Using endstops w Miter/ cutoff saw Best Practice ?

[Marc Jeske]

When I cut cuts who's quality matter, 90, 45, or whatever.. after I make the cut, BEFORE I raise the blade, I slide my good piece a tiny bit to left to clear the upgoing blade.

(My good piece is always to my left)

If I do not slide away from up going blade, sometimes cut end gets imperfect.. like hills and valleys.... Not terrible, but worse than if I slid away.

If I use endstops like if I want to make duplicate pieces to same accurate length, I cannot do that... UNLESS I have a helper pull a spacer between my board end and the stop before I lift blade.

Ya, I know about flipstops that flip easy, but still don't know if guys flip them during every cut.

And can't reach them if more than 2' away anyway.

Maybe one could set up some Rube Goldberg pulley system I suppose.


What do you guys do ?

With a good blade, and a solid miter saw, does your finished end cut suffer if you do not slide it away, or do you leave it in place.. NOT sliding before upcut?

Edit - AND like Steve said below -.. is blade turning or stopped when you raise the arm?

Thank you, Marc

[Steve Kohn]

Have you tried just letting the saw spool down to a stop then moving the parts? That's what I do if I'm worried about chip out.

[Marc Jeske]

Well sure, but that takes time even w a brake.

Seems to me blade needs to come to complete stop, not just slow, cause can still be weird blade vibing goin on.

So like you say, total stop.

A possible answer.

But again, takes time.

I dunno.

Marc

[Doug Hepler]

Steve Kohn has given you the best answer that I know. Yes, the blade has to stop spinning before you raise it out of the cut. Takes time. Yup.

Doug

[Sam Murdoch]

I can't think of a time when I have compromised a (or multiple) cross cuts by pulling up the blade with a sharp blade and tuned sliding miter saw.
Could be you need a flatter extension table to saw table or a better hold down technique on your board. If the hold down involves a clamp, waiting for the blade to stop spinning can actually be less of a nuisance than unclamping (unless you are using some type of toggle clamp).

Sounds like I'm being critical - sorry. I certainly intend no offense especially as I have no clear picture of your set up. I am rather just expressing a surprise that this is an issue. I would expect such a potential problem only with big (hard splintery 2x3 blocks of cypress, for example) or profile pieces like crown molding that has little fragile details that might break out, but not in everyday 1x cross cutting (face frame parts or the like).

Thinking this through further I realized that my 7-1/2" Makita could be a deciding factor. This is my primary shop miter saw. The 14" Hitachi is my construction saw and I rarely use that for repeated stopped cuts. I could imagine that pulling up a 14" blade would create quality of cut issues that a thin 7-1/2" blade does not. The Makita is one of my favorite tools. Its small size is a winning feature in many respects and very likely in this scenario too.

[Doug Hepler]

I do agree with Sam that the condition of the blade and the tuning of the saw matter in this problem. I rarely encounter it on my inexpensive 10" SCMS, even when cutting compound angles that have to glue together seamlessly. But in my admittedly limited experience, letting the blade stop rotating is part of basic technique for clean cuts with a miter saw. Also, it is a more readily enacted solution for the OP than checking his blade and tuning his saw. But those probably are better long-term solutions.

Doug

[Clint Baxter]

Agree with Sam about the condition of the blade and saw setup. One thing I've found that works well is to not use any sideways pressure on my cut, but to put slight pressure away from my piece when I raise the saw back up. You will know if it is still touching your cut piece when you lift it.

Clint

[Marc Jeske]

Clint - To clarify for me.. You are using the microscopic flex in the saw arm to your advantage in your example?

Do I follow you?

I do consciously always cut straight down, w absolutely no side pressure.

So.. you are saying after cutting downward, put that slight sideways pressure to move blade away from good piece as you raise arm up?

I do understand this primarily has to do with machine setup and any inherent slop, blade condition and type, etc, but in an imperfect world, trying to figure out best practice to deal w those possible setup imperfections.

I am also considering plate stabilizers and FULL Kerf blades as part of the solution.

My most common cut will not exceed 1x6, so the above additions should have no downside seems to me.

Please keep the ideas coming, Marc

[Clint Baxter]

Clint - To clarify for me.. You are using the microscopic flex in the saw arm to your advantage in your example?

Do I follow you?

I do consciously always cut straight down, w absolutely no side pressure.

So.. you are saying after cutting downward, put that slight sideways pressure to move blade away from good piece as you raise arm up?

I do understand this primarily has to do with machine setup and any inherent slop, blade condition and type, etc, but in an imperfect world, trying to figure out best practice to deal w those possible setup imperfections.

I am also considering plate stabilizers and FULL Kerf blades as part of the solution.

My most common cut will not exceed 1x6, so the above additions should have no downside seems to me.

Please keep the ideas coming, Marc

Yes, I'm using that tiny bit to clear the blade from the cut piece as it raises back up. As long as you've done a nice clean cut on the way down, it doesn't touch at all on the way back up. I do this on my Kapex which has very little slop whatsoever, so it doesn't take a lot of movement to work

Clint

[Wayne Lomman]

I only stop the blade still in the cut if there is some risk of the offcuts getting flicked into orbit. Otherwise, if you are getting break out, you need to check blade sharpness and technique. I always use stops for repetitive cuts. Simple offcuts wood blocks and a clamp are fine. Cheers

[Mike Schuch]

Yes, I'm using that tiny bit to clear the blade from the cut piece as it raises back up. As long as you've done a nice clean cut on the way down, it doesn't touch at all on the way back up. I do this on my Kapex which has very little slop whatsoever, so it doesn't take a lot of movement to work

Clint

Yep, this is what I do to. Press down on the way down then release and press to the right on the way up.

[Marc Jeske]

Thank you, Gentlemen.

Will try w these ideas. Marc