How To Cut Chipboard Without Chips With A Circular Saw

Electric jigsaw

In order to make an even cut without damaging the laminated layer, you will need to take a jigsaw file, in which the size of the teeth will be the smallest. It is advisable to use a jigsaw for cutting small-sized sections of chipboard. Jerks and excessive pressure during work should be avoided. The feed speed of the cutting blade at the tool should be selected as minimum.

Cutting rules

Laminated chipboard is made from waste from sawn hardwood and coniferous species, while the plate is lightweight and is used for the manufacture of furniture structures. Most home furniture makers prefer laminated particle board when choosing raw materials for furniture making. This material is relatively inexpensive, and in outlets there is always a wide variety of colors and textures to choose from. The difficulty in working with chipboard is that it is very difficult to saw off a part of the sheet of the required size due to the fact that the fragile laminated layer creates cracks and chips at the sawing site. Knowledge of some of the techniques used in work helps to cope with this task.

To cut laminated chipboard, you need to arm yourself with a saw with fine teeth.

For an accurate and high-quality performance of sawing work, you must act in a certain sequence.

• On the chipboard sheet, you need to outline the cutting line, where to glue the paper adhesive strip tightly. The tape will prevent the saw teeth from crushing the lamination layer during the sawing process.
• With the help of an awl or a knife blade, a groove with a depression is made along the mowing line. Thus, we cut through a thin layer of lamination in advance, simplifying our task during sawing. Moving along this groove, the saw blade will move along a tangential plane, while cutting deep layers of wood-shaving material.
• When cutting, it is recommended to keep the saw blade at an acute angle relative to the working plane of the plate.
• If the sawing work will be carried out using an electric tool, the feed speed of the cutting blade should be kept to a minimum so that the saw cannot vibrate or bend.
• After sawing off, the cut of the workpiece must be processed first with a file, and then with sandpaper. The cut must be processed with movements from the center to the edge of the workpiece.

To protect the cut point on the workpiece from further chips or cracks, it is closed by applying melamine adhesive tape, or end edges are fixed, which can have a T-shaped or C-shaped appearance.

How and what to cut the chipboard without chips?

1. Cutting rules
2. Materials and tools
3. Electric jigsaw
4. Hand saw
5. Circular saw
6. Electric milling cutter
7. How to cut correctly?

The abbreviation laminated chipboard should be understood as a laminated chipboard, which consists of natural wood waste mixed with a polymer adhesive, and has a lamination in the form of a monolithic film consisting of several layers of paper impregnated with resin. The lamination process is carried out under production conditions under a pressure of 28 MPa and at a high temperature regime, reaching 220C. As a result of such processing, a very durable glossy coating is obtained, which can have various color shades and is highly resistant to mechanical damage and moisture.

Hand saw

This hand tool is used in combination with a metal blade, as it has the smallest teeth. Before work, a paper sticky tape must be glued to the cut site, which protects the lamination layer from damage. The hand saw blade must be held at an angle of 3035, this position reduces the likelihood of chipping on the material. The movements of the hacksaw blade should be smooth, without pressure on the blade.

Circular saw

This power tool consists of a small work table and a rotating toothed disc. A circular saw cuts a chipboard much faster and better than an electric jigsaw. During the sawing process, the saw is turned on at low speed. In this case, chips may appear on the opposite side of the saw teeth.

Electric milling cutter

It is a hand-held type of power tool that is used to saw and drill wood-based panels. Before starting work in laminated chipboard, using a hand jigsaw, make a small cut, retreating from the marking contour by 34 mm. The sawing process uses several cutter blades and its bearing device, which regulates the cutting depth. It is not so easy to use a cutter, so you need to have some skill with this tool to cut the slab. The movement of the cutter is quite fast, and there is a possibility of making an uneven cut.

The use of hand tools is advisable in the manufacture of single products from laminated chipboard. For mass production, it is advisable to purchase format-cutting equipment.

Using a hacksaw

Sawing with a hacksaw at home is quite difficult. First, you need to cut the measuring line with a knife and glue tape on it. This will protect the top layer from damage. Aim the tool at an angle of 30 degrees. Gently, without strong pressure, move the hacksaw back and forth. To cut chipboard without chipping with a hacksaw at home, choose devices with the finest teeth. In case of damage, the place of cutting must be passed with a file, guiding it from the edge to the center. Finally, rub with sandpaper (fine-grained) and hide the defects under a flexible profile.

Using a router

Milling cutter power tool, for manual woodworking. Suitable for grooving, curving, edging and drilling. Before using it, a sheet of wood is sawn with a jigsaw, stepping back 3 mm from the marking. It is necessary to cut with a milling cutter together with a bearing, which forms the depth of cut to the required level. This is a laborious process that only experienced specialists can do. There is a high probability of crookedly cutting the board.

How to cut chipboard without chips at home

Chipboard chipboard. It is used in the manufacture of furniture and decoration. Affordable price is the main feature. In modern wood production, laminated boards are used. They are made from coniferous and deciduous-wood materials. They are distinguished by their strength and ease of processing. Incorrect cutting process can lead to breakage and cracks. To avoid this, you should know what to do to cut chipboard without chips at home.

Sawing with a panel saw

The workpiece is placed on the table and fixed in a stationary state. The necessary markings are made on the sheet and include the saw unit. When the disc reaches a sufficient speed, the table moves forward along with the wooden plates and hits the disc.

• Tile position;
• Cut depth;
• Cutting angle.

Chipboard cutting machines are divided into 3 types:

1. Lightweight for 5 hours of continuous work;
2. Average up to 10 hours;
3. Heavy up to 20 hours.

What the cutting machine consists of:

• The base is the mount on which the entire mechanism rests. A heavy bed will add stability to the instrument and eliminate vibration. This is important for a quality cut.
• The saw unit consists of 2 flat metal discs. The first one pre-saws the slab, and the second one finally cuts through it.
• Work tables. Three take part in the process at once. The first is for positioning the unit, the second is for feeding the sawn-off plates (movable), the third is for supporting the sawn-off parts.
• The carriage allows the movable table to move. In this case, the workpiece is fixed with a stop and rulers in the required position.

Undercut sawing

The process requires a guide rail. It is fixed on the board with clamps. Trimming is carried out according to the markings. The tire is installed along the mowing line, and the cut is made 10 mm deep. The second cut is made through. With this method, there will be no chips on both sides, since the laminate has already been cut on the underside.

Some elements used in design ideas are not cut straight, but curved. In this case, a mixed type of chipboard cutting is used.

Circular saw

The tool is a table with a toothed disk for chipboard. Among the craftsmen, it is called a circular saw. Cuts through wood better than a jigsaw. A good chipping-free result is possible by sketching the guide lines and securing the circular saw to the board. Chips should not appear at the point where the saw cuts into the plate. But the opposite side can be cut with fragments.

What else do you need to know?

When it is planned to saw off everything without chips on one side, it is permissible to use saws with both upper and lower teeth. Most craftsmen prefer small, straight-toothed files. Such devices chip less material, but at the same time they work pretty well. After the saw cut, it is best to process the ends with emery stretched over even bars. If there is no ready-made crayon of a suitable color, you can mix different crayons, like paints in the artist’s palette, and get a new color.

To cut without errors and, moreover, quickly, you must always take into account the brand markings. There is no generally binding designation standard yet, but almost all firms strictly follow the classification developed by Bosch specialists. Or at least indicate it along with their own abbreviations and terms. For cutting wood and wood-based products, CV files (sometimes referred to as HCS) are well suited.

Some inscriptions indicate in which mode the tool works optimally:

Basic a simple blade for high quality clean cuts;

Speed device, the teeth of which are set apart (this allows you to cut faster);

Clean linen that has not been cut (usually gives the cleanest cut).

If the workpiece is relatively thick, preferably a saw blade with large incisors that have not been set, then there will be minimal vertical drift. The longitudinal (in relation to the fibers) cut is most often made with helical saws. For transverse, a straight blade is better. When you plan to make a blank for furniture, it is advisable to choose a less productive, but more accurate tool. Since most of the saws now produced cut the material when retracted, the workpiece will need to be processed from the inside out.

How to cut a chipboard with a jigsaw without chips?

Laminated chipboard is one of the most common materials used in the independent manufacture of furniture. You can talk about its advantages and disadvantages for a long time. But it is much more important to learn how to saw chipboard with a jigsaw without chips.

Features and recommendations

Experts and connoisseurs advise doing this kind of work with electric jigsaws, just because an ordinary hand hacksaw is too rough. It doesn’t cut the material straight enough. The correct sequence of steps is as follows:

Preparation of tools (ruler, jigsaw, measuring tape, awl or other sharp device for drawing on chipboard);

Addition of these tools (if necessary) with a square for laying right angles;

Measuring the desired part (with a margin of 0.2 cm so that you can fit);

Drawing a line along the ruler;

Actually, the cut along the laid mowing line;

Finalization of the saw cut with sandpaper;

With very poor quality of the end face, rubbing it with fine, similar in tonality to chipboard.

Completing of the work

When the file is selected, you still need to properly saw the laminated board at home. Experts recommend cutting along a guide (a rail clamped in clamps will do). If you use a new, unworn blade, you can cut the chipboard as cleanly as with a circular saw. It is advisable to turn on the jigsaw at the lowest speed possible. This will significantly increase the resource of each file used.

The canvases themselves are placed at right angles to the sole of the jigsaw. The easiest way to adjust the angle is with a square or protractor. Important: the straight line passing through the cutting edge of the tool must be parallel to the rigidly fixed part of the jigsaw. It is recommended to use special inserts to reduce the chance of splitting. But in order for them to work more efficiently, they usually cut the laminate layer on the side where the blade will come out.

For how to saw chipboard with a jigsaw without chips, see the following.

How to cut plywood without chipping with a hacksaw?

For this, the material must be securely attached to the workbench. It is also recommended to process the place of the future cut along the entire length:

• With PVA glue, using a brush 12 cm wide (sawing can be started after it is completely dry);
• With a sharp knife, making two parallel grooves.

To speed up the process, PVA can be replaced with a sticker of electrical tape or masking tape.

When choosing the option, two grooves are applied with a sharp knife, under a metal ruler, in three steps. The cut is made between parallel lines to prevent chipping. The load of the hacksaw blade must fall on the plane of the plywood sheet.

How to cut plywood without chipping with a jigsaw?

There are several factors to consider when working with such a layered material. Including this:

• Selection of tools with fine teeth and the minimum size of their setting;
• Feeding the cutting blade at a low speed and at right angles to the plane of the processed sheet;
• Sawing across the veneer grain.

The problem of how to cut plywood without chipping with a jigsaw was partially solved by the tool manufacturer Bosch. They have a range of special cleaning blades CleanWood.

Feature of such products:

• Small size of teeth;
• Lack of their pronounced focus;
• Their minimal wiring.

If it is problematic to purchase CleanWood, then you need to use a blade for cutting metal.

When cutting material with an electric jigsaw, it is not recommended to work by weight, but only on a special workbench table. Otherwise, skew is inevitable and the cutting blade may break.

How to cut plywood without chips?

Plywood is several layers of wood veneer, bonded to one another with an adhesive. If you do not follow the technology of cutting such a material, then the teeth of the cutting blade will tear off pieces of the upper layer. Flaws are obtained, called chips.

You can cut plywood with any of the following tools:

• A manual or electric jigsaw;
• Circular saw;
• Hacksaw.

Each of these tools is recommended for use under certain conditions.

How to cut plywood without chipping with a circular saw?

It is recommended to cut on a flat floor. The plywood sheet is laid on wooden blocks of equal thickness, placed perpendicular to the cutting line of the cut. Full support from the bottom ensures that the corner of the sheet will not break off at the end of the cut. A metal or wooden guide is installed on top, which is fixedly fixed with clamps.

In order to cut the laminated plywood accurately and without chips, you need:

1. Setting the minimum cutting depth. On the opposite side of the sheet, the teeth should protrude 23 mm. With this setting of the cutting depth, the blade does not cut, but neatly cuts the wood.
2. Choosing the right circular saw. For a gentle cut, a blade with a minimum size and a large number of teeth is selected (for example, No. 140).
3. Low feed speed of the cutting blade when moving without stopping. In this case, the teeth do not chop, but gently cut the wood without chipping. In order to properly cut the film faced plywood, it is also recommended to set the blade speed to maximum. Disadvantage of the method: the carpenter runs the risk of overheating the canvas.
4. Placement of adhesive tape in place of the cut. For this, it is recommended to use masking tape that does not leave marks on the surface of the sheet. At the end of the work, the tape is removed at an angle of 90 about the movement towards the cut.

If laminated plywood is to be processed, it is recommended to tape the sole of the circular saw with tape as well. This avoids scratches on the face of the sheet.

The better to cut plywood with a thickness of 9 mm?

Both an electric jigsaw and a circular saw are suitable for cutting such material. The first option is indispensable in the case of a curly cut path.

To cut thick plywood without chipping with an electric jigsaw, it is recommended to use any of two types of blades:

• Clean series CleanWood (Bosch);
• For metal.

A conventional circular saw is also suitable for smooth cutting of plywood. It is enough to install a blade with a fine tooth (for example, No. 140), adjust the depth of cut within 1213 mm and lay the sheet on even wooden blocks. Cutting is recommended to be done along the guide, with a low feed rate of the tool and without interruption.

If the front surface of the sheet is laminated, then the place of the cut is pre-pasted with masking tape.

Anyone who doubts which saw is better to cut plywood, we recommend contacting a specialized company with laser cutting and professional equipment for cutting.

Reception 1. Cut along the guide

We install a guide (tire) on the workpiece, set the cutting depth and perform the cut. As you can see for yourself, even on the outside of our chipboard blank there are no chips, no explosions. The cut itself is even without signs of scoring or side waves. Why such difference?

What affects the quality of sawing chipboard?

In this case, we will cut chipboard, this is the most capricious material for sawing, because it has longitudinal and transverse layers, a rather delicate and thin veneer. But on the other hand, it has a hard glue base, which will also interfere with us.

What to do if you don’t have a hand-held circular saw and guide?

You need to make the guide yourself. We find an ordinary profile, you can take the rule, any even rail, the main thing is that its geometry is even.

We measure the distance from the saw blade to the edge of your chipboard workpiece. We attach the guide to the workpiece with any clamp and start cutting.

The main thing in the process is to constantly press the saw against the guide. That is, your hand should always guide the saw towards the homemade tire.

After cutting, you will get an almost perfect cut, the cutting line is barely visible. We made a very high quality cut, the cut itself is clean, no side marks are visible on it. Except for a small amount of lint on the back of the workpiece.

Where did this pile come from, because we worked with a guide (tire)?

There is a special plastic protective tape on the purchased cutting bar. This tape prevents the pile from rising and the saw cuts it. In this case, we did not have this tape, so we got this pile on the surface.

What to do with the pile in this case?

There are two options:

1. Take ordinary masking tape. It is glued to the place where it was cut, marking is made on it and sawn together with masking tape. The scotch tape keeps the root in place and when we cut it, we get everything clean.

2. Just drive the saw blade more slowly. That is, if you do the same with a slower feed, then there will be much less chips.

What is the merit of the guide?

When we saw with a disc, we inevitably move the saw, the so-called movement of the iron is obtained. That is, when we move our hand, we all the time move the saw to the right, to the left. A guide that has a rigid edging avoids this.

Accordingly, when we guide the saw along the guide, it does not move and the saw blade itself works smoothly, without changing its position. It turns out a perfect line parallel to the guide.

How to smoothly saw off chipboard without chips and lint?

Today we will tell you what affects the quality of sawing, how to cut the chipboard smoothly and cleanly, as well as how you can cut with a rail and without a guide with a conventional circular saw.

We will show using the example of a hand-held circular saw, but this does not affect the sawing techniques, the difference is only in minor details. You can get a similar quality cut on a cheaper tool if you follow our advice.

Saw blade. How to choose it?

When cutting chipboard, the saw blade must simultaneously cut cleanly and be resistant, because the glue in its properties is very close to glass and quickly blunts the tool itself. Therefore, in the process of cutting chipboard, you need to choose sufficiently good discs to cut them without losing quality for a long time.

What is the difficulty of sawing with a circular saw with discs?

If we look at the cut of the workpiece, we will see that it is full of seizures, because it is practically impossible to keep the saw straight on the hand.

On the saw blade there is a difference in height between the body of the saw itself and the sawing part of the tooth. Due to this distance, the disc is able to guide its position in the cut. Accordingly, as soon as it changes its geometry, the rear teeth begin to press on the chipboard workpiece and leave traces on it.

The disc rotates from the bottom up, it cuts the pile of the workpiece up to the base. Thus, below, on the front side, we always have a clean surface. Problems begin to form at the top, where the teeth come out of the workpiece. This is how explosions, chips, pile are obtained.

How can they be minimized, or avoided altogether? There are several simple tricks and we will tell you about them now.

How to cut chipboard without chips?

Before starting to cut chipboard, especially laminated one, cut the line with a sharp tool, along which we will cut and glue paper tape with a sticky layer along it. This will help minimize damage to the decorative chipboard layer.

If chips still could not be avoided, we process the cut first with a file, working from the edges to the center, and then with a fine-grained sandpaper. It is also possible to mask all defects using a flexible profile where possible.

Tools and materials

If possible, it is best to cut the chipboard with a hand milling cutter using homemade guides. This method is not very convenient when cutting large sheets, because when working with this tool, a table is required. In addition, this method often requires changing the cutters. But as a result, you will get cleanly finished, beveled edges.

The electric jigsaw is the most popular tool for sawing chipboard

Some craftsmen use a jigsaw in their work, however, in the absence of skill, it is difficult to cut smoothly, and chips can form.

If such methods do not suit you, then for cutting chipboard at home, we will prepare for work:

• A hacksaw with fine teeth (one that is best suited for metal work). In this case, the teeth must be divorced by 1/2 of the blade thickness and be hardened;
• Paper adhesive tape;
• File for rough processing of the cut mowing line;
• Sandpaper for finishing the cut line.

Sawing chipboard methods and methods of processing

[contents] If you have tried to cut chipboard at home at least once, then you know for sure that this work is by no means simple and requires not only skill, but also a good tool. It is especially difficult to process laminated chipboard, when sawing it, a lot of chips are often formed. That is why, many craftsmen, faced with such a problem, come to the conclusion that it is better to cut the chipboard when buying, especially since many trading organizations provide such services and the price for them is quite acceptable.

Sawing of chipboard is carried out using precise panel saws, which will help to obtain workpieces of a given size and shape.

In addition to cutting sheets, they will help you calculate and provide in the form of a visual file several options for competent and economical cutting of sheet material (using special computer programs) and, if necessary, perform edging. However, if for some reason you prefer to do this work yourself, before sawing the chipboard you will have to do some preparatory work.

1. Tools and materials
2. How to cut chipboard without chips?
3. Figured cutting
4. What you can’t cut chipboard

Figured cutting

It is even more difficult to obtain curved surfaces of a given configuration at home, while you will have to additionally spend money on purchasing a router, which will help you get rid of chips and notches formed when you cut chipboard.

To cut chipboard, you need to follow these steps:

1. Having marked out the contours of the necessary part on the chipboard sheet, we cut it out with an electric jigsaw, trying to cut back only a couple of millimeters from the intended mowing line of the cut;
2. We make templates of the design radius from fiberboard or plywood and carefully grind the ends with sandpaper;
3. Attaching the template to the part to be trimmed, clamp it with clamps and process it with a manual copying cutter with a bearing, removing excess material exactly to the intended mowing line.

It does not matter which cutter (with two or four knives used). The only condition is that the knives must grasp the cut thickness being processed along the entire height. After processing, it remains only to stick the edge on the part. How this is done look at:

What you can’t cut chipboard

If the amount of work is large enough, and the quality requirements are small, some craftsmen advise to saw the chipboard at home using a grinder (angle grinder, commonly called “Angle Grinder”). In doing so, they use a disc designed for working with wood. To make cutting easier, a guide bar is fixed along the mowing line of the cut with the help of clamps. Cutting a chipboard using an angle grinder can sometimes be seen on.