Jigsaw Cut on Small Pieces of Wood

Today I will talk about using a jigsaw to cut a pattern with very sharp and small turns. Here is the final piece so you can see where we are headed:

I got a piece of ‘hobby’ wood from the Home Depot. It was just big enough for the pattern that I wanted to cut. You can make your design on a piece of paper and then take it to Home Depot to ensure you get a piece big enough. I made this design on a computer, selecting ‘outline’ of the font so I didn’t waste a lot of toner.

Then letters MUST overlap slightly to ensure your finished product is one piece. So I had to have each letter its own object. Then I moved them side to side to get a good overlap. You can see that in the picture here where the lines overlap. Be aware that the thinner the width of the letters the more delicate of a job you will have. There are a few areas of this pattern that were of concern since they were so thin, mainly between the letter k & the letter s, the top half of the letter B and the long left side of the letter k. These are large parts of the letter that have only very small connection to the rest of the pattern. Between every letter also is potentially a weak spot. So pay attention at every step along the way that you don’t break the project.

1. Attach the pattern to the wood

After I printed out the pattern, I used blue painter’s tape to protect the wood from the spray adhesive I used to attach the pattern. I first  covered the wood with the tape. Then I sprayed the back of the pattern with Elmer’s Spray Adhesive and put the pattern on top of the tape. This allowed me to remove the pattern easily at then end without any residue from the adhesive on the wood. 

2. Drill holes in the enclosed spaces

As you can see in the photo above, I drilled holes in the letters that had enclosed spaces. This allows me access to that space without cutting through the letters. You need to drill a hole that is bigger than the width of your jigsaw blade. Notice that I also drilled a hole in the top half of the letter B, even though there is a way to get in there without it. I recognized that that will be a delicate space due to the small support of the rest of the letter. 

3. Cut out the enclosed spaces

Following the instructions of your jigsaw blade removal, insert the blade into the holes you drilled and carefully cut out the areas enclosed. 

4. Cut the top half

Next, I cut the top half of the pattern. Recognizing the potential weakness of the letter B, I kept it for later since I wanted to minimize working with it to keep it as supported as possible through the project. Again, to maintain as much support as possible, after cutting the top half, I stopped using the jigsaw and filed the top portion smooth.

 

5. File top half

Now that the top half is cut, take this time to gently file the rough edges off. Pay attention to the weak points. In this pattern you can see that the letter k’s tall left side is the weakest point so far. To file that, I put it in the vice (see pic below) to support it while I filed it.

Files used on this project. Small and easy to get into the tight corners.

If the pattern is loosened by the jigsaw action, just use more adhesive spray to tack it back down. This happened to me. See this pic:

Finish up gently filing the top half using a vice to hold the project tightly. Be very careful of the weak spots.

          

6. Cut bottom half

Carefully cut the bottom half of the project with the jigsaw. I cut the letter B last since it was the weakest part. 

7. File the bottom half

Smooth out the bottom like you did for the top. 

Finished project:

Please comment if you complete a project similar. This was a fun project that can be done in an afternoon. 

Wood R&D is set up for me to blog about what I am learning as I work with wood to make more and more complex creations. I grew up in a household with lots of carpentry going on on a daily basis in the garage, which was so full of working tools that the car never made it in there.

Today, I tackled a project that involved a soft wood, pine, and some straight and some curved cutting.

 

I started by making this pattern on my computer, one character per page so that I could make it as big as possible but still using 8.5 x 11 paper, and it also allowed me to maneuver the letters together to eventually make my creation in ‘one piece.’ (For the record, I used Arial Black font at 780 pts. I choose white fill and a black outline.) Once I found the right orientation I taped it together and then cut it out. I then traced it onto the pine board.

I read some blogs on the best jigsaws out there (low cost and enough power was on my mind) and landed on the Bosch JS470E. To try and get the cleanest edges I choose a blade that had smaller teeth. you can’t move as fast as a blade with larger teeth, but it gave a pretty clean edge. As you will see below, I did have a few chips that showed up. But don’t worry, there is a way to deal with them too. 

 

I neglected to photograph how to get the center cuts started. But drilling a hole that is slightly bigger then the width of the blade, in an area that is going to be cut out, is the way to get the blade in there and cut the center pieces out. 

As you can see, I had some chips from the cutting. 

  

Using Elmer’s Wood Filler, Natural Color, I was able to fill the chips and blemishes in the wood. Allow it to dry, then gently sand it back to perfection. Chips-be-gone! I used a 150 grit sand paper.

   

For those very tight corners (less than 90 degrees), I took a thin piece of scrap wood, folded the sand paper around it, and was able to get into those hard to reach corners. Alternatively, you can use a file. Although the file is fast and easy to use, it can’t easily get into the deep angles that are smaller than 90 degrees without making unwanted marks on the other edge. So use the sandpaper  method.

Here’s the pre-paint final product:

And here is the finished piece: