How to cut plywood without chips with a jigsaw? I continue the experiment

Greetings to all the guests and subscribers of my channel! IN previous article I started an interesting experiment "How to cut plywood without chips" and tested five methods: with water, PVA glue, masking tape, knife and consumable plywood. As it turned out, almost all methods have the right to life, but each of them has its drawbacks. Some of these methods are costly or not convenient to apply in practice, while others, although they show good results, still do not give as clean a cut as we would like.

In this article I will continue the experiment and I will show you really working methods that will help to avoid chips when cutting plywood with a jigsaw. Today's trial will include saw blades for laminate, metal and splinter protection. Also, at the end of the article there will be a video in which you can visually watch this experiment.

In the experiment, grade 4 plywood will be used and I will cut it specifically across the fibers, since it is with such a cut that plywood is most susceptible to chips. In order to be able to compare the resulting cuts, I made a test cut with a basic saw (T119BO) in a tree for a figured cut. As you can see, the result is unsatisfactory and there are quite a few chips at the cut site. (as you know, chips are formed only on one side, depending on the direction of the saw teeth canvas). Most often, when cutting plywood, you get exactly this result, even if you use saws for a clean cut.

1. Metal saw. I'll start the experiment with saw blades for metal. Somewhere I read for a long time that when cutting plywood with them, you can get a clean cut. I will be using 0.7mm straight cut saws marked T118G. Now let's check if it's true or not.

Let's see the result. In general, the cut turned out to be quite good, there are minor chips that will be eliminated after light grinding. You can safely put a solid four, but there is one more drawback - the speed of sawing with a saw for metal is less than with saws for wood.

This method works, but I will not recommend it as there are other more efficient methods.

2. Special insert. The first effective way to avoid chipping is with a splinterproof liner. It is best to use plexiglass for its manufacture. All you need is to cut a piece of plexiglass to the size of the jigsaw sole, make a cut in it a little longer, than the distance from the edge of the sole to the saw blade and fix it to the sole, for example with double-sided tape. Ignore the hole in my splinterproof liner (it will not affect the result in any way experiment), I found this piece of plexiglass in my workshop and decided to use it as example. I want to show only the result of the cut obtained, but you can make a full-fledged insert.

In order to saw with an anti-splinter insert, any files are suitable, except for saw blades with a reverse tooth, and this is a plus of this method. I installed the same basic file T119BO. We look at the result. The cut turned out to be just excellent, without any chips. The insert is pressed against the surface of the plywood and therefore the file does not tear it.

The only drawback of this method is that over time, the insert will wear out as the saw blade moves from side to side during sawing (especially with a figured cut).

3. Laminate saws. In my opinion, the best way to avoid chipping when cutting plywood is to use a clean cut file. But as I mentioned above, not all clean cut saws are chip-free. The only saw blades in this series that actually produce a clean cut (on both sides) are straight tooth files. They are often mistakenly advised as laminate saws. Laminate blades are marked T101AOF and are intended not only for laminate, but also for hardwood.

When cutting plywood with these saws, the cut is almost perfect, but they are not cheap (150 r. for 1 canvas). However, not many people know that there are saw blades with a straight tooth and the T101AO marking (designed for plywood, Chipboard, etc.), which cut plywood just as well as laminate saws and are much cheaper (85 rubles. for 1 canvas). In the photo, the cut was made with just such a file. I tell you more about these canvases in my video at the end of the article.

Summing up, I can say that of all the experiments that I conducted in this and previous articles, the most effective ways that really allow you to cut plywood without chips are a splinter-resistant insert and files for a clean cut with a straight tooth.