Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
wouldn't know what to search for.

I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.

--
Mint 20.3, kernel 5.4.0-124-generic, Cinnamon 5.2.7
running on an AMD Phenom II X4 Black edition processor with 16GB of
DRAM.

pinnerite <pinnerite@gmail.com> wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>
You need a 'mitre block'.

You'll just need to make sure the one you get is deep enough to handle
the wood you want to cut.

Or, get a cheap powered chop saw, basic ones from around £50.

--
Chris Green
·

pinnerite wrote:

> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.

A long time ago, I had a handful of important mitres to cut on a fireplace
shelf, I think the tool I bought was from Bahco (not seen it for ages) it was
solid metal with a spring blade to hold the saw tight.

Closest I can see now is this, but it only takes small japanese blades rather
than a handsaw.

<https://z-saw.co.jp/en/02b_30107_Sawguidebest.html>

On Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 9:58:02 AM UTC, pinnerite wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>
> --
> Mint 20.3, kernel 5.4.0-124-generic, Cinnamon 5.2.7
> running on an AMD Phenom II X4 Black edition processor with 16GB of
> DRAM.

Do you mean at right angle to the wood. A good sharp saw should help or the old trick by starting off the cut against your thumb

On 05/11/2022 09:57, pinnerite wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>
It might come down to: posture, height of the saw bench, saw sharpness
or being in too much of a hurry - try experimenting. I suppose you could
make yourself a wooden "L" that you can hold the saw against if all else
fails, but better to correct the technique.
If the quality of the cut is important then the sensible answer would be
to not use a hand saw or, if it's a rip cut, to cut slightly off the
line and trim with a router or circular saw.

On 05/11/2022 09:57, pinnerite wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>

A decent sharp tenon saw helps - it doesn't have to be that expensive.

Clamp a block of wood that is true and square to the piece you are going
to cut and run your saw down the edge of that block. Consider the block
of wood as already having cut 50%+ of the depth.

It also helps if you mark your cut line on at least three sides so that
you can see if the saw is going off vertical.

Get a mitre block
https://www.toolstation.com/hand-tools/mitre-box/c1240

but possibly one that is suited to the size of your work piece. I have 3
different sizes. I have also found some plastic mitre blocks a bit
sloppy in that the slit for the saw blade is too wide allowing the blade
to wander too much. My wooden mitre blocks are better than my couple of
plastic ones. You may find it helpful to clamp the work piece in the
mitre block to stop it moving. I quite often use a wedges made from
scrap wood to hold the work-piece tight in the mitre block.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Sat, 5 Nov 2022 09:57:58 +0000
pinnerite <pinnerite@gmail.com> wrote:

> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>
use a bench saw, or a hand held circular saw (having checked squareness
of the blade) with a saw board. Old-time joiners spent the start of
their apprenticeships learning how to saw well, most of us don't have
the time and some just don't have the inclination or aptitude anyway,
but we have the technology. Or you can use a straight bit of 4x2 clamped
along the cut as a guide for your handsaw.

On 05/11/2022 09:57, pinnerite wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>

Use a tenon saw and make up your own 'mitre block' out
of two lengths of scrap blockboard screwed at right angles.

On 05/11/2022 09:57, pinnerite wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>

As we were taught at school

Thumb, Finger, Three fingers
Thumb goes in the grip (or around)
Index finger points along the blade
Three fingers go in the grip
Stand comfortably with the saw, forearm & shoulder in line.

--
Regards
wasbit

On 05/11/2022 09:57, pinnerite wrote:

> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical.

If doing this just by hand, there are some tricks that certainly help.

Marking your cut both across *and* down is one of the most important
things. Then establishing your horizontal cut and progressing that down
half to three quarters of an inch. Then you need to start dropping your
hand so that the saw angle rises - the tip pointing up - now you are
cutting with just the heel of the saw, down on the side you can see. The
tip of the saw is not cutting further into the far edge. Once you are
some way down the side facing you, you now have two square cuts, that
will help guide the saw in both axis for the rest of the cut.

The master demonstrator of this technique is Paul Sellers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O8DIi2HfKM

> Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.

Yup, loads... Mitre gauge, mitre box, saw box etc.

These kind of things:

https://www.stanleytools.com/product/20-800/adjustable-metal-mitre-box

There are obviously a multitude of powered options:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Mitre_saw_buyers_guide

> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.

Practice on some cheap offcuts of pine first :-)

--
Cheers,

John.

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On 05/11/2022 09:57, pinnerite wrote:
> Although I can cut in a straight line, I cannot seem to keep the saw
> vertical. Are there any guides or supports I can buy. Frankly I
> wouldn't know what to search for.
>
> I am shortly going to have cut oak upstands for the back of a
> desk/bench and I don't want to mess it up.
>

Great reason to buy yourself a sliding mitre saw.