How To Cut A Long Slot In Thin Wood With Hand Saw Part 3. This is my method for cutting long slots in thin wood using mostly hand tools as quickly as possible. Drilling through first makes it easy for me to chisel out the middle part later. Cutting off a relatively large corner allows more space for the hand saw to maneuver and cut along both long sides. In the end, you'll be delighted to finish the other end, hold a whole cutoff piece in hand, and clean just some wood chips on your workbench. T