Cutting 90 degree square on long pieces

[Brian Runau]

I've got a couple 6" x 80" boards I am milling for the stringers on a bed to hold the head board & foot board together. I don't have the clearance between my blade of my table saw and the wall of my shop to do it on the table saw. My chop station has been used mostly to break down longer pieces for milling, but no finish work. I do have supports for the longer pieces on the chop station, but I tried a couple test cuts and couldn't get a square cut. I tried to square it up, but no success... Could the sliding motion on the miter saw be causing the cut to not be square? Any suggestions on another way to cut these? I didn't think a circular saw would be a good option, but maybe? thanks brian

[Brian Gouldman]

I know the slider on my Dewalt 12” miter absolutely can flex to throw cuts off. In addition to many other points of adjustment on the saw you’d need to dial in, it can still screw up your cut. Luckily I’ve only ever needed mine for paint grade work in my own house, so I just throw some strategic caulk in corners and no one is the wiser.

If you have basically any bench plane with a sharp blade you could probably rig up a good enough shooting board and shoot the ends somewhere in your shop that you have the space. Cut with the miter like 1/16-1/8 proud on each end and shoot to 90.

[John Kananis]

Chop saws, especially sliders, aren't the most accurate tools. If no other choice, calibrate the saw and then try again. I would just cut by hand and shoot the ends (since it's only a couple of boards). If you must use a power tool, triangle and circular saw may work. Can you move your tablesaw so the end goes a different direction (and fits)?

[Paul F Franklin]

Even if you had room to cut on your table saw, wrestling a long piece of stock there is not easy. Even if you have a big sled or a good miter gauge with extensions it's easy for the stock to shift just slightly enough to make the cut not square.

If you don't have or want to have a shooting board and hand plane, I'd go to a good square and the circ saw or track saw. Even a hand held router could be used with a clamped down square as a guide and with a very light cut could give you a decent square end.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I would take a very thorough look at the chop station. Unless the saw and blade are really bad, a good square cut is not too much to expect from a sliding miter saw. Could it be very worn out? If it is not to old parts should be available.

[Thomas Wilson]

Locking the slider on my Dewalt 12” reduces flex and improves cuts. A good sharp blade makes them smoother. I used the 5 cut method to true it up. The cut quality is indistinguishable from the table saw.

The 5 cut method applied to a miter saw may not be obvious to you. I can write a detailed step by step if it would help.

[Brian Runau]

Thanks to everyone. Think I'll cut it long on the chop saw and clean it up with a hand plane. Brian

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Planing end grain square and true will certainly prove your skill! As will calibrating a machine. Both are worthy endeavors!

[Jacques Gagnon]

I have had good success with a circular saw, sharp blade and a shop-made « cutting jig ». The jig is a piece of MDF or plywood with a fence that produces the equivalent of a track saw. (If desired you can place a cleat underneath to give you a perpendicular positioning). Scribe the desired cut line and place the edge of the jig exactly over it. Run the saw…et voilà!

[Myles Moran]

When i did my bed, I got it close enough with whatever tool was available (i want to say i used a circular saw because i didn't have a miter saw yet) and then cut tenons with a router and carefully aligned guide.

[John TenEyck]

For a couple hundred dollars you can have one of these. You'll never worry about square (and many other) cuts again.





John

[Brian Runau]

Planing end grain square and true will certainly prove your skill! As will calibrating a machine. Both are worthy endeavors!

Don't think I would ever get a sliding compound bevel miter saw this dialed in. Do the best I can with the tools I have. Brian

[Jonathan Jung]

You absolutely can make this cut on the miter saw. I do it all the time on my miter saws. A few things I've learned:

1 don't use a high tooth count blade, it can bog the cut and cause the blade to wander. I use 60t in a 12" for these types of cuts
2 clamp the material into the fence
3 lock the slide so the cut is made only with the chop
4 cut slow enough the blade doesn't slow much during the cut
5 start with a practice piece until you're satisfied

the mitered leg frame joints on this table were cut on my miter saw
https://www.timberlightdesigns.com/18-dining-table

[Alan Lightstone]

I'm in the miter saw then shoot it camp. I agree that even when you think you've got the miter saw totally dialed in, you can get a subtle surprise with the finish cut. At least that's the case with my Kapex. And really make sure that your plane's blade is totally sharp.

I can handle long boards on a large crosscut sled on my ICS, but besides clamping it down have been known to put bricks on the board so that it doesn't flex upward.

[Bob Riefer]

My Bosch Glide 12" will cut square through 3/4" material nicely, especially if I lock down the glide action. For thicker material, I find that cutting in two passes is the ticket... first one about 1/8" from my final cut, and then final cut.

If that didn't work for me, I think I'd use track saw next. Last choice might be circ saw with a square to guide.

Once, I needed to true up a cut and found that a router running against a squared block (temporarily affixed to the piece) was a quick and effective option.

(Also, for a situation like this, I wonder if 90.000001 or 89.9999999 degrees is honestly 'close enough')