Answer Needed Quickly - How To Cut Ply With Jig Saw To Minimise Damage

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Okay - I am just about to cut new panels for the aft cabin lining. My ply has two faces - a good face with veneer for asthetics and bad face with plain veneer.

My plan is to mark off from the template on both sides. On the good face apply masking tape over the scribe lines. I will then turn the ply over so that the good face is underside and then use the jig saw on top of the bad face. I will be using a ply jig saw blade with 12 TPI at high speed.

I am just popping out to the shops to get masking tape - then its cut time! I have enough ply for all my templates plus one. So I can mess up once only, on one template.

Any other tips or advice?
 
bluemoongaffer said:
try a kitchen work top blade - cuts on the down stroke to give a smoother finish to the top.

Having said that, I'd experiment first
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Thanks - I'll pick one up - I guess that means that I have to cut with the jig saw on the good side.
 
I had trouble with masking tape pulling the loose fibres on the edges of a teak face ply after cutting with a jigsaw. I found that it was better without it ..... but that was for what I was doing...... I'd experiment as well.
 
Using an up cutting blade, the finished face will be at the bottom as you say and if you use a sharp blade like a stanley knife to score/cut the top veneer, that should limit the amount of damage caused as the saw blade cuts up through. just try to cut slightly outside the score and sand to the finish line after.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Thanks - I'll pick one up - I guess that means that I have to cut with the jig saw on the good side.
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be careful,as down pressure is req as then can "jump"
keep the adjustable stroke lever in the upright position to give a clean but slower cut.
with this setting & a sharp 101B blade i cut teak faced ply from the face side & no tape
 
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Happydaze said:
Using an up cutting blade, the finished face will be at the bottom as you say and if you use a sharp blade like a stanley knife to score/cut the top veneer, that should limit the amount of damage caused as the saw blade cuts up through. just try to cut slightly outside the score and sand to the finish line after.
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Okay - stanly blades and leave the line on when cutting.

Thanks every one - I'll experiment on a corner. Brilliant service from the form!

I'll report back with pictures later.
 
Where possible I like to cut plywood with a router. It gives a very clean cut and it's fast. If your template is good enough you can use that as a guide for a bearing guided cutter.
 
parsifal said:
Where possible I like to cut plywood with a router. It gives a very clean cut and it's fast. If your template is good enough you can use that as a guide for a bearing guided cutter.
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Likewise. If you have a template use a straight router bit fitted with a bearing. Much better results every time. Jigsaw for rough approximate cut only.
If the template isn't thick enough. i.e. paper template then make up a template first out of mdf.
The thicker the finished wood the less reliable the jigsaw for a 'perfect' finish.

I notice yours is likely to be very thin panels as it is for aft cabin lining. If the panels were being wrapped in vinyl for example then a jigsaw edge wood be fine. As you are having teak veneer exposed I would router finish.
 
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Talulah said:
Likewise. If you have a template use a straight router bit fitted with a bearing. Much better results every time. Jigsaw for rough approximate cut only.
If the template isn't thick enough. i.e. paper template then make up a template first out of mdf.
The thicker the finished wood the less reliable the jigsaw for a 'perfect' finish.

I notice yours is likely to be very thin panels as it is for aft cabin lining. If the panels were being wrapped in vinyl for example then a jigsaw edge wood be fine. As you are having teak veneer exposed I would router finish.
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+1
 
Surely for fine joinery one wouldn't have cut edges of ply on show anyway, however neatly cut?

Circular saw, then cover with routed hardwood trim.

Pete
 
prv said:
Surely for fine joinery one wouldn't have cut edges of ply on show anyway, however neatly cut?

Circular saw, then cover with routed hardwood trim.

Pete
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Yes, this is indeed the final finish; edges are hidden behind trim. My concern was hashing the job because my experience of cutting low quality ply is that it can rip through and lift the veneer in chips that could be up to a cm each side of the cut.

I have bought two sheets of 8' x 4' quality marine ply from Robins Timber for the job. I can lay all the templates out and just get coverage from the two sheets.

Talulah said:
I tried to get an idea of what panels you were cutting. Presumably for your Rival41C
http://www.ybw-boatsforsale.com/Boats/145122-Rival+41C-
http://search.boatshop24.co.uk/morepictures.asp?btsrefno=20011299
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Yes it's the Rival 41C. The first link has a picture looking into the aft cabin, its those panels, plane wood, no lining.

Success So Far
I bought a down cutting blade and a much finer up cut 20 tpi blade. The 20 tpi blade cut well with no burring on either side but produced a very, very small chamfer on the edges. As the good side veneer is quite thin and slight line from the second, lighter veneer is noticeable. The downward cutting blade produced a very sharp and clean cut on the good side (cutting from the good side) and burs on the bad side. I have used the downward cutting blade on the first panel with good results. The masking tape was not required.

Thanks, everyone.
 
Jig saw cut on ply

I watched a professional cut a 10mm ply panel for me first with the router but later to adjust the fit, he cut with a jig saw.

He made sure he had a blade that cut with the down-stroke. He then used a box cutter blade to score a groove along my line and then cut it. This served to guide the blade. No problem!
 
Or sandwich some slave wood to the face side so that the veneer is clamped in position.
Obviously you cut the slave panel as well, but it does the job.
 
Lakesailor said:
Or sandwich some slave wood to the face side so that the veneer is clamped in position.
Obviously you cut the slave panel as well, but it does the job.
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I pondered as to Whether or not to say the same, but decided against this. The reason being is that jigsaw blades rarely cut squarely and the thicker the material, the more chance there is of this happening.

I use an expensive professional quality jigsaw and have tried others too, but can rarely get a consistent accurate cut. A router is the best tool for cleaning up and straightening edges. This will give a perfect finish if used correctly, ie, right speed, right cutter, sharp cutter, steady hand and well secured guide. Not easy to achieve, but then that is why I recommended the Fein. It will go though timber like a knife through butter. You just have to hold it steady and square with the job.
 
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