Translations:AY Honors/Wood Handicraft/Answer Key/20/en

Take your 1/4 inch plywood and draw (or trace with carbon paper) the design that you wish to use for this project. When you are finished drawing, take a coping saw and cut out your design. If you find that the plywood is tearing out excessively, put the coping saw away and get out a carton knife (or use a hooked blade on a pocket knife). Slice a V-groove around where the saw will cut. This cut should go straight down (90°) along the line, and angle in from the waste side. Next closely examine the teeth of the coping saw, and re-install the blade so that it cuts on the pull stroke rather than on the push stroke. You may notice that a saw always rips out on the side of the board that the cutting stroke exits. By using a knife to cut out around the line, there is nothing to tear out, but this only works if the blade cuts on the pull stroke.