How to Make a Series of Cuts in the Wood to Curve it

Wood fibers in a thick piece of wood don't allow the wood to bend beyond a few degrees. Even a piece of wood just 1/2 inch thick doesn't bend easily. Woodworkers often steam wood to bend it, but that is not always practical or possible for a home woodworker. A compromise is kerf cutting the back of a board to allow it to bend along it's face. Kerf cutting places a series of cuts along the back of a piece, which leave a very thin, but bendable face.

Table saw with crosscut blade
Tape measure
1-by-2 pine lumber

Instructions

- 1
  Set the table saw blade height to 11/16 inches. Remove the fence from the saw and install the miter gauge. Set the miter gauge with the face perpendicular to the saw blade.
- 2
  Pull the tape measure along the 1-by-2 face and mark the face of the board at 1-inch intervals. Place the 1-by-2 on the table saw against the face of the miter gauge and align the first mark with the blade. Do not allow the board to touch the blade yet.
- 3
  Turn on the table saw and allow the blade to spin up to speed. Hold the board firmly against the face of the miter gauge and push the miter gauge forward to feed the wood into the blade. After the trailing edge of the board passes the maximum height of the blade, withdraw the miter gauge and board back toward you, while keeping the board firmly pressed against the face of the miter gauge.
- 4
  Move the board to align the next mark with the blade. Feed the board into the blade as per the previous step. Continue cutting on each mark until the entire length of the board that will curve has a cut in the back of the board.

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