Cutting small pieces on a SCMS

[mark mcfarlane]

I was miter cutting some 3/4" * 1/4" white oak strips on a SCMS yesterday. One of the small offcuts (~2" * 3/4 * 1/4) went flying and destroyed my Kapex's Cauliflower zero clearance insert.

I suspect the wind from blade pulled the offcuts into the blade.

What are your tips for working with small parts on a SCMS that can't be held down effectively?

In retrospect, I should have probably used my slider, and the offcuts would have gone up the Shark Guard, but if there is a safe way to do this on the SCMS, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

p.s., This was the first project I worked on together with my wife. It was for her. Scared the crap out of her...

[glenn bradley]

A sacrificial fence and base are the go-to for small parts on the CMS. This keeps things fully supported. Clamping both the blank and the off cut is a good idea. Better idea for small stock is a miter box and a back saw IMHO.

[Prashun Patel]

I prefer a cross cut sled on the tablesaw. It is more accurate anyway, which is critical on small parts.

[Charles Lent]

I prefer a cross cut sled on the tablesaw. It is more accurate anyway, which is critical on small parts.

I would also do this on the table saw with a sled.

Have you considered getting a FastCap hold down for your miter saw? I don't think it's the best answer for this problem, but having one increased my miter saw safety level considerably. Every miter saw should come with one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=fastcaps+milliondollar+stick&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Afastcaps+milliondollar+stick

Charley

[Doug Hepler]

Mark,
I often cut segments and staves on my SCMS. My secondary table is screwed to the fence at the rear. IMO it is not wise to clamp both the stock and the offcut. I think that this is SCMS equivalent to jamming the offcut against the fence on a table saw. I clamp either, depending on the situation, but usually I clamp the offcut against the "rip fence" and let the stock piece move
Probably Prashun and others are right to suggest using a sled on a TS but I no longer have a TS

Doug380164

[Jim Becker]

Aside from the sacrificial, zero clearance fence thing...it's also important that once you make the actual cut you do not move the saw until it comes to a complete stop. Material flying is most often caused by said off-cut vibrating into the still-spinning blade when you start to raise it up before it's fully stopped.

[Edwin Santos]

If the question is what other tool should I use for this operation, then yes, I vote for a crosscut sled on the table saw.

If the question is, how can I work with small parts more safely on a miter saw, here is a link to a video showcasing a fellow in Georgia who demonstrates his methods for cutting small parts safely and precisely at the miter saw. He cuts parts much smaller than you were cutting.

The video is not the greatest, and if you're impatient you might not make it far because the gentleman is more of a tortoise than a hare, but I'd encourage you to hang with it because by the end I was completely enlightened by some of his techniques and now use them often at both the miter saw and table saw. I think there is a part II to the video also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knotpj60bsk&t=2023s

[Mike Cary]

If this was something you do a lot of, I would get a good backsaw and make a miter box.

[Erik Christensen]

what mike said - small stuff can be hard to hold, have small off cuts, leave fingers close to the blade & a catch can easily rotate part into blade

small stuff does not typically need the power of a motor driven blade & a manual miter box can do a lot of things on small material with equal or better quality and infinitely better safety

[mark mcfarlane]

Thanks everyone for the great tips.

Edwin, that is a good video, albeit slow, with good ideas for holding workpieces.

Doug, great idea for the aux table/fence with hold downs.

Jim, yes I violated this principle and moved the saw before it fully stopped :). I had zero clearance under the cut but not behind it.

The repeated idea for a non-powered miter box was also very good.

I just did a few test cuts and, without a zero clearance fence, small offcuts still shoot through the gap in the fence even if I wait for the blade to stop, due to the wind from the blade. Adding a zero clearance fence fixed that problem. The small (1/8 * 1/4 * 1/4) offcuts still moved a little, but not into the blade.

I think I now have a starting strategy for safe small cuts on the SCMS.

You all have, once again, exceeded my expectations with your generosity.

[mreza Salav]

I've had that experience a few times on miter saw and don't do small cuts on it; cross-cut sled on table saw with piece secured to the sled with hold downs.
Secure and safe.

[Brian Holcombe]

I made a zci for the groove and a zero clearance fence. As long as the offcut is about 1/2” long~ it will stay put, so far in my experience.

[Andrew Seemann]

One thing that can help is that on my Makita at least, you can lock the slide with the blade at the end of the cut which basically turns it into a regular miter/chop saw. I find this makes it easier for thin stock. It seems like it the arc cutting motion might push it into the fence better than the straight across motion, but that might just be my imagination.

I recently had to make a bunch of 1/4" x 1/2" x 1" white pine pieces (needed to fix a calculation error... on 24 pieces... aargh). I ended up doing the cross cut on the bandsaw. It was faster and way safer than either the SCMS or table saw.

[Neil Gaskin]

Personally I’ve found cutting Pieces that small on a powered miter saw is not safe or practical. After having similar situations to yours I went out and bought a Nobex Hand miter box/saw. It really is a sweet tool And I use it often but not as intended for really small parts. I find myself grabbing my saw hook and a backsaw for tiny pieces. It’s safer, easiest, and fastest for me. Picture from Wikipedia below for reference.

https://sawmillcreek.org/webkit-fake-url://4c14888f-a3b6-4c33-bf03-11a830f273e8/imagepng