Two Quick Questions about Miter Gauges

[John Goodin]

Two quick questions for those of you who use a miter gauge on a table saw. Which side of the blade do you use your miter gauge? Are you right-handed or left-handed? For simplicity please answer those two questions first followed with any reasoning, if any. For me...

Right side of the blade. Left handed. I have no idea why.

[Bob Johnson2]

Left, right. Cause it just works that way.

[Ed Aumiller]

Miter gauge on left side of blade.. I am right handed..

That leaves right hand to get cut off piece.

[Jim Allen]

Left side, left handed, cause it just works that way for me.

[Harvey Miller]

Right side mitre, Left handed person. I like the support for a long fenced mitre gauge & stock on the right side.

[johnny means]

Both sides. The cut being made determines which.

[Mike Henderson]

Mostly, the right side of the blade when you're looking at the blade from the cutting position. I'm right handed. My saw is left tilt.

I suppose that most of the time when I use the miter gauge, I'm cutting a 45 degree cut for a miter joint and it works best for me to have the waste on the left side.

For most 90 degree cuts, I have a sliding miter saw.

Mike

[Dave Seng]

Left hand miter slot, right handed saw user. Usually, but will use the right side for cutting a short end off a long piece. I use the crosscut sled far more frequently than the miter gauge.

[Lee Schierer]

I use my miter gauge predominately to the left side of the blade. I am right handed. I generally use my right hand to hold the stock to the miter gauge fence with help from my left hand. I have on occasions ude my miter gauge to the right side of the blade.

[Lisa Starr]

Right miter slot, probably because that's the side with more real estate in my setup. User, Left-handed to very close to truly ambidextrous. I use my hands interchangeably for most tasks.

[glenn bradley]

In short; left slot, right handed.

This got me curious so I went on a search. Out of a dozen pages of articles, miter gauge reviews, and build videos I found two cases where the miter gauge was used on the right side of the blade. Both of these were tips from readers. All pictures of miter gauges from makers showed the gauges set up for use on the left side of the blade.

Chris Gochnour, Garrett Hack, and Gary Rogowski . . . all left slot. Sam Maloof, Jim Toplin, Marc Adams, and Philip Lowe . . . yep, them too. Most of these guys are too young or too old to have had my shop teacher but he also taught left slot position for the miter gauge. Obviously the right slot is there for a reason and I have definitely used it for the odd cut. However, the left slot is my normal operation position for the miter gauge.

There is always more than one way to skin the cat and few are absolutely right or wrong. It seems like miter slot preference has less to do with being right or left handed and more to do with who taught you. When making the choice for yourself I think it comes down to body mechanics and what works or feels best, and safest, for you.

[Doug Dawson]

Two quick questions for those of you who use a miter gauge on a table saw. Which side of the blade do you use your miter gauge? Are you right-handed or left-handed? For simplicity please answer those two questions first followed with any reasoning, if any. For me...

Right side of the blade. Left handed. I have no idea why.

I’m left handed, so I use the left slot. That way my right hand is closer to the blade, and if I lose that one it’s not such a big deal. Also, my miter sled is set up to work that way.

[Curt Harms]

Right handed, left slot. Dunno why, it just feels natural. I've never had any formal instruction in table saw use, just common sense and tips picked up here and elsewhere.

[Jim Becker]

On a typical North American style table saw, regardless of size, etc., most folks will likely use the left slot with the off-cut to the right. There's no rule that says you have to do that, however, and there may be circumstances where being on the other side can be beneficial. There's no "always correct" answer other than whatever side is best and safest for the intended cut. In addition to a miter gage, sleds offer a lot of value and in some cases good safety when designed for it. Lots of choices.

Just for contrast, with my slider, the miter fence is necessarily to the left of the blade always and for my particular machine, I'm also standing to the left of the blade...literally...for all cutting.

[Frank Pratt]

Right handed. Left or right depends on the cut, but mostly left side.

[Bill Dufour]

right side, right hand on the mitre guage, left hand on the wood. right side because long stock must be to the right of the blade. An offcut more then 3 feet long would be an issue. Also I have an extended table to the right to support the wood.
Mostly use a cut off sled to the right side with both hands.
Bil lD

[Tom Bender]

Right handed using the left slot.

But that's for my sleds. Miter gauge is a boat anchor.

[Alex Zeller]

Right handed and normally left slot. I think you'll find it's the one most likely to get out. But I do use the right side with long boards. My incra miter gauge has an extension to it and that side of the table has more support thanks to the 52" fence and router table.

[Rob Sack]

Left handed, both slots, although I tend to favor the left slot.