# How to Cut a Blank Diagonally



## JonathanF1968 (Sep 21, 2019)

How would you cut a blank diagonally?

Here's my thought. I want to take two different pieces of wood (i.e., blanks), cut them both diagonally, and then glue them together to make one blank that is both types of wood. Sort of like segmenting, except it's just to big segments. 

The wood I want to use is rosewood and either maple or apple; the pen is for a friend of mine who has ties to both New England and Brazil, and I want to make one of wood from both places. I haven't done any segmenting, but my thought is to keep it super simple so that you can see the wood grain and not be distracted by patterns, which I am likely to screw up on my first foray! 

So, how to cut the blanks. I have a compound miter saw (which I use for most of my blank making) and also a table saw, but I think the miter saw will be a better tool for this. It is going to be thin enough that I will need some sort of jig or other support to hold it in the right spot against the fence. 

Alternatively, I could use the table saw at a 45 degree angle, but the blank is a little small for this kind of fussy work, and my table saw doesn't seem to give as clean a cut, so some sanding of the glued edge would be required to get a tight fit. Maybe on the belt sander, if I decide the table saw is the way to go. 

Any tips? I haven't done anything like this before. Assuming Titebond is the glue of choice, and maybe wrapping it with gauze or perhaps duct tape before drilling would be helpful?

--Jonathan


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## greenacres2 (Sep 21, 2019)

I built a jig for my band saw sled—but sounds like you don’t have a band saw.  Neither miter saw nor table saw sound appealing to me for a full length diagonal, but either should be good for 45 degrees.


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## cjester (Sep 21, 2019)

How about a hand saw? You can get the little plastic miter boxes with a back saw included for $15 many places. Here's one from Home Depot, although you should be able to find one at nearly any home/hardware store:








						Stanley 14.5 in. Deluxe Clamping Miter Box with 14 in. Saw 20-600D - The Home Depot
					

Use the Stanley Deluxe Miter Box with Saw to make professional-caliber miter cuts without investing in a bulky power tool. Measured slots on the miter box allow you to make 90 degree , 45 degree and 22.5



					www.homedepot.com
				




If the table saw isn't cutting cleanly, might be time for a new blade. You can make yourself a sled for handling small parts.

I won't use my power miter saw on anything small anymore. I don't have a good way to clamp something as small as a pen blank on both sides, but if I don't the blade will send one of the pieces flying. It's great on the big stuff it's made for.


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## bsshog40 (Sep 21, 2019)

I made a sled for my tablesaw. Bought me a thin kerf blade. Using that, I can cut pen blanks all the way down to 1/8" thick. I don't use clamps, but I'll take 2 pieces of wood to set on each side of my pen blank. Will use them to support the sides of the blank while cutting.


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## chartle (Sep 21, 2019)

I second use a sled and and a way to clamp down the blank. Keeps your fingers away from the blade and makes a better cut.


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## magpens (Sep 21, 2019)

Jonathan,
Your question interests me. . But it is not clear if you want to make the cut as a 45-degree "cross cut" or if you want to make a diagonal cut from corner-to-corner of the 5-inch long blank.

The 45-degree cross-cut should be easy enough to do on either your miter saw or your table saw.

But a corner-to-corner cut going "lengthwise" would require a jig that you would have to construct to get the angle right and get a smooth cut.

Or course,  you can choose whatever angle you like to suit both your own inclination and to suit the blank length for your chosen pen kit.

Please keep us posted.

EDIT: . I see that "chartle" in his post above has assumed that you want to cut in a different way than I had thought of. . His method will yield two "halves" that, when glued together, will result in a segmentation no different from gluing two flat pieces together, as I see things. . I have done precisely what he is suggesting. . I have even taken it a step further and glued together 4 pieces each of a different wood species. . You can even go beyond that and make it 8 pieces with a very similar cutting procedure and yet another jig. . In my procedures, the glued join lines are all longitudinal (parallel to the axis of the  final segmented pen blank).


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## mark james (Sep 21, 2019)

I do have a "few" thoughts.

I have made pens for my wife for gifts to friends in Brazil.  Brazilian woods!

Monkeypod
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Tulipwood.

These are easy segmenting (really!).  Drill, tube a main blank.  Turn down to the tube in equal distances from the ends to the tube.  Glue on a veneer.  Glue on an end cap of another regional wood.

The six pens below are from Brazilian woods.

I have some blanks of each of these species, PM me if you want any.  

I also have diagonal cut Brazilian Rosewood blanks!!!

Have fun!


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## bsshog40 (Sep 21, 2019)

Those are nice Mark!


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## jttheclockman (Sep 21, 2019)

Yes you would need to clarify the diagonal thing. To me double sided tape on a sled and good to go. If cutting corner to corner. I would work some clamping system in too.


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## John Eldeen (Sep 21, 2019)

jttheclockman said:


> Yes you would need to clarify the diagonal thing. To me double sided tape on a sled and good to go. If cutting corner to corner. I would work some clamping system in too.


A sled like you have posted pics of for you angle cut would probably be the simplest thing for this cut. If you have a picture handy.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 21, 2019)

John Eldeen said:


> A sled like you have posted pics of for you angle cut would probably be the simplest thing for this cut. If you have a picture handy.


I would use a sled similar to this and place double sided tape on each side of the saw blade kerf. now line up corners of the blank on top and bottom of the kerf.. add some clamps and good to go. Can do the same on a bandsaw if you do not want such a wide kerf.


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## Dehn0045 (Sep 22, 2019)

This style is an option.  I used a table saw to cut 45 degree pieces, but basically any saw that makes a clean straight cut should do.  Also the angle isn't critical.  I glued up with medium CA and then soaked with thin CA for good measure.  The thin strips are gift card - I like the look of having a thin strip between the larger segments.  After glue-up I used a belt sander to roughly square to make drilling easier.  This style is a pretty easy beginner segment - cut angle doesn't matter, drilling angle doesn't matter, fairly easy to turn...  You can use aluminum instead of gift card, but that makes drilling a little more difficult due to heat build up.


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