weeks we'll start working on the floor, that's when we'll have to cut down the plywood. You've got me so intrigued that I'll take my husband's jigsaw away and try to saw it myself. Moreover, super quality is not required there.

> > > technology for drawing lines using a laser level

We take the UL-S level (see VDSiR 36-2004, pp. 135-136). Turn on vertical markings. UL-S builds a vertical line on the wall, respectively, on a sheet of plywood that lies in front of the wall - just a straight line.
We place UL-S and plywood relative to each other so that this line runs where we need it. In the center of the laser line we place lines with a ballpoint pen or a sharpened pencil every 20-30 cm. We connect the outlined lines with a single thin line using a thin metal ruler. Turn off UL-S. We're sawing.

It is especially convenient to mark UL-Som on curves brick walls vertical lines for beacons for subsequent plastering. This, of course, without a ruler, I just move the pencil along the laser line, and that’s it.

> > > Or did you guide the cutting tool along the laser beam?
No. We tried it at first, but it was inconvenient. The file reflects laser beams in all directions, the laser hits the eyes, etc.

> > > Or do you have a laser marking the surface?
Unfortunately no. If I came across one like this, one that marks ANY surface, and hits 2 planes, and for 2,700 rubles... I would buy it right away. I'm afraid, however, that such things have not yet been invented.

Dear masters and experts!
To be honest, I don’t see any deep professionalism in sawing plywood. You need a steady hand, accuracy, patience + some experience. I don’t understand what the bazaar is actually about.
This is still not ventilation, for example, to calculate.

I think about what was the goal of the topic initiator. Do you want to get some tricky technique that allows you to quickly saw smoothly without showing patience and accuracy?

Or find out about a tool like magic wand, who will make a neat cut himself, in the absence of a steady hand from the owner?
Or what...?

It is believed that without professional tools it is impossible to make high-quality cuts of wood or sheet materials. Today we will talk about ways to make a clean, even cut without chips, on your own and without using expensive equipment and consumables.

Cutting tools and the mechanics of their work

Apart from stationary sawing machines, there are not many alternatives for manual work. Among the available tools, we can offer circular and pendulum saws, commonly referred to as miter saws and jigsaws. It is also possible to perform a fairly high-quality cut using an angle grinder, on which a wood saw blade with pobedite teeth is installed. But this is not the most effective and, moreover, far from safe option.

In the process of cutting with any type of power tool, the working parts move at a very high speed, and therefore the mechanics of processing remain behind the scenes. However, understanding it is the key to getting a clean, chip-free edge. The simplest principle underlies the operation of pendulum saws. The cut is carried out with direct movement of the saw blade, and the size of the removed fragments completely depends on the size of the tooth and its setting.

Chips appear due to the heterogeneity of the processed material, in particular due to the hard crust of laminated sheet materials or because the fibers of solid wood have different densities. Chips can form on different sides of the product depending on the shape of the tooth, the feed force and the speed of movement of the working element. When working with a jigsaw, the appearance of chips is caused either by the fact that the teeth tear out large fragments from the reverse side, or by pushing through the top layer, during which it is not cut off, but breaks out in large fragments.

The operation of the teeth of a circular disk is in many ways similar to a jigsaw, with the only exception that their movement is directed strictly in one direction, and they move at a very high speed. Also a significant factor is the direction (angle) of the applied force: if the jigsaw blade moves strictly perpendicular to the surface, then the circular saw cuts at an arbitrary angle, depending on both the diameter of the disk and the thickness of the part. This can work to your advantage: the oblique immersion of the tooth contributes to more accurate cutting of chips, but on the reverse side, due to the tangential movement of the cutting edges, quite large fragments can be torn out. Of course, you can only make a straight cut with a circular saw.

Selection of saw blades and blades

When cutting, cleanliness and processing speed are inversely dependent quantities. It is worth noting that chips on the cut will appear in any case, so the main task is to reduce their size to such a value that they can be easily eliminated by subsequent processing. The smaller the size of the tooth and the closer to the right angle at which the cutting edge touches the surface of the material, the smaller the chip size. When choosing a circular saw blade, these are the two most important factors out of three.

The third can be called the amount of setting - the displacement of adjacent teeth, which can be easily determined by applying a ruler to them. To ensure a clean cut, the routing should be minimal, but do not forget that in this case, when trying to cut a thick board or sheet of plywood, the disk may simply jam or the end will burn from strong friction.

Jigsaw blades are more varied. For cutting without chipping, a series of clean-cutting saws are used, for example, BOSCH has a line of blades called CleanWood. Their main difference is their small size and lack of pronounced directionality of the teeth. They usually have the shape of an isosceles triangle and cut in both directions of movement.

Also, saws for clean cutting are distinguished by the almost complete absence of setting and the opposite direction of sharpening of adjacent teeth. In order to ensure the possibility of a figured cut with a small setting, the files have a very small width, which is why they become quite fragile.

For finishing cutting of sheet materials, blades designed for working with metal products can also be used. These files have the smallest tooth size known, so the cut is performed slowly, but with the highest quality index. Due to the significant width of metal blades, finishing figured cuts can only be carried out with a significant bending radius, on average about 60-80 cm.

Please also note that dull teeth, which is typical for low-quality saw blades with a “mileage” of 3-5 meters, also leads to the formation of chips. Therefore, do not skimp when purchasing consumables if the quality of processing is really important to you.

Zero gap technique

Carpentry craftsmen most often use the principle of modifying the sole of a cutting tool, which consists in reducing the gap between the working tool and the pressure pad. This is almost guaranteed to eliminate the effect of “breaking” the crust in the top layer of the material.

Zero clearance is achieved by securing the cover plate to the tool base. The pad has only one narrow hole (or slot) that fits tightly to the cutting organ. Because of this, even with a high feed force, the teeth are guaranteed to cut off small chips and not turn out the chips in the upper layer of the part.

When using overlays, it is extremely important that they do not scratch or damage the surface of the part. Therefore, they are most often made from a material that is inferior in hardness to the material being processed, for example MDF or plasterboard. Unfortunately, such an overlay does not last long, which is why it has to be changed every 4-5 meters of the cut.

More durable linings can be made from sheet plastic (PVC, fluoroplastic), fiberglass or metal. In the latter case, the surface of the lining must be carefully polished and soft metals such as aluminum or duralumin must be used to reduce vibration.

Using adhesive tapes

Using the same principle, you can protect the back side of the material being cut. Tape should be placed along the cutting line to protect against large fragments being torn out. Pasting surfaces is one of the few ways to ensure the cleanliness of a curved cut with a jigsaw. Unfortunately, masking tape is not the best choice for this due to its low strength.

The best quality cut can be obtained by covering the part with aluminum or fiberglass-reinforced tape. It should be wide enough to cover 15-20 mm on each side of the cutting line. The density of the sticker is also important: the tape must be pressed down well with a dry cloth swab and the formation of folds must be prevented by any means.

You should avoid tapes with very tenacious adhesive. During the tearing process, they can carry along small fibers and fragments of the laminated surface, dissected by microcracks that form during cutting. Also pay attention to how easily traces of glue are removed and whether the adhesive adheres well enough to work with rough materials such as unsanded plywood or OSB.

Ensuring a perfectly clean cut

For most parts, it is enough to reduce the chip size to 0.2-0.5 mm. Such small irregularities in the cut edge are not noticeable; if desired, they can be easily eliminated by chamfering with an emery block or covering them with a wax corrector pencil. It is also possible to grind the end with sandpaper if a sufficient allowance was given during cutting.

However, even at home, it is possible to achieve cut quality comparable to the result of a cutting machine with two high-speed disks. This is only possible when the tool moves along a guide rail, or, in extreme cases, along a temporary stop bar.

First you need to make two cuts about 0.5 mm deep on both sides of the part to indicate the thickness of the cut. Along the edges of the cutting line, you need to scratch two grooves under an even ruler. This is done either with a segmented or oblique shoemaker's knife (for chipboard and uncoated wood), or with a sharply sharpened drill or pobedit cutter (for laminated materials).

The depth of the grooves should be at least half the thickness of the outer layer, which is non-uniform in relation to the main body of material. This method requires high precision in matching the grooves and the cutting line, but this is the only way to ensure a perfectly even cut end that does not require additional processing.