# Need Help I Need to cut a 60 degree bevel



## gregrlevy (Sep 27, 2013)

Hi

I need to cut a 60 degree bevel on a piece if 1" red oak approximately 4' long. My circular saw can only adjust to 45 degrees.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Greg


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Back in the day before all this fancy electrical "stuff"....it wouldv'e been cut with a handsaw and brought into perfection with a handplane.

A plane still represents an effective and pretty dang accurate way of hitting precise bevels.And they're cheap/available.

This is on a limited basis however.If you need to do more than 20 or so feet.....there "might" be better alternatives.And that depends on what tooling you have available.


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## 4DThinker (Mar 13, 2013)

What other tools do you have? How wide (or thick) is the 1" x4' Oak board?


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## Wendel17 (Apr 20, 2009)

If you had a table saw you could set it to 30 degrees and cut it on end


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*set your saw to 30 degrees*



gregrlevy said:


> Hi
> 
> I need to cut a 60 degree bevel on a piece if 1" red oak approximately 4' long. My circular saw can only adjust to 45 degrees.
> 
> ...


The saw is zero'd at 90 degrees. 30 degrees from 90 will give you
a 60 degree angle on the piece.

http://community.woodmagazine.com/t5/General-Woodworking/Bevel-at-60-degrees-on-ts/td-p/68482


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## wood shavings (Mar 20, 2009)

Bill you would have to make the cut coming from the end on edge to get the angle he is looking for. If cut on the face of the board the angle would be 30 degrees less

Jerry


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*here we go...again!*

In the world of woodworking tools zero degrees is 90 degrees.
So when you set your saw at "0" you are going to get a cut that is 90 degrees from the surface. If you set your saw at 30 degrees, you will get a 60 degree bevel. The result when measured by a protractor is 60 degrees, since 90 minus 30 is 60.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

you need to tell us what surface needs the bevel, end, edge, or face. you will likely get more accurate responses to your needs.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I agree it would be necessary to know which way the cut has to be made. Since you're using a handheld circular saw, it tilts only one way. It would depend which way you orient the cut to get the compliment of a 30° setting.












 







.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Like Cabinetman said - Welcome.

Woodnthings - you've done an excellent job explaining. The only other thing you could do is go over and cut the wood for him.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

There are some cuts that can't be easily made with a handheld circular saw, there are work arounds. An acute angle can be cut using two straight edges one on each side of cut. One to guide the saw and another to run the base of the saw along the top corner at an angle. The distance for the second guide has to be figured out, not easy but can be done.

The sketch below illustrates the method, if the cut is close to the edge it may have to be done on a sacrificial base with one straight edge and board clamped to base,


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*that's a good tip*

The drawing shows "acute" angles on the workpiece, as well as obtuse. Acutes are less than 90 degrees, obtuse angles are greater than 90 degrees. Small point, but important for clarity. :smile: 
Acute angles less than 45 degrees are what would require the method above. JMO.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

woodnthings said:


> The drawing shows "acute" angles on the workpiece, as well as obtuse. Acutes are less than 90 degrees, obtuse angles are greater than 90 degrees. Small point, but important for clarity. :smile:
> Acute angles less than 45 degrees are what would require the method above. JMO.


I knew that, just not when I typed it, edited post. :yes:


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## gregrlevy (Sep 27, 2013)

Thanks for all of the help!!!

Greg


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