Uneven lid cutoff on small boxes

[Stephen Cotter]

When cutting off a lid on a small box the cuts don't line up, by about 1/32 off as seen by the dark line in the photo. The blade was exactly 90 degrees measured by electronic device. Sanding is required but then a perfect fit is often elusive. What am I doing wrong? 20200523_104926.jpgSuggestions? Thank you.

[Mike Henderson]

I assume you're referencing off the bottom when you make your cut (bottom to the fence). The first thing is to make sure the bottom is flat. I use a sanding board which is a large piece of MDF with a big sheet of sandpaper glued to it to sand the bottom flat.

Then make sure you use some spacers to hold the top away from the main part of the box as you're making the cuts. I did a tutorial on making a box but the part about cutting off the top is here, about half way down. See if that helps at all.

After you get it cut off, you'll need to sand the bottom of the box and the top on the sanding board so that you get a perfect fit.

Mike

[Lee Schierer]

Check to insure your fence is perpendicular to the table. Or, you didn't hold that cut tight to the fence.

[Christopher Giles]

You may want to consider two things. First, lower the blade to no more than 1/4" above the side panel thickness, then make an auxiliary fence that is about the same thickness as that side panel. Easy to do, and will give you much better results. This is why I like my Unifence, because you can turn it on its side and get the short fence for just this sort of situation.

[Al Weber]

Are you sure the box is square in all directions? I've seen this where something is slightly askew so it is difficult if not impossible to register the box squarely against the fence. I also set the blade height to cut through the box on two sides, drop the blade to leave a 1/32 - 1/16" web on the other two sides and finish the separation with a finely set pull saw. This requires some cleanup with a plane but it is usually minor.

[Charles Lent]

This is one use for the low position of my Unifence, plus a feather board to hold the box against the fence while making the cut. I always set the blade slightly higher (1/32") than the box thickness too.

Charley

[andy bessette]

You may want to consider two things. First, lower the blade to no more than 1/4" above the side panel thickness, then make an auxiliary fence that is about the same thickness as that side panel. Easy to do, and will give you much better results. This is why I like my Unifence, because you can turn it on its side and get the short fence for just this sort of situation.

This. Your blade is set too high. And the combination of too tall a fence plus the lack of precision on the box combine to throw the cut off. Also it might help to cut with the top against the fence.

[Dave Cav]

I generally use the bandsaw unless the box is too big for the saw's capacity. That doesn't happen very often.

I got a 4" trim saw blade with a 1/2" arbor hole from Harbor Freight. I am going to experiment with that run in the shaper for larger boxes. It should be easier to control than trying to run a box sideways on a TS.