Mitre saw

Dopey

Folks,

I've put down some skirting board badly around the house. The problem is cutting the board at a 45 degree angle and trying to keep it straight. I bought a mitre box and it was too short for the skirting board (6 inches depth). I borrowed my dad's mitre box which has a saw attached. The saw was a little old and the cut was even worse than before. I tried clamping it to the mitre box but it's just not as good as it should be.

I'm bringing this up now cause I notice aldi have an electric mitre saw on sale this Thursday. I can't tell if it will cut timber to a depth of 6 inches plus. Is it worth the money?

http://www.aldi.ie/special_buys/product_215.html

Thanks,

Dopey

gregos

Not a bad machine for the money, but it won't make a 6" cut for you. To do that you need a sliding mitre saw. You could get a half decent one for about 180 euros, but that's probably more than you planned to spend. Most houses don't have perfect 90-degree corners, and perhaps that's part of the problem. In many cases, if you cut 45-degree mitres, they won't fit properly. You might be better off scribing the skirtings and cutting them by hand.

Dopey

Thanks for the response Gregos. I couldn't find a measuement to indicate the reach of the saw. I can't afford 180 Euro on a new toy right now.

Will put it on my list for santa.

Cheers,

Dopey

sapper

Hi

You should check at your local woodies/B&Q. I think I noticed 6" (manual) mitre saws going for around EUR50 - I paid IEP50 a few years ago, but I'm sure they're much cheaper now

GreeBo

couldnt you just make a 3inch cut from each side?

karltimber

I came across the same problem with off-angle corners.
When I cut 2* 45 deg mitres - they would still be off.

get a sliding bevel - its a piece of wood or plastic and has small ruler type piece of steel attached but the steel can move along the wood but also change angles.

attached is a pic

this way you would put the sliding bevel at the corner -tighten it with both wood and ruler against each wall. this can then be translated into the correct angle for each skirting board -- probably made easier with a slide mitre saw - as was said earlier.

b&q have a good performance pro one --- forget the laser.

karl.

sapper

To use the electric saw they're selling Aldi, dopey would have to tilt the cutting head to a 45 degree angle and lie the skirting board flat for cutting - they allow this but only to one side, so you can't flip the skirting over to use the same continue the cut at the same angle. The blade is only 4 inches long. so you'd have to finish it off manually. It would be messy.

Carpenter

Dopey wrote:

Folks,

I've put down some skirting board badly around the house. The problem is cutting the board at a 45 degree angle and trying to keep it straight. I bought a mitre box and it was too short for the skirting board (6 inches depth). I borrowed my dad's mitre box which has a saw attached. The saw was a little old and the cut was even worse than before. I tried clamping it to the mitre box but it's just not as good as it should be.

I'm bringing this up now cause I notice aldi have an electric mitre saw on sale this Thursday. I can't tell if it will cut timber to a depth of 6 inches plus. Is it worth the money?

http://www.aldi.ie/special_buys/product_215.html

Thanks,

Dopey

where are u based

kadman

I think Aldi's saw would cut 6" wide on the flat, with the saw set to a 45 bevel cut.

Mould in to the fence, and mould out from the fence, would give a left and right internal corner, with mould upwards.

And mould in to the fence, and , mould out from the fence, with mould down to the table, would give left and right external corners.

I would square cut all long lengths in a room. Then 45 degre cut the short lengths for internals, then scribe along the 45 degree cut line, for a perfect scribe cut on all the internals.

Get a piece of 6 inch skirting, bring it to Aldi, and put it on the saw bed to check before buying.

kadman

PS..Scribing along the 45 degree cut line with a small coping saw, by hand.
Sorry for any confusion regarding scribing. I took it for granted, that you understood what I meant by scribing.

gregos

That could be dangerous.

kadman

gregos wrote:

That could be dangerous.

How do you figure that.

Bevel and sliding bevel chop saws, are designed for exactly this type of operation.

They are specifically manufactured for straight cutting, all the way through to the most complicated cut of all, a compound mitre cut.

Carpenters and joiners and roofers, use these saws for all manner of angle cutting, and it is only limited in use, by not fully understanding its capabilities.

Obviously good understanding , and safety awareness is the order of the day, while using any power tool. But I can assure you that mitreing on the flat is a safe operation.

Maybe other pro's will also give their opinion regarding the safety issue.

http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/article.asp?Site=woodworking&ID=2



kadman

rooferPete

Hi,

All power saws are dangerous maybe that could be why it is a special section on the insurance policy, we have the big compound saw and it does some amazing tricks

There is a bench saw in the stores disabled because the insurance will not cover it's use by anybody, which seems a little silly to me because the standard circular saws and the jig saws are covered,

The circular saws can be dangerous if the guards get clogged and the jig saws can be lethal considering the blades are often below the timber being cut.

Take care with any cutting tools power or manual

.

gregos

kadman wrote:

I can assure you that mitreing on the flat is a safe operation.

Give me a tiny bit of credit, kadman. I'm not talking about mitreing on the flat. I'm talking about the fact that most of these saws tilt in one direction only and you could be left with an undesirable choice: either holding a very short end too near the blade, or operating a right-handed machine with the "wrong" hand.

kadman

Hi Gregos, Rooferpete,

Fine Gregos, now we know that you were talking about safety in general, and not necessarily about cutting on the flat.

I agree that the point you and Rooferpete, are trying to emphasize , is that any operation on woodworking power tools, requires great attention to the safety aspects involved. And manufacturers instructions in this area, should be adhered to.

As always any operation on any woodworking machinery involving short lengths of material, should be aided by the use of jigs, or methods of attaching longer lengths of material as holding devices to the short lengths. If in doubt about the proper way to secure your short pieces, contact Rookad Enterprises, as we have jointly 50 years experience in woodworking techniques. :eek:

I hope that I have assured Gregos, and indeed my boss in Rookad, that I am a stern believer in all things that encourage safe work practices.

Are we all happy campers now then. GGRRRHHHHH.....

kadman