Thread: Question: cutting mitre joints in plywood panels without a table saw

Without a table saw? How about a router and a 45 degree bit, run along a straight edge?

yowie's got it. The only thing is it is going to be a big router bit and you need a big router. The largest CMT bit cuts 26mm which is just big enough. Good luck.

Hi Paul,

It will be very hard to get the accuracy needed with hand power tools. Personally I would use a cutting service.Have a cutting list ready, extra cost if they make the list. It will be a taxing enough job to assemble the mitred cabinets.

Having a saw bench is, for me, necessary for sheet work.

I've done it using a hand held circular saw tilted to the 45 degree setting on the base plate. And they were long pieces - 2400+mm. I used a long straight edge as a guide.

You can see some of the vertical ones in these photos. There is a thin plywood wall near the stair opening. It was about 60mm thick. The edge of it has mitred joins. Bugger of a job for a DIY guy.

brundson - hoelzl house

Scott

Hi Scott,
from your comment and the pictures of the house, I understand it is possible to cut long mitres with a circular saw + straight edge guide but it is difficult to do.
Some questions about your technique in doing this:
Did you manage to get good straight mitre bevel cuts with no tearouts or chipping, or did you have to do some tweaks afterwards?
What was the best blade tilt to use - towards the guide or away from it?
What make and model of circular saw did you use?
What kind of blade did you use?

Thanks
Paul

Hi Paul,
I was surprised at how well it worked. There was a bit of fiddling needed in parts, but they were long cuts. Short ones would be more manageable.
It's so long since I did that job that I can't remember which way I tilted the saw. Do a couple of tests and you'll know straight away which is best.
I do recall I had a blade that was specifically recommended for plywood - lots of small teeth - but I'm betting blade technology has come a long way in the 20 years since I would have made those cuts.
I used a Makita circular saw - smallish one. I did that whole DIY reno with that saw and there was a lot of plywood panelling.
It occured to me while I was doing it that it would have made much more sense to get pieces cut to order, but I was making much of it up while I was doing it so cutting on site made sense.
If I did it again, I would get the pieces cut (including the mitres) by the plywood supplier. Over here, Mr Plywood does that.
Scott

Hi Scott,
thanks for the reply and the details of how you cut the mitres. I've found online that Makita and Festool make special circular saws with guide rails for straight and mitred cutting on panels (good videos!) but the price is high.
Your comment (and others) on the difficulty in making mitre cuts indicate to me that my best option is to find a plywood supplier to both supply the panels and to make the mitre cuts for me for an extra cost.
My thanks to all who replied - its been a great help to me in making the above decision.
Paul

I've cut melamine with my 'Bluemak' Makita Circ saw blade, which are a bit pricey but the quality of your cuts are far superior, I cut some benches up for my garage and my cut edge was a cleaner cut than the factory cut edge which was chipped away which I suspect was from handling but that's what you get from Bunnings I suppose.