Cleaner cut question

[jillsy]

Does anyone have advice on how to achieve a cleaner cut at the stop edges? I'm always finding burrs and rough wood at these areas.

[Greyhair]

Using the right tool for the task and having a very sharp tool avoids most burrs and rough edges. There are times however, that irrespective of the tool or its sharpness that the cut you have to make will not be compatible to the wood grain and you will have a rough edge. Then it is either time to sand or to have a very sharp micro veiner for clean up.

[whitecree]

The softer the wood, the sharper the knife has to be. If sharpness is not in question, then try changing the angle at which you hold the knife as you make the stop cut. Or change to a different style of knife.

[AlArchie]

That advice about a SHARP knife is about as good as you can get for making those stop cuts. Aside from the sharpness, there is the factor of blade design. A thin blade will be more effective at making clean stop cuts, than a heavy blade, no matter how sharp. You need a blade that will slice the deeper layers of wood without a heavy beveled blade crushing the surface layers. Fer instance, a thin Flexcut blade will work well for stop cuts, or even try Lynn's idea of using a fixed blade utility (box cutter) knife. I just got a fixed blade one from HI-Ho (thanks, Dave, couldn't find them around here), but have used the retracts in the past, and they work well and contrary to what the mfgs would like you to think, they can be sharpened and stropped to make them even better.

One more thing, SLICE those stop cuts, don't just push the blade straight into the wood.

Al

[Ashbys]

You know one of the first thing I found out when I first started I had the same problem, when I first started using gouges , what I found was I was cutting to deep so the gouge could not make contact squarely at the stop cut.

Lower your angle of attack slightly , and you will find a lot of those extra burrs will disappear.
If your getting them with your knife you not completing the cut and stopping short, although you will get the flake chip, you did not cut through all the fibers which left the burr behind.

In corners , you need to square as you press down into the wood your wrist will naturally cut in an arc, you need to compensate for this arc by applying slightly forward pressure and accepting a smaller cut to get your square.

Hope this helps
Ash

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Think of any type of carving the way a Chip carver does:

Never repeat the same cut twice!

Fuzzy edges are caused by dull knives but also by going back again to clean up a cut. You should also try to never cut at a 90 degree angle to the grain. This causes the fibers of the wood to flex as the blade enters and when they relax again they are never as strong as before. Just a slight angle and a slicing stroke will almost completely solve this problm.

[jillsy]

Thank you all!

You've pointed out tips I could definitely use. And some of the things you've told me not to do....I've done! So now I know better. Talking