vttramper Posted November 22, 2013 Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 I am moving along on my Ravenswood – I am presently at the stage where I realize that, as with clamps in woodworking, one cannot have too many bungees in frame assembly. It has been a treat to work from Jeff's plans and have everything fit correctly the first time. My two previous SOF boats were canoes of my own design, which meant that I had to figure out where best to run the stringers and how to get those notches in the frames just right, etc., etc. Let me just say that Jeff's full-size plans are worth every penny. My only issue to date is plywood splintering. I have a good jig saw and set it up with a fine plywood blade and have the oscillation set to 0. I still got a lot of splintering when cutting out the frames. I am using Baltic birch for the first time and it seems a bit more inclined to splinter than the marine ply I have used in the past. Rounding over the edges helps but is not a total fix. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for my next boat. Maybe I need to bite the bullet and get a small band saw, altho that wouldn't help for the inside cuts in the closed frames. It is mostly an appearance issue and many of the frames don't show unless you peer inside, but still... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted November 22, 2013 Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 The last batch I bought (new supplier) splinters worse than the previous. I use narrow fine tooth blades too. I typically keep the orbital action set on 2 (of 3). 3 is just to aggressive. All I can suggest is playing with some scrap, try different speeds and feed rates. Just find what works and maybe try a different blade. A round over does fix most of it and it make the lashings slider easier around the plywood. Ending up with tighter joints too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Martin Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 I had some success with minimal splintering using a very fine tooth blade 20 tpi Bosch T101A0 I have also put masking tape down first on both sides when cutting small pieces but would not really work for our frames. I does make my wonder if some tear-out could be solved by painting both sides of the Baltic Birch with polyurethane first before you glue on the plans and cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 That is an interesting thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted November 24, 2013 Report Share Posted November 24, 2013 The only thing I've found to eliminate blade tear out, is sacrificial pieces on the face where the teeth emerge. I have lots of door skin and cheap 1/4" laying around for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vttramper Posted November 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 Thanks for the input. I played with some scrap and found that a new, fine-tooth blade helped, as did a slower "feed" rate. Still not great, but better. I have used a piece of wood as a shoe with the jig saw in the past - sort of like a zero-clearance insert on a table saw - but that makes it very difficult to follow lines closely and would be tough with the frame patterns. I think the status quo will have to do until I convince myself to go for the bandsaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Doug (WA) Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 One thing that will help, but is tedious, time consuming and not always easy, is cut along the patteren with a sharp knife, before cutting it with the saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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