How to mitre cut 12/4 mahogany

[John Vietmeyer]

What saw or technique would you use to cut a mitre in 12/4 mahogany (measures 2 3/4”) finished? My 10” table saw at a 45 Can only get through 2.5”. I’ve tried hand sawing the remaining and using a router on a jig but have not found a perfect solution. I need clean cuts so the 45s come together cleanly at the joins.

I promised my fiancé I’d build her a console table with waterfall edge and this cut has me stumped.

[Ben Bowie]

I'd take a hand plane to it and keep checking for 45 degrees every few shavings.

[Brian Holcombe]

I have a chop saw setup accurately and if need be, tune by hand with hand planes.

[Prashun Patel]

Do as you did: cut the majority on the table saw. Then use a handsaw to cut the remainder, proud. Finally tune with a jack plane. Skew it so that the sole references the table sawn surface. You will be able to shoot the hand sawn portion perfectly this way.

[glenn bradley]

I would clean up the end with a 12 inch disc sander .

[Frank Drew]

John

You can mount 12" blades on some 10" saws -- the blade can't be lowered completely below the table but that's not a problem if all you use it for is deep cuts. You might need to make a new throat plate and, of course, your crosscut/miter jig has to be dead on.

[John Vietmeyer]

Thanks for the inputs! Right now I’m limited to router and a few entry level saws (table, jig, mitre). Anyone have luck using a router jig to do this?

[johnny means]

I would cut as deep as I could, then finish up with a Japanese handsaw.

[Robert Engel]

Maybe a file?

I don't know how you could use a router without getting tear out trying to do this.

BTDT -- trying to do a task with the wrong tools.....almost always ends up in frustration and maybe ruining a project.

IMO the necessary tools to do this job well are a hand saw and a hand plane.

A Japanese saw will be best choice here due to pull stroke as well as #4 handplane. Woodcraft carries some decent quality. I'm sure your fiancee will be impressed you spent a few bucks on tools to do a nice job for her. Another plus it will "prime the pump" for your future tool purchases LOL.

[Brian Holcombe]

The hand plane is easy here, you have a big reference surface since you're working with 2-3/4" thick material. Just tune until the joints seat at 90. Be careful about going over the sides with a hand plane, it can be disastrous if they're not insanely sharp or if the wood has any runout at all. I much prefer to plane toward center, then take a stroke and knock the center down.

With the sides already apart I can't see where a flush cut saw is going to do much good.

Just an FYI but if you want continuous grain on the outside edge then you're going to have to put a new miter on the inside of the off cut. That way it breaks like a hinge, rather than being flipped around on the legs.

[Edwin Santos]

With the sides already apart I can't see where a flush cut saw is going to do much good.



Hi Brian,
Because there is a good reference surface, I could see using one of the flexible Japanese flush cut saws to remove the ledge that needs to be cleaned up. In fact, rather than sawing totally flush, I might put 2-3 pieces of masking tape on the side of the flush cut saw to leave a tiny bit of material to then take off with a sharp block plane. This allows the ability to sneak up on the final surface. A very flat sanding block with adhered sandpaper would work in lieu of the plane too.
Your warning about breakout going over the sides is very valid.

[Kevin L. Waldron]

Use a sled on the table saw....... and cut with the blade straight up..... and material angled at 45%.......

[John Redford]

Perhaps you couls sneak up on it with a circular hand saw.

[Steve Jenkins]

If you’re anywhere near Dallas I could throw it up on my slider and be done in a couple minutes

[Prashun Patel]

If you really don't think a hand plane is in your cards, you could cross cut it as deep as possible on the table saw, then flip it over and complete the cut upside down. I think you may have to do the second cut from the other side of the blade.

You'd have to sneak up on the cut and make sure your set up is 100% perfect. Edit: Actually I suppose by cutting on the other side of the blade it’s going to be dead on.

[Wade Lippman]

Bandsaw?
Do it your method and clean it up with a edge sander?
Post here asking if anyone has a 12" saw?

[John TenEyck]

W/o a handplane I would cut as deep as possible on your TS, finish the cut proud with a handsaw, then file and sandpaper referencing off the TS cut. You could do it with a router mounted on a base that references off the TS cut, too, but there's a lot more chance of tearout trying that; none if you do it manually.

John

[andy bessette]

Best approach would be to put enough of a radius on the finished joint's corner, instead of a dangerously sharp corner. That way you can simply cutoff the small portion left by your table saw.

[johnny means]

That would ruin the waterfall with a band of endgrain.

[Bernie May]

I agree with Prashun. One side of blade, flip piece, and run through other side of blade.

[mreza Salav]

I would do as you said your self: deep cut with table saw, cut the rest (proud) with a hand saw, jig up a small router and use a flush trim bit from the other side to make it flush with the table saw cut surface.

[Rob Price]

Use a sled on the table saw....... and cut with the blade straight up..... and material angled at 45%.......
My vote. Sled.

[mreza Salav]

My vote. Sled.

if the blade doesn't have enough depth, how would a sled make much of a difference? the cross-section of the cut is simply more than half (minus arbor) radius of the blade, so it doesn't matter which one is tilted. Difference will be very small.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'd just build a tall miter box & cut the whole thing by hand. It might need some final cleanup, which with the addition of a tall fence extension on the jointer's fence would be a simple quick way to do it.

[Peter Kelly]

https://youtu.be/uX2s5rjz4_M

[Rob Price]

Depending on the trunion mechanism often the cut depth is less when the blade is tilted to 45 degrees- more of the blade is below the table.

[Mike Cutler]

Use a sled on the table saw....... and cut with the blade straight up..... and material angled at 45%.......

This gets my vote.
You're going to end up making some type of jig to do this. It's actually a jig you should have anyway.

[Patrick Kane]

Without a handplane or a few other basic tools, i have to suggest the best method might be begging/paying someone local to do it. For example, for $20 id make that cut on my slider for you and send you on your way 5-10 mins later with a perfect joint.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Stick a piece of newspaper between the cauls and the pieces of wood in that video & use Elmer's School glue and removing the cauls becomes a minor task instead of a sanding mess.

[Wade Lippman]

This gets my vote.
You're going to end up making some type of jig to do this. It's actually a jig you should have anyway.

How exactly would you make that jig?

[Mike Cutler]

Wade
I make them out of plywood. Only because I detest MDF.
It's just a crosscut sled with a platform table at 45 degrees to the blade. I've made them for router tables, and table saws.
The material sets on top of the panel and is clamped in place.
It has limitations for size though. You have to be able to control the wood.
It takes a day or so to make one and a motor shim kit.

[Mike Kees]

OK someone just has to say this... John you are missing the dang point. What you have here is a golden opportunity to start your marriage off right. This is the perfect place to explain that you need one more tool to complete this project. :) Welcome to the 'creek' we are all pulling for you,good luck,Mike.

[Alex Zeller]

Home Depot use to rent a 16 1/4 Makita circular saw (haven't checked lately). It was for cutting landscaping timbers but post and beam guys use them all the time.

[Brian Holcombe]

Being a good husband is being a bit of a salesman :).

“Yes ma’am, that first cut is mighty expensive, but subsequent cuts are actually saving you money. By year-end this Martin T-70 will have saved you thousands. It would be downright wreckless not to buy it, I will act right away for the benefit of us both.”

[Gregory King]

Well, I don't have a Martin T-70, but I do have a Husky 266.

[John Vietmeyer]

Great personal and wood working advice here. I have two more hurdles. The table top Is now laid up and is long and heavy. My table saw has a shim issue and I don’t have confidence in flipping the boards. I tried the combination of a jig and 45 degree bit on my router that got close but no cigar. (Comment about frustration not having the right tools is spot on)

I have some requests out to folks with better equipment. Will also pick up a japanease hand saw and hand planer today.

I’m in Charleston SC if anyone is in the area.

Wedding is Friday. There is still a chance. Thanks all!

[Wade Lippman]

I don't know how wide your wood is, but if it is under 16" maybe a radial arm saw. You can pick them up for $100 and sell it for the same when you are done.
I haven't used one in 15 years, but I "think" it will do that.

Hopefully you have done something​ by now and don't need a solution anymore.

[Frederick Skelly]

Without a handplane or a few other basic tools, i have to suggest the best method might be begging/paying someone local to do it. For example, for $20 id make that cut on my slider for you and send you on your way 5-10 mins later with a perfect joint.

I agree. You are trying to do something for which you don't have the right tools. Look in your phone book for a local cabinet shop or a lumber yard that does mill work. That joint needs to be perfect. If you aren't already fluent in hand planes and hand saws, this is not the project for you to learn on.

If I'm understanding what the guys intend correctly, I don't think the sled idea will work either. That table looks more than twice as wide as a contractor saw's vertical depth of cut. And even if you can make 2 passes from opposite sides, I'd be concerned about getting both cuts perfectly aligned/flush. This just looks like a job for a big commercial tablesaw or a slider.

Fred

[andy bessette]

That would ruin the waterfall with a band of endgrain.

What waterfall have you ever seen that did not form a very large radius where it broke and changed directions (in fact changed appearance entirely)? None come to a sharply pointed edge.

[David Utterback]

Is it possible to reduce the thickness of your components to 2 - 1/2"?

[Edwin Santos]

What waterfall have you ever seen that did not form a very large radius where it broke and changed directions (in fact changed appearance entirely)? None come to a sharply pointed edge.

What about the example table from the linked video in post #25 of this thread?

Or this example:

387068

[andy bessette]

What about the example table from the linked video...

So...you're just trying to precisely copy another man's work?

[Dan Hahr]

What waterfall have you ever seen that did not form a very large radius where it broke and changed directions (in fact changed appearance entirely)? None come to a sharply pointed edge.

The first ten that google found...

[johnny means]

[QUOTE=andy bessette;2818813]What waterfall have you ever seen that did not form a very large radius where it broke and changed directions (in fact changed appearance entirely)? None come to a sharply pointed edge.[/QUOTE
Well, generally, when I've been asked for a waterfall edge, they want something like these.

[Frederick Skelly]

So...you're just trying to precisely copy another man's work?

Depending on the person's skill level, tooling or design talent, copying can be a perfectly reasonable thing to do. (Credit the person who's design you used, of course.) And it's a good way to learn.
YMMV.
Fred

[Nick Decker]

Off topic, but am I the only one that hates those bow tie things? I understand their function, but especially when they're a contrasting color, they look like bandaids.

[Frederick Skelly]

Off topic, but am I the only one that hates those bow tie things? I understand their function, but especially when they're a contrasting color, they look like bandaids.

I don't like them either Nick.

[johnny means]

So...you're just trying to precisely copy another man's work?

Redd herring anyone? I don't even think what he's trying to do constitutes copying. No more than using an ogee or a piece of maple does.

[Pat Barry]

https://youtu.be/uX2s5rjz4_M
Great video! Thanks for posting.

[Phillip Gregory]

That's my suggestion, get a big radial arm saw. My DeWalt GE with a 20" blade can do a 45 degree miter on far thicker stock than the OP is using. The saw only cost $300 but a suitable blade will cost about that much as well.

When the OP is done, he should keep the big RAS as it is invaluable for dadoes, crosscuts, and miters.

[lowell holmes]

I would start the cut with an 8" skill saw and finish the cut with my D12 Disston hand saw.

[Frank Drew]

Redd herring anyone? I don't even think what he's trying to do constitutes copying. No more than using an ogee or a piece of maple does.

Exactly right, Johnny; Andy was either kidding (and left out the smiley face) or he was just being argumentative.

As for the job itself, from the photo the top piece looks fairly long, maybe long enough to become a weight and/or balance issue if trying to use a 45 degree sled with the blade vertical.

[andy bessette]

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”--Oscar Wilde

FD--what happened to original thought and the creative process? Why is innovation and thinking for oneself wrong?
ps. I wasn't kidding or being argumentative; just trying to help the OP and anyone with an open mind.

[Mike Wilkins]

A thought just occurred to me about your miter problem. Contact Martin Woodworking Machinery and inquire about one of their table saws. They have some models that have cutting depths in excess of 5 inches; maybe more depending on model. Not too expensive.

[johnny means]

A thought just occurred to me about your miter problem. Contact Martin Woodworking Machinery and inquire about one of their table saws. They have some models that have cutting depths in excess of 5 inches; maybe more depending on model. Not too expensive.

They also tilt both left and right.

[Patrick Walsh]

The $70k cut......

[Bill Dufour]

If the OP lives near me he can come by and cut it on my RAS. I wonder what country he lives in?
Bill D

[Brian Holcombe]

A thought just occurred to me about your miter problem. Contact Martin Woodworking Machinery and inquire about one of their table saws. They have some models that have cutting depths in excess of 5 inches; maybe more depending on model. Not too expensive.

That will definetly fix the problem :D