Circular or Jigsaw

[Langleyhouse]

Hi
About to clad stringers on stairs with oak cladding, I have cut a ply template for one side with a hand saw, came out as a good fit.
But would like to cut the more expensive oak cladding with a decent power tool.
Never had a jigsaw, did have a old circular saw many years ago, now defunct, treat my self to both and is one better than the other for the above job
Cheers
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Circular saw is good for straight cuts, a jigsaw excels at less than straight cuts.

 

[opps]

Which type of stringer are you talking about?

With a cut stringer, I would use a circular saw for the straight cuts and possibly a coping/fret saw for the rounds. You can wrap some sandpaper around doweling to finish sand the rounds.

 

[Langleyhouse]

thank you for your reply, wall stringers each side of treads and the cut stringer on the outside face of stairs,

 

[GhostIntMachine]

You may need both! A decent jigsaw, providing it can cut in a straight line, should do the notching you require. Get yourself some decent fine cut blades (Bosch actually do blades specifically designed for laminates, e.g. T128BHM, T101BIF, T101AOF, etc). Be prepared to do a lot of adjustment cuts to get the stringer to match the treads and risers. You may be surprised at how much difference there is step to step

 

[aveatry]

I did my wall stringer successfully using 250mm wide oak veneer (iorn on)made a paper template then cut with scissors. Top edge covered with beading and bottom by the carpet. Did it in about 4 pieces, inviable join at the thinnest part

 

[GhostIntMachine]

I did my wall stringer successfully using 250mm wide oak veneer (iorn on)made a paper template then cut with scissors. Top edge covered with beading and bottom by the carpet. Did it in about 4 pieces, inviable join at the thinnest part

Last ones I did were 18mm MR-MDF. Used a combination of jigsaw and plunge saw: laid the timber up the stairs resting on the nosings, transferred the riser and stringer positions directly onto the stringer and cut away the triangles. The resulting comb got offered in and adjustments were made with a jigsaw. Once fitted the vertical offset at the bottom and stop was marked, and the straight line sawn with a circular saw (actually a plunge saw and guide rail). Not quite the textbook way, but the stairs were square edged, there were 6 stringers, there were 6 floors - and I was getting the hurry up!

 

[robinbanks]

When cutting with the circ saw, have the saw resting on the back side, and use a blade with many teeth. Using a coarse blade on the front side might cause the teeth to pluck splinters or wood out adjacent the cut and ruin the finish. If you must cut the front side, consider pre-scoring the cut line with a Stanley knife or running the saw on a very shallow pass first

 

[Langleyhouse]

thank I'm planning to the stringers on both side of stairs, new carpet on steps