# Miter Saw Advice



## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

Hello All,

I do a fair bit of woodworking - generally with only a limited number of hand tools. I do use my electric drill a lot and a router as well. I can usually cut 45 degree miters quite accurately by hand. However, for an upcomping project I have two needs


I need to cut 48 miters ast 45 degrees
Six more at 12 and 78 degrees each

Doing the former manually would just be a lot of hard work - which does not bother me - but doing the latter is going to be a challenge. So I have finally decided to take the plunge and get myself a tool to help me with the job. However, I am unable to determine just what would help me here - particularly for the second job. The ideas I am considering are


A hand miter saw such as the ones here. (I live in Luxembourg so it is easier to source tools from Germany)
A mini bandsaw such as this one - I feel comfortable with bandsaws since I used them a lot at one time
The Worx blade runner - though it seems to be really hard to buy one right now

I have spent a lot of time reading through reviews and weighing up the pros and cons of each option. In the end I still feel that I just don't know enough here to make the right choice. I'd be most obliged to anyone here who might be able to give me some tips.

The 12 & 78 degree cuts are a one off job for my next project. However, I can see no way round them so whatever I get will have to help me do that - at least in part:I don't mind sweating over the details manually if necessary.


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## asevereid (Apr 15, 2012)

I'll always recommend a miter saw for such things, but you are obviously comfortable with hand tools at this point, so I won't push the matter... But for the six cuts you're suggesting, why not cut them by hand and build a custom shooting board to finish them off with?


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## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

Thanks. I use hand tools in part because I feel that if nature gave me muscles it was so I could use them. However, that does not mean that I would avoid using power tools at any cost.

When you suggest a miter saw do you mean the manual variety or a power saw?

Shooting board - yes, I have toyed with the idea and might end up creating one.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

I have to ask, why is a powered miter saw not considered? One of those would do a better job of cutting miters than a band saw would, and bandsaws are generally limited in the length that they can cross-cut. Not to mention the miter saw would give cleaner, more accurate cuts than would either a small bandsaw or the blade runner


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## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

Are power miter saws inherently more reliable than the manual variety? I gather that there can be an issue with the cheaper manual ones "swinging" with the result that they do not produce true cuts but then I imagine that there will be some issues with cheap power miters too.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

A bandsaw is not an appropriate tool.

Unless you are cutting very thick wood I would just set up a hand miter saw. You can make your own box to guide the cuts very easily. A sharp saw that is appropriate for the job would make easy work of the job.

George


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## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

Yes, I have been toying with the idea of just building my own little miter box for the job - though just how I get accurate 78 & 12 slots in it and whether it is worth doing for a one-off requirement is debatable.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*The miter saw's angles*

A powered miter saw will read "0" degrees, but the cut is a 90 degree angle or square. As you rotate the saw around on the angle scale it will read increasing degrees up to 45. Let's take a 20 degree reading on the scale. That will result in a 70 degree angle on your work... 90 minus 20 = 70. So, every setting on the scale is subtracted from 90 to get the angle on the work. Sounds easy once you get this. You can cut angles from 90 to 45 degrees easily. However ....
to cut a 67.5 angle simply make a 45 backer to place against your fence, then put your boards against that instead of the fence, and cut 22.5's  
OR:
 

You want a 12 degree angle on your work...right? You can't easily use a miter saw for that angle because it will not rotate around that much unless you hold the work at 90 degrees to the fence. HUH? If you do that you can cut a 12 degree angle but it's very awkward to support a workpiece that way, possible but not easy..

So, what do we do now? If you can mark your angles on the workpiece you can either cut them with a jigsaw, a bandsaw or by hand following your mark. I have cut 22.5 degrees on the table saw using a special jig for that angle. It's just a runner attached to a board which becomes the "fence" for the shallow angle. The yellow protractor is there to show the angle is 22. 5 degrees.


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## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

Thank you very much for the comprehensive answer, Woodthings. Much appreciated.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

I'd build a one-off miter box. Assuming you have a good handsaw, anyway.

Here's how I'd do it for my Veritas Carcass saw:

1) Cut a rabbet in a base: it can be hardwood, softwood, plywood, whatever. It just needs to be flat. Make sure the rabbet is clean and at a perfect 90 degrees to the board. It's going to keep the fence in place, so it needs to be done right. (This actually shouldn't be very hard... with a decent moving fillister plane it should basically cut itself, and even using an unfenced rabbet or shoulder plane it should be pretty easy.)

2) Fix a fence in place. This should be hardwood, and you need to know that the top and both sides are square to each other. Glue it into the rabbet, and think about running some screws up from the bottom.

3) Mark the angle you need on the fence. If it's long enough, you can mark both of them. Also mark down the sides all the way down to the base.

4) Clamp at least one guide-block to the top of the fence, and make the cut very carefully. The block should keep the sawblade vertical, and also on track. Once you're down a half inch or so, you can probably take the guide-block off.

Basically, if you're comfortable cutting a slit in the fence with a handsaw, you ought to be able to make it close enough to perfect. Just make sure to cut a test piece first, and you can shim the fence with masking tape if you're a fraction of a degree off.


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## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

Thanks


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## sof4 (Mar 8, 2016)

I was not inclined to start making jigs etc for what is purely a one-off job. So here is what I eventually did


Changed by design so I could use angles of 15 and 75 degrees
Cut a 28 x 38mm piece of wood at 15 degrees (90s complement on my Stanley miter saw)
Cut the 15 degree miter directly on the miter saw - no big issues there
Place the work piece at an angle of 75 - as opposed to 90 - degrees to the miter saw with the help of the 2 15 degree wedges created earlier
Cut at 0 degrees (90s complement, 90)

Images attached. The end result was pretty much perfect.


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