We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Aside from Bender, Zapp Brannigan and Hypnotoad, my favorite character on the show “Futurama” is Nibbler – a cute little alien that can swallow an entire elephant in one bite and then poop starship fuel.
What does this have to to with sawing? Everything. Nibbling before swallowing the whole giraffe is how I saw accurately with a carcase saw, tenon saw and dovetail saw.
What is nibbling? Well there are (at least) two ways to begin a cut with a backsaw:
1. Begin with the teeth engaged across the entire face of the board you wish to cut. This is how I learned to cut dovetails many years ago. Put the teeth on the end grain of the board. Push forward – gently. Saw away. This is not nibbling.
2. Begin your cut on a corner. Advance on one face or on two faces. This can be nibbling.
When sawing for accuracy, I always have better results by starting at a corner and nibbling – tooth by tooth – to the the other corner of the work. When cutting dovetails I start on the corner facing the bench and nibble back to the corner facing me.
When I cut tenons, I start at the corner closest to me and nibble down the end grain to the corner away from me. When crosscutting a wide board, such as a tenon shoulder, I begin on the far corner and work toward the corner close to me.
The point is that you can begin at either corner and work to the other corner. Use your thumb to help guide the sawplate. Advance using tiny sawing strokes and no – repeat no – downward pressure. Nibble tooth by tooth until you have completed the kerf between the two corners. Then begin long and smooth sawing strokes, again using little or no downward pressure.
As you get deeper into the work, you might need to apply a little downward pressure, especially in thick or wide stock where the gullets are prone to fill up with dust.
Once the kerf is established and you’re using long strokes, you can pick up speed to dive to your destination. At this stage, the kerf across the board is straight and will stay that way thanks to the sawplate. Then you just have to steer left or right until you hit your baseline or the other end of the board.
For me, nibbling is the core of accurate sawing with a backsaw. It doesn’t matter if you cut tails or pis first, shoulders or cheeks first. Watch the video and give it a try next time. You might just start calling yourself a “nibbler.”
— Christopher Schwarz
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
