Precise shape cut from middle of wood

[Luke Hill]

Warning: Newb question.

I am doing a step stool for my kid. I saw one online that has a little heart cut in the center of the step.

I traced a small 3 - 4 inch heart, and gave it a try with my jig saw. I began by drilling a hole in the middle, and then went to town with the jig saw. Even with the fine tooth blade, the shape resembled a heart, but not by much.

How in the world do you cut a precise shape into the center of a piece of wood? Is the only way to do it with a scroll saw (ie, place the blade through the pilot hole? Or am I just not very good with this jig saw yet?

Seems like I am just hacking away with this jig saw, gotta be a better way.

[Brian Hale]

Coping saw?

Just get it close then file and sand to shape.

Scroll saw would be ideal though.

[pat warner]

A templet and router (http://patwarner.com/images/pr20_subbase2.jpg) will cut the risk.

[Gary Keedwell]

Another alternative would be to use a forstner bit and drill two holes side by side. Then you would only have to cut a straight triangle to complete the heart.;) Actually you would only have to saw two cuts to a point. :>)
Gary

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Draw the curvy tight geometry you want. Then drill a large hole in the middle.
From that hole you cut lots and lots of kerfs radially leading to the line stopping just a scohsh shy of the line a tad more than the width of a kerf. When you have enough of the radial cuts you can follow the line with the blade and the wood will snap away easily due to your many radial cuts. The more radial lines the better - especially in the tightly curved areas.

This will make it lots easier to follow the line you drew.

[Larry Marley]

Hi Luke,
I am with Pat on this one.
A template kit for your router will cost about $30.
Makes it easy to cut a heart and the matching hole for which it needs to fit.

Larry

[Gary Keedwell]

Hi Luke,
I am with Pat on this one.
A template kit for your router will cost about $30.
Makes it easy to cut a heart and the matching hole for which it needs to fit.

Larry
Yea, but with a router your going to get a radius at the bottom of the heart. With my method...two holes and two cuts = done.;) I just went down to my basement at halftime and did a heart in about 4 minutes. Looks good, too.
Gary

[Mike K Wenzloff]

The radius at the bottom of the heart isn't an issue if one simply pares the remainder to a point with a sharp chisel.

That said, routers and templates are great for more than a couple iterations of a design like this. I personally would use my bow or coping saw, followed by a fine file and fine sandpaper and a chisel for the very tip. Using a decent jigsaw with a quality fine toothed blade would speed up the main cutting.

Take care, Mike

[Kevin Groenke]

I generally use templates when I'm doing repetative work, Luke would still need to cut out a heart in the template, and the router/template suggestions ignore how to do that.

The 2 holes (hole saw or forstner) and 2 jigsaw or keyhole saw cuts sounds like the most elegant solution for a one-off.

-kg

[Gary Herrmann]

Either a router and a template or a coping saw and a couple drill holes will work fine - depends on which tools you're most comfortable with.

[Jamie Buxton]

If you're trying to cut a small heart, you may be running into trouble with a tight curve. Most saber saw blades are about 3/8" deep. That depth gives them a minimum radius which they can cut. Look for narrower blades. They'll cut a smaller radius. I think Bosch makes some which are only 1/8" deep.

[Rod Sheridan]

If you are making one item, the coping saw, or scroll saw is a good method.

The better method, as indicated previously, is to use a Forstener bit to make the two round lobes of the heart, and scroll saw, or coping saw out the remainder.

Making a template for use with a router is a good idea, except for the fact that you're only making one stool.

Regards, Rod.