# How I get really nice miter joints



## gideon (May 26, 2010)

Don't know if this is really common knowledge but this is how I get really accurate and clean miter joints. 

I grab a piece of scrap wood I know is flat, clamp it to my table saw fence with enough room for the stock to easily ride the auxiliary fence underneath. Then I set my blade at 45 and slowly creep the auxiliary fence into the blade. The blade cuts into the fence, I run the first piece thru and back the blade out in small increments until it takes just enough off to protect the overall dimension of the finished product. 

Oh, and take the riving knife off or it'll prevent the blade from creeping in to the auxiliary fence.

This is especially important if you are running pieces thru which are longer than your table saws width and doubly so if you use a contractors saw like me.

Hope this was helpful to somebody. I often get a lot more advice than I give here.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks. I knew there just had to be a trick.
So, if I got this right, you bring in the fence assembly from left to right,
with the saw running, to chew a groove in the fence wood?
Next, you back the fence assembly off to the left in your pic.
Does that mean the the very edge of the blade is operating in the groove which
the blade has previously cut?


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

correct. when I run my first cut, I intentionally cut less off to determine how far out I need to move the saw blade. Once the blade is set at the right distance, you run your material through and there you go.

It also helps to avoid the stress you encounter when using the fence with the miter gauge against the saw bade at 45. I've noticed that, when I'm doing this, the board wants to twist in the blade causing a kickback hazard.


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

some follow up photos.


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## the dude (Jun 15, 2012)

I like that idea, those joints look perfect.

pit bulls rock!


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

thats how i made these too:


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

Are you trapping the cutoff piece between the aux fence and blade? If so I understand that is a no-no.
Tom


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

it does get trapped but no where for it to go. you can also ease your work piece into the final cut in small increments so that all that is coming off is equal to the thickness of the blade or so.


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