# Most accurate way to mark 45° on TS Sled Question



## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

After recent conversation about cutting accurate 45° miter joints, I decided to make some reference marks on my sled for future cuts. But after placing my little 45°square on the TS I realized that I may not have the best tools for doing that. Do I need to buy something or will this method work?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

The square may not be the most accurate.

I would either get a more accurate square or mark out a right triangle.

One line is your cut.

One line drawn along the rear fence. Make it a round number of inches may be easier.

Measure the same distance from the rear fence down the cut line to toward the front fence.

Join the two and you should have a good 45 deg. The bigger the distance the better the angle should be.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*try what you have*

Those Speed squares are not tool room accurate, but pretty close in my experience. Try it. Make a cut, assemble the mitered ends at 90 degrees and the locate your square on the inside and see if there are gaps or openings.

A draftsman's triangle or a digital angle guage will be the most accurate. But each time you change your sled's fences you have to re-calibrate them at 45 degrees. A simple and accurate method will the least frustrating, and that just may be the Speed Square you are showing. Try it.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> A draftsman's triangle or a digital angle guage will be the most accurate.


 Oh yes I still have my draftsman tools from 40 years ago and I do have a large Triangle. :thumbsup:

Its been so long that I forgot that I even went to school for Drafting. :laughing:


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

*TS Miter Failed*

Well it didn’t much matter how I did it, they all had the same results.










I cut perfect 45˚ miters except that they are not perfect 90˚s so I give up on using the table saw to cut miters. 










I can set the blade exactly 90˚ to the table with my piece exactly 45˚ to the cut, but I cannot control the sled to slide parallel to the table. This was a complete fail for the type of miter I need to cut and that’s why I chose the Miter saw over the table saw.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

This is cut from my cheap Craftsman miter saw done in a fraction of the time with no setup required and accurate enough for any woodworking project. :thumbsup:


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## Alchymist (Jan 2, 2011)

http://www.woodsmithshop.com/download/511/table-saw-miter-sled.pdf


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Well the point I was trying to make was why use a table saw when you have a miter saw, but the guy in this video sure makes it look easy. Now that I think about it, this is exactly how I used to do it before I got a miter saw. :laughing:






I'm going to make a box using this method just to check it out.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Here's what happened...I think..*



Sleeper said:


> Well the point I was trying to make was why use a table saw when you have a miter saw, but the guy in this video sure makes it look easy. Now that I think about it, this is exactly how I used to do it before I got a miter saw. :laughing:
> 
> Table Saw Miter Joint with Reinforcing Spline - YouTube
> 
> I'm going to make a box using this method just to check it out.



Back when... tablesaws and radial arms were too heavy to carry out on the site and back and forth even though some contractors did, myself included. I had a stripped down Craftsman 10" contractor saw that had no side extensions on a bare bones base, I took the motor off, but could barely lift it in and out of the truck. So... someone inverted a miter saw, lighter and more portable than the radial arm saw. 

Miter saws were the rage and still are, but for a shop with a table saw, the crosscut sled came along and it was more accurate and could cut wider boards and panels than either a miter saw or radial arm saw. I still think it's the best and most accurate method for miters and especially smaller pieces that are apt to get loose on the miter saw table where the blade is exposed next to your fingers. 

A dedicated miter sled like shown above is the cat's meow for framing. Mine is adjustable for all sorts of angles:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/table-saw-sled-build-49218/

Some other great examples:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/thanks-inspiration-woodnthings-50693/

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/new-mitre-sled-49906/


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Well I just tried cutting the miter on its side with the blade at 45 deg, but I just realized that I have no way to secure my piece and hold it flat on the table.



















I don’t know, but I’m still not impressed with cutting miters on the table saw. It’s just too much work setting everything up. :smile:


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

I really need one of those digital angle things!


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Chris Curl said:


> I really need one of those digital angle things!


 It was something I thought I would never need until I saw Kenbos video on how to use it. Now that I have one, I don’t know how I ever did without it


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

OMG after days of experimenting with so many different ways of cutting miters I found the most accurate way of cutting this type of miter besides the Miter Saw is the simplest way. I not only was able to cut absolute perfect miters, but I also was able to fix a couple of bad ones cut with the sled.


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## SteveEl (Sep 7, 2010)

I'm a bit late, but for the purpose of the opening post, I'd use sophomore geometry and a compass that reaches at least 2/3 across the sled to layout the lines - the wider the compass, the more accurate the results. First decide where on your fence you want to measure the 45 from; Then bisect the 180 angle at that point (which makes a line precisely square to the fence and two 90 deg angles). Now bisect whichever 90 deg angle you want to turn it into two 45s. That's your line.

There's lots of youtube vids on how to bisect angles, and it's super-simple. Only hard part is finding a compass with a long awl end, so the fence itself isn't in the way of the little bells and and whistles on some compasses.


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