How to cut good miters?

[dennis thompson]

I read a lot of interesting posts on how to cut ,what to me, are some fairly complicated joints.
I'm still at the point where I can't even cut a nice clean miter without gaps
Any suggestion on how to cut this basic joint?
Thanks
Dennis

[Robert Reece]

I made a sled for my tablesaw that rides in both miter slots. Well instead of explaining it, here - http://www.e-woodshop.net/images/MitreSled2.jpg
Mine is not quite that elaborate.

Works great as long as you construct it with care.

[Russ Boyd]

There are different methods for different miters. Are you cutting a long miter or a picture frame miter or maybe trying to miter trim for a door? What tools do you have to accomplish the miter? It's possible that the tool or blade may be the problem and not you. With a little more information, I'm sure you'll get a lot of helpful suggestions.

[Greg Coleman]

I read a lot of interesting posts on how to cut ,what to me, are some fairly complicated joints.
I'm still at the point where I can't even cut a nice clean miter without gaps
Any suggestion on how to cut this basic joint?
Thanks
Dennis


Are you using the miter gauge that came with your table saw? If you are I would suggest that you replace it with an aftermarket one, or build a dedicated sled. The stock miter gauge was my problem with ill fitting miter joints. I have since gone to a Dubby sled. I get perfect miters every time. If you are using a miter saw I really have no suggestions. I never use it for miters.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Why doesn't anyone use a miter saw? That's what I use. I get gap-less miters. Picture frames too. As long as the wood is less than the capacity of the saw. The sled would be necessary if the wood is too wide.....

[Robert Reece]

1. My Makita slide miter doesn't seem to cut through hardwood very well so the cut ends up being not so good. I am working on this problem (ordered a new blade).

2. dust collection. My tablesaw collects dust much better than my miter saw.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

The sliding feature does add some error IMO. I would not buy one for that reason alone. I have a DW non-slider. It's pretty accurate.

No comment on the dust spewing of the miter saw..... I just sweep it out. Although my table saw above top dust collection (none) sucks. That spews dust towards you. Mitersaws spews away....

[David Keller NC]

Dennis - I've both a DW (non-sliding) miter saw and also cut them on a UniSaw equiped with an Incra sliding miter sled. Both give accurate, but not perfect, results. But I'm very picky - perfection is only achieved by getting a very close result from the TS or MS and then shooting the ends on a shooting board with a plane.

Particularly for interior trim work, shop furniture, etc..., the TS or MS can be configured to yield more than good results. The key is calibration - no miter saw, whether it's the sliding type or not, comes accurately calibrated straight from the factory, or if it is, it was luck of the draw. And all of them have calibration adjustments - you simply get some scrap stock, cut a couple of miters, put them together, and measure the interior angle. If it's less/more than 90 degrees, you just adjust the stop on the saw until you get it dialed in.

Same deal with a purchased or shop-made miter slide for your table saw.

[Jason Strauss]

Dennis,

I just finished some tappered columns from my front porch. The joints on the column themselves are butt joints cut completely on the TS with a large jig; no miters. However, the trim work around the base and top of each column was done on the TS for the bevel cuts and then my Ridgid 12" miter saw for the compound miters at the corners . This is the most exacting miter work I've done to date given that the pieces needed to be nice and tight due to outdoor conditions. I found that using a good bevel gauge and some trial and error on scrap helped me set up the machines within a tight tolerance of each other. I also found that there was about 1.5 degree differece between the angle indicator on my TS and the indicator on my Ridgid. So, if you're relying on the angle indicators on your machines, that might be the source of your problem.

These might be rookie realizations, but for me, they've made a world of difference in my accuracy. I suppose if I had higher end tools I should expect the angle indicators to be accurate, but alas my budget forces me to check all angles manually.

Best of luck!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

build a sled. The miter fence is not accurate. It's sloppy and wiggles around in the track.

[Joe Scharle]

I hardly use a miter gage for the reason Cliff gave. Have used $300 miter gages, but they're not as accurate as a sled. This one is from Wood mag (I think) and Dubby has one as well. Using an adjustable Right Angle, I can set a miter angle and know it's on the money.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/194/Universal_Tablesaw_Jig.jpg

[Kyle Iwamoto]

WOW!

Now THAT's a sled!!!!!!
Sweet.

I'll still use my miter saw though. That looks way hard to build.... My miter saw is accurate enough.