# Positioning piece of wood for 45 degree miter on a TS?



## Vexorg (Apr 16, 2014)

Hello,

I am cutting plywood for a large plywood wood box and I am mitering the edges at 45 degrees.

I have my table saw set at 45 degrees but I am sort of confused as the best way to make sure I make the cut in the right spot. 

Is the best way to go about this to make a test cut on a similar piece of wood the same length? Or should I set up a zero clearance jig to make sure I know exactly where the blade will cut?'

Looking for any guidance! Thanks.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*miter or bevel?*

For miters you would use the miter gauge.
For bevels you tilt the saw blade to 45 degrees and use the fence. On a mitered cut the wood is placed flat on the table, the miter gauge is set to 45 degrees and away you go, like making a picture frame.
For making a cabinet you bevel the edges, so you can't see the joint. You set the blade over to 45 degrees and use the fence to guide the other edge of the material. Then you rotate the material 90 degrees on the table and bevel the remaining edge.

To find out where to make a bevel cut, you CAN mark the edge of the material using the tri-square at 45 degrees.Your initial mark is at the desired dimension on the top and you transfer the line to the edge so you can see it. You can NOT set the fence to the desired dimension and make a bevel cut because of the angle on the blade. The material thickness comes into play here also. 

This step is not necessary IF you set the fence on the right side a bit extra, and make a very shallow starting cut to see where the blade is. You can also sight the cut by eye to determine where to set the fence for your first cut, but it takes a bit of experience to get good at that.

On a bevel cut, the blade is always tilted AWAY from the fence so as not to trap the work under the blade and cause a kickback. On a typical "left tilt" table saw the fence is on the right side of the blade and the cut is made and the scrap falls on the left side of the blade. 

:smile:


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## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

Great advice from woodnthings. Also consider buying a drafting/drawing 45 degree scale (at office supply stores) to set your miter and/or TS blade at an exact 45 degree. DO NOT rely on the markings that come with the table saw! Most are off a bit. Be safe.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> EDIT:
> For making a cabinet you bevel the edges, so you can't see the joint. You set the blade over to 45 degrees and use the fence to guide the other edge of the material. Then you rotate the material *180 degrees* on the table and bevel the remaining edge.
> 
> 
> :smile:


Oooops, I said 90 degrees, I should have said 180 degrees.....
:thumbdown:


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

May be splitting hairs but, a miter is a type of joint where two bevel cuts are joined together. We cut bevels to make miters.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*like I said ...*

Miters are made on a miter saws OR on a table saw using the miter gauge.... HOWEVER you can make a bevel using either machine also. The difference is the orientation of the workpiece. For a miter the work would be placed flat on the table, for a bevel it would be held vertically.

The difference comes when describing very long joints on a cabinet and using the table saw where you set the blade over using the bevel control on the table saw AND you use the fence to register the far edge of the workpiece.

Even a search shows both types of joints, but the beveled miters are very few and are on narrow pieces, unlike a cabinet:

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs...fr=ytff1-gl-gen1&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-006

The only time it matters what you call it is when asking a specific question, using a specific machine for specific operation. It would be more difficult to make the spline kerf using a miter saw where you would have to control for the depth than on a table saw where you can just lower the blade.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

*It is a bevel however it is cut.*

Still contend that the cut is a bevel cut, the joint is a miter joint no matter how they are orientated. 

On a picture frame for example the bevels are cut in relation to the edge, on the sides of a box the bevels are cut in relation to the face.


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## Vexorg (Apr 16, 2014)

woodnthings said:


> For miters you would use the miter gauge.
> For bevels you tilt the saw blade to 45 degrees and use the fence. On a mitered cut the wood is placed flat on the table, the miter gauge is set to 45 degrees and away you go, like making a picture frame.
> For making a cabinet you bevel the edges, so you can't see the joint. You set the blade over to 45 degrees and use the fence to guide the other edge of the material. Then you rotate the material 90 degrees on the table and bevel the remaining edge.
> 
> ...


Sorry for the confusion, I indeed did mean a 45° bevel on the table saw. 

The piece I have are fairly large (the ultimate dimensions of the cabinet will be 31" H x 39.5 W X 16" D) Therefore I will be making multiple (8) 16" bevel cuts.

My saw is a TS3650, and you like you mentioned it is indeed left tilt (my fence will go on the right). 

I think my plan will be to try a test cut on another piece to get a feel for sighting the cut and the then make a series of shallow cuts with the actual piece.


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## Vexorg (Apr 16, 2014)

FrankC said:


> May be splitting hairs but, a miter is a type of joint where two bevel cuts are joined together. We cut bevels to make miters.


Indeed this is a bevel cut, sorry for the confusion.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*just make one cut*

Don't make a series of shallow cuts, but make one pass at the depth necessary to separate the piece. You don't want any ridges from multiple passes to prevent a glue bond. If your dimensions are super critical, then sight the cut OR make slight nibble cut to determine where the kerf will fall relative to your mark that has been transferred to the edge. 
For making multiple same size panels, just repeat the process on each panel without moving the fence. Then adjust the fence to the new setting to make all the panels the same width.

Don't forget... there are rights and lefts when making a cabinet with bevels edges....


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