How to achieve a neat finish?

29th February 2020


	How to achieve a neat finish?


	Shop for Saws


			Use the right saw for the job
			Generally, hand saws with more teeth per inch (15 or more approx.) will produce a neat finish. The higher the TPI, the neater the finish will be.

			Compared to saws with fewer teeth per inch, these saws tend to have smaller teeth and shallower gullets, designed to cut through material without tearing the fibres. However, because they saw less aggressively, they cut and remove less material with each stroke, so the cutting process takes longer.

			Ensure the teeth are in a usable condition
			A saw with blunt teeth will easily wander off course and ruin your workpiece. Likewise, broken or extremely bent teeth can snag the material, tearing the fibres and creating a rough edge. For information on how to check the blade before use, see the section: How to check and maintain a saw blade?

			Use masking tape
			A handy tip to help produce a neat finish is to place a strip of masking tape on the underside of your work surface, alongside the line you want to cut. The masking tape should hold any loose fibres together, preventing them from tearing away from the surface as you finish your cut.

			Use a backing piece
			If a neat finish is essential, you can place a piece of scrap material underneath the piece you want to cut.

			The backing piece supports any fibres which come loose during the sawing process, holding them against your workpiece and allowing the saw to slice through them. Without a backing piece, the saw could pull or tear the fibres, creating a rough finish.

			Score your line with a Stanley knife
			A rough finish is usually caused by the saw’s teeth tearing the material’s fibres and pulling them loose, creating a messy-looking cut. You can help prevent this by scoring along the line you want to cut with a sharp knife. You should use a knife without a serrated blade, such as a utility knife, in order to slice through the fibres.

			Score along the waste side of your line, only cutting a few millimetres in. It’s important to also score along the line on the underside of your material (the side on which the saw’s blade will emerge), as this is where splintering and tear-out are most likely to occur. The indentation made by the knife will also help to guide the saw blade when you make your first cut.


			If you don’t mind a rough finish…
			Generally speaking, hand saws with fewer teeth per inch (7 or less approx) will produce a rough finish.

			Compared to saws with more teeth per inch, they have larger teeth and deeper gullets, designed to cut quickly and aggressively, removing larger amounts of material with each stroke. For more information, see the section: What is saw TPI?