Sawing Wood

Building something is always fun. Here is a quick way to create a hand saw cutting through some lumber. 

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Start with a rounded rectangle for the wood. Add a heavy stroke and a fill.

​Make a copy of this and save it for the end steps. 

Create concentric circles using the Polar Grid Tool. While drawing, hold SHIFT to make it a perfect circle AND use the UP arrow to add circle, DOWN arrow to take them away. To remove the dividers, use the LEFT arrow. 

Select the rounded rectangle and click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the toolbar. 

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Cut the circles and paste them into the shape. Move them around until the rings are off set. Click on the Draw Normal mode. 

To edit the rings pasted inside, select the shape and click on the Edit Content button in the Control Bar. This allows you to selected and move the shapes without breaking it out of the clipping mask. 

Create a few pieces of lumber using different fills. Use the Control Bar buttons to isolate the contents then the clipping mask (the shape) to change the color. 

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For the saw, create a gray filled rectangle. 

Using the Polygon tool, draw and use the down arrow to remove sides until you get a triangle. 

Duplicate the triangle until you have all the teeth along the saw. Select all the shapes and use the Pathfinder Unite Mode to make them one shape. 

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Add a heavy stroke to the saw blade. 

Use the Direct Selection tool to select the upper left point and move the point down to taper the saw blade. 

Create a rectangle for the handle. 

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With the Curvature Tool select the right edge and move the center in to create a curve. 

Use the Direct Selection tool to select the lower left point and move the point in to taper the handle. 

Select the shape the Direct Selection tool and pull the corner widgets in to round all the edges. 

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Add a rounded rectangle in the center for the opening. 

To create the screws that hold the handle to the blade, create a circle and a thin rectangle. 

Select both shapes and use the Pathfinder Minus front mode to remove the rectangle and reveal the screw. 

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Assemble the handle, blade and screws. Select all the shapes and group them together. 

Add some lines behind the wood to create a bit of atmosphere. Round cap (hot dog) the ends of the lines. 

Add the Saw blade behind the top piece of wood to make it look like it is cutting through it. 

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Create small squares for the saw dust. Rotate the shapes to make it look like they are falling. 

With the copied shape from Step 1. remove the stroke, add a light gray fill and in the opacity panel, change the Blend Mode to multiply.

Move the shape behind the top piece of lumber and in front of the saw. Done!