Miter Saw Hacks | Tricks of the Trade

Many of us use miters saws every day. A couple of simple tips can make that use more accurate and just a little easier. Take a look at these three miter saw hacks.

Affilate shop:

[patmcguire]

As we saw in this clip, the line on the piece being cut was just a touch off even after his blade flex tip. This means that the angle on the saw was off just a bit. To help avoid this use an angle gauge to make sure that the line on the piece being cut and the angle on the saw are as identical as possible. There isn't much difference between 44 degrees and 46 degrees to the naked eye, at least until you have cut the wood. If you desired a 45 degree cut to mate to another piece, that one degree difference will result in a gap where the pieces meet.

[briancraig]

Great tips. I have put these hacks to use and found them quite useful

[SJtoobsox]

Thank you. Doing some baseboards and every 16th matters!

[DEG]

Excellent video Thank you very much for sharing your great knowledge with others, we appreciate your videos.

[JBSeymour]

Nice saw. Prob flexibility in the blade rather than any looseness in the arbour

[judithrob]

Woodworking Beginner:
This test is only if you want to saw with precision with a miter saw.(test is not intended for rough and hard work).
Tips and Test:
Very important if you would like to saw with precision. (avoid torsion as much as possible)!
Always choose a Miter saw with a handle positioned in a VERTICAL line above the saw blade.
Everything must be aligned, slide rails, handle, and saw blade, it is much better this way the blade will not tilt.
Because there is some torsion in the aluminum housing .
And choose an engine with softstart on it to prevent wear of the gear and worm shaft.
It is very important that everything is aligned.
Here are some examples to show how the handle must be positioned above the blade.
Bosch gcm 800 sj / Bosch gcm 8 sjl / Evolution rage 3 / FESTOOL KS 60 / Bosch GCM 8 SDE / FESTOOL KS 60 E KAPEX / Metabo KGSV 72 Xact / Bosch PCM 8 SD / Hitachi C10FSH / Ridgid MS255SR 10-inch / Evolution Fury3-S / Evolution R255SMS / Metabo HPT C10FSBS / Hitachi C10FSB / Hitachi C10FS.

(This also is the case with the Miter saw without the slide rails).

(If you want). You can test it yourself at home if there is torsion in the aluminum housing.

Step-1. First you make a saw cut from +-5 mm deep in to a flat piece of wood about +- 20 mm thick to this with the normal handle positioned on the right side of the Miter saw (the wood it will remain in place until the test is completed).

Step-2. Then repeat this by pushing the saw blade down with your hand (finger) on the aluminum protective cover were the saw blade is cased in. Just now only do this without the running engine.

Step-3. Now you can see if the saw blade will be positioned in or next to the saw cut. If the saw blade is (+- 0, 2 / 0, 5 mm) next to the saw cut then there is torsion in the aluminum housing (test is completed).

Step-4. Therefor it is much better to choose a Miter saw with the handle positioned VERTICAL in line above the saw blade.
The second option is the handle positioned HORIZONTAL in line above the saw blade.

Step-5. When you measure the vertical 90 degrees angle square (Digital Level Box) of you're sawblade don't forget that there is always some torsion in the aluminum housing.

Conclusion:how further away the handle is from the saw blade how more chance of torsion in the aluminum housing don't go for that (the choices are yours).

Also with a cheap slide miter saw it is still better the handgriff in line a above the saw blade than on the right side. Maybe they will make it someday then we have a winner...

[CalvinRodgers-jqxr]

How to make repeat mitre cuts on both ends of ths stock all the same length?

[mjjeanson]

Nice newbe tips for the chop saw. However the pushing of the stock into the blade for a skim cut works but you will alway get an inaccurate cut because you just pushed the saw blade arbore, blade flex, and any minor slop in the hinges into the cut. You can see this error in the video were there is pencil line left at the back of the cut and no pencil line at the beginning. If you wish to take a small amount off you can try to sneak up on the cut by as in the first tip by aligning it to the saws kerf in the sacrificial fence or add an adjustable saw stop with a fine adjustment on it and sneak up to the cut. If you're making multiple cuts you will now have the saw set for those as well. If you trying to get a very accurate joint and you're only doing a few take the stock to your bench and hand cut to the line with your bench plane and bench hook to get that perfect joint. This is one way there are many other ways to get the perfect cut with out having to bend your tool to get to the line.

[Gidjoiner]

A pull over saw can cut a small scribe cut on the face then in the same action be pulled out beyond the piece that's being cut, then down & in so the blade finishes the cut cutting upwards, this way there's very little if no breakout on the backside 😉👍

[kle]

Is there a way of adding a fence so that you don't reduce the thickness of your cross-cut amount? I only have a small Ryobi 10" single bevel miter saw that I use on its miter saw stand. Screwing a wooden board to the front of the miter fence automatically reduces the amount of cross cut size you can do by a 3/4". Wish there was a way to add the board fence that is flushed to your miter saw fence or even screwing the board to the back of the metal miter saw fence instead, though the way the miter saw fence is designed, this would be harder.

[unionpacific]

I just picked up my first saw and I just cut through the fence first time 🤨

[tonywilliams]

Ok so I have a sliding miter saw how do i make small segments so that i can glue and make a vase on my lathe

[yevhenzhukov]

I use Makita daily for cutting pine bars and sometimes thick plywood, could you guess how often should I swip blades?

[DuncanEdwards.]

I have the same mitre saw, you can move the insert plates closer to make it a zero clearance insert

[bestbuilderst]

Me thinks either his saw (miter stop) is off or his miter marking gauge- The (second) cut doesn't match the pencil line and will make a difference in the end product. Of course, it could be an optical illusion with the camera angle (probably not). Don't let this detract from the great tip he just gave you.

[davidmuhs]

im on a budget and need a *PRECISE* miter box that wont bend or get worn down easily so i can make extremely precise cuts. do you now anywhere i can buy a quality miter box new?

[bobbg]

Perfect tip, dump the miter saw, and use a radial arm saw.
Miter saws are good for mobile jobs you do away from. The shop, a good will tuned radial arm saw can do a lot more then a miter saw can and they used to be the tool at the jobseight. Miter saws changed that becuse they are smaller and more portable.
Both saws have the same danger factor
Use it stupid or do stupid things on it youll get the same results hurt.

Look on youtube one guy shows a bunch of ways to safly use a radial arm saw.
Every tool in your shop can hurt you if your not careful.

[SumDumGy]

I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a hack to install that sacrificial fence...considering the saw is designed for it.

[dujbzy]

That pushing material against your blade is a dumb trick

[twicebittenthasme]

I can see it now..."I followed that guy on yt's instructions and after I pushed my wood against the blade it took too much off!".
I'm sorry but you should never push that far against the blade to make a skim cut. If you missed your mark by a 'hair', then a few passes with the piece still in place should be sufficient. If missed by so much that a few recuts won't do then simply move the wood. Pushing against the blade can be seriously detrimental to both the machine AND the operator. Yes, you can harm both the blade and the arbor!!!