Sawing Basics Part 2: Angled Cuts & Broken Teeth
Part 2 of the step-by-step beginners sawing guide from The Woodworking Shed. This time I'm tackling angled cuts and making mistakes (And learning from them)!
New to The Woodworking Shed? Don't worry! I've made a handy index page to find every episode in this series and more!
Here’s a handy link to the previous episode!
Angled Cuts!
Welcome back to the woodworking shed! In this episode, I'm back with my Ryoba tackling angled cuts!
My first attempt at sawing went pretty well, even though it was a little nerve-wracking to share it online for all to see!
Hopefully, tackling these angled cuts will result in even more success - Let's see…
As per the previous episode, I'm going to step through the process from a beginner’s perspective using what I have learned, so if you’re a newbie like me, it can be used as a guide.
Let’s get started!
Enter: The Doors…
As part of my shed-to-workshop conversion, I'm adding more framework into the shed. I'm going to do the same to the shed doors as well by adding a border around the edge.
This will allow me to put OSB boards onto them so they match the walls and won’t stand out like a sore thumb! It will also let me add useful things like a door handle… I won’t have to keep locking myself in then.
This is where the angles come into play…
Most of the pieces I need to cut interface with the angled braces of the doors.I have a sneaky feeling that none of them will be the same! I’m not going to risk that as I don’t have much spare material.
Moving on…
Angle Chopping Toolkit
The tools used are the same as before… Almost. There’s a new entry for this episode:
Ryoba Saw
Combination Square
Sliding Bevel
Tape Measure
Knife
Pencil
The sliding bevel is a layout tool that is used for capturing angles. It comprises of a handle, a blade and a locking nut.
Simply angle the blade and handle between two angled pieces and lock it in position with the lock nut. This can then be transferred onto the workpiece.
Simple? Maybe…
Laying Things Out
Before thinking about angles, I needed to get the overall length right. This is just a repeat of the process from part one. Measure the door (twice) with a tape measure and then mark and cut the wood to length (once).
With that out of the way, it was time to bring out the sliding bevel and lay out the angled cut.
I positioned the bevel along the edge of the door to capture the angle. It was a little awkward at first, the blade kept swinging all over the place!
It felt like I needed a third hand - Two to capture the angle and a third to lock it off.
Tip: Tighten the locknut so that the blade is clamped but can still be moved by hand.
To transfer the angle onto the workpiece the process is similar to using a combination square. Position the sliding bevel with the blade on the face being marked and the handle parallel with the wood and make a pencil line along the blade.
I’ve included a video of this process later in this post.
Once the line is scribed, you can repeat this on the other side of the wood and add a knife wall for the cut if you want to stop the wood from tearing out.
I kept the sliding bevel locked so I could check my results later!
Making the cut
I've had to get a little creative setting up to cut the angle. I've clamped the piece with an offcut to one of my saw horses.
Who needs a bench and vice eh…
It's not ideal, but it's the best I could come up with in the moment!
I wasn't sure whether to use the rip or crosscut teeth on my Ryoba for the angles. I think it comes down to what the desired finish is.
In the end, I went with the crosscut teeth in the hopes it may avoid tearout…
Which type of saw do you use for angled cuts? Does it matter? Let me know…
To make the cut, I used the same sawing technique I explained in part 1:
Line the saw up with the knife wall - Use a finger as a guide.
Start the cut flat before angling down.
Listen to the saw to know when it’s close to breaking through.
The crosscut teeth worked fine for the angled cut however, it was a little tricky transitioning from sawing flat to angling down. It felt less stable, and the saw was jumping or juddering on the material.
For future cuts I will try to ramp up the cutting angle more slowly to try and add some more stability to the cut.
All in all, it wasn’t too bad! But…
Mistakes Were Made…
When the saw broke through the other side of the wood, the downward pressure I was applying forced the saw down onto the metal of the saw horse.
Now I have a broken saw tooth!
Whoops!
I was a little worried, so I did a couple of test cuts on some offcuts. As far as I can tell, the saw performance doesn't seem to be affected… Phew!
I didn’t want to risk any more broken teeth, so I adapted my makeshift vice to remove the risk.
Important lesson learned there! Don’t cut wood above metal. Who’d have known!?
Ever damaged a tool doing something silly? I want to hear your stories in the comments.
The Results Are In… They’re Not Pretty!
I was excited to check how my first angled cut went. I was less thrilled by the results…
I’ve managed to make the cut at a steeper angle. What you can’t see is that it is also slightly tapered, meaning I wasn’t sawing straight either!
The more observant may also notice the slight tearout on the edges as well. This is because I didn’t do a knife wall. These cuts will never be seen, so I didn’t see the need.
There’s an advantage to these cuts being for the shed door: The accuracy doesn’t matter that much. It’s a good time to learn.
The awkward clamp arrangement definitely affected my sawing stance, which probably contributed to the wonky cut as well!
Still, for my first try, it could have been much, much worse. Practice makes perfect!
Getting complicated
Some of the positions I need to fit have a slightly offset angle. This is much easier to deal with than it sounds, though!
First, I need to measure the offset of the angle. For this, I used the rule out of my combination square - I really should buy a steel rule…
I measured the offset on the door at 7 mm. I then put my combination square back together and set the rule to protrude 7 mm from the square side.
This allowed me to easily mark the 7 mm offset onto the wood. To capture the angle, it's exactly the same as before. Ignore the offset and measure as normal as shown in the photo below.
Once the angle is locked in place on the sliding bevel, it's on to transferring that offset angle!
I made a short video demonstrating how to use the sliding bevel to scribe the offset angle onto the wood.
In a nutshell just slide the bevel up to the 7 mm offset line and scribe the line, simple!
Next up I clamped the piece into my makeshift vice and cut as per the usual method. The results were good - It fits - Really well!
I’m quite proud of that one, but it's not all good news!
Whoops…
You know how I keep going on about measuring twice and cutting once?
We'll this happened…
The piece is about 10 mm too short - Whoops…
I should have listened to my own advice. Serves me right.
Thankfully, I had just enough spare material to redo this piece. I used the mistake piece to transfer the angle onto a new piece that was the correct length…
Tip: Clamp the two pieces together and use a knife to scribe the angle from one piece to the other.
It fits!
I have to admit I measured this one four or five times to make sure that it was absolutely right!
Lesson learnt - Next time, I might not be so lucky to have spare material available.
Reflection
I suppose this marks the end of my first little foray into the world of woodworking. I’ve achieved a few firsts and learned a lot along the way:
First cut
First angled cut
First video
First real fail (and lesson learned)
First damaged tool...
It’s all go at The Woodworking Shed!
I feel that overall my first attempts went well. I've learned a lot, and the more I do it, the better I'll get.
I can only hope that future firsts with other tools are just as successful!
Now that I have all of the framework pieces cut for the shed I can get them fixed into position and get this shed to workshop transformation project moving! I’m hoping it’s going to come together quickly now.
This little sawing side project has got me itching to do some real woodworking!
Enjoy this episode? Why not share it?
I want to build The Woodworking Shed into a strong, engaging community. So if you know someone else who may enjoy it too: Don’t let them miss out - Share it!
New to The Shed? Pull up a chair…
Subscribe now to stay updated on my shed transformation, tool discoveries, and woodworking projects. Don’t miss out!
Support the Shed!
You can support The Woodworking Shed by becoming a paid subscriber or by buying me a coffee for a one-time boost. Your contribution helps me to keep delivering great content and justify all these tools!
Got something to say? Join the conversation!
Have a question, a tip, or just want to say hello? Leave a comment below! I love hearing from my readers and building a strong community!
Look forward to hearing from you -
~ The Woodworking Shed
Hungry for more?
Check out my other content! Head over to the homepage to find it all!
