Thread: Any thoughts on a small bench saw for miters?

What about a mitre saw? It's designed for the task.

What about a mitre saw?

cheers

Have you had a look at the Proxxon range? Very good quality gear but a bit pricey. Not sure what voltage you have at your place and whether they do different voltages for different countries.
There are some knockoffs out there now but from what I have seen they are very hit and miss as to whether you get one that works.

If you don't already have one, make or buy a sled for the table saw. Something accurate with a sharp blade will easily mitre 2mm stock.

Look up the Byrnes Model Machines in the USA - unfortunately they are taking a break for a while though.

Byrnes Model Machines - Thickness Sander

Before the days of drop saws, we used a Bl**dy heavy cast iron foot operated Guillotine.
It had enough clearance to put a 45° mitre on a 8x3/4" skirting.
The blades were thick with a single bevel and they stayed sharp. We'ed give them a light touch up with an oilstone every 5-6 houses.
There was no adjustment, it just cut 45°.
I can't find a photo of the type we used, but this one is similar. It does look like it has an adjustable fence.
Timber Guillotine.jpg

You are moving into the realm of very high precision joinery. No where to hide any mistakes!

Cheapest option would probably be a shooting board with your existing table saw or a mitre saw.

If you want to do it mechanically then I would endorse Mobyturns and treecycles recommendation of a model maker's table saw. But the saw must be in the same quality bracket of what you want to make - or higher - cheap junk is expensive!

When we were in Japan shortly before lockdown I watched a professional artisan making incredibly precise kumiko screens using a miniature table saw with about an 80 mm blade. No idea of the brand - it was very well used - but made with very precise engineering. He was cutting repeatedly to an accuracy of 0.1 mm.

I know you said you tried planes and shooting boards but your regular shooting board is not good for mitres.

Try making a donkey ear shooting board - https://www.popularwoodworking.com/w...tingBoard2.pdf

So for box-making or mouldings - After cutting the stocking, squaring on the regular shooting board, I use a mitre box (a small shop-made one but precise) and my dozuki mini dovetail saw (with ultrathin kerf and tiny teeth) to cut the 45 degrees. I move onto my donkey ear shooting board to fenagle the mitres. This has zero fuss, is as fast as a table saw, is repeatable and precise, and attuned to the 6 - 10 mm thick boards used in box making.

Hi Alan S,

Not really a comment on bench table saws but a 45% MDF jig on a disc sander will give you perfect mitres. I use two - a larger version on my 12 inch disc sander for the box carcasses and a smaller one on my 6 inch disc sander for inlay and other very fine work.

However I cut the initial mitres - table saw sled etc they are always finished on the sander.

IMG_6787.jpeg




The small jig I use for inlay banding. In fact this sander gets used exclusively to make mitres on inlay banding which is generally around 3-6mm wide and 1mm thick.

IMG_2023-10-22-225104264.jpeg

I also like the donkey ear shooting board but I do find the sanders very accurate.

Happy box making!

Brian

Originally Posted by homey

Not really a comment on bench table saws but a 45% MDF jig on a disc sander will give you perfect mitres. I use two - a larger version on my 12 inch disc sander for the box carcasses and a smaller one on my 6 inch disc sander for inlay and other very fine work.

However I cut the initial mitres - table saw sled etc they are always finished on the sander.

The small jig I use for inlay banding. In fact this sander gets used exclusively to make mitres on inlay banding which is generally around 3-6mm wide and 1mm thick.

Thank you for this.

Lately I've started to wonder if belt and disc sanders might be a rather underrated and ignored machine.

I've had a few awkward pieces to finish or just simple pieces that needed a very slight touch up and have found that the disc, belt and roller end on my rarely used belt/disc sander can do what I need quickly and accurately. I'm looking at it in a new light, after it's spent most of the past 40 or so years doing very little apart from taking up space.

Originally Posted by homey

Not really a comment on bench table saws but a 45% MDF jig on a disc sander will give you perfect mitres. I use two - a larger version on my 12 inch disc sander for the box carcasses and a smaller one on my 6 inch disc sander for inlay and other very fine work.

However I cut the initial mitres - table saw sled etc they are always finished on the sander.

The small jig I use for inlay banding. In fact this sander gets used exclusively to make mitres on inlay banding which is generally around 3-6mm wide and 1mm thick.

I also like the donkey ear shooting board but I do find the sanders very accurate.

I've been thinking a bit more on this and, given that perfect mitres requires sides of perfectly equal lengths and that a disc sander can remove a lot of material very quickly, I am wondering how you avoid taking off too much?

Do you just judge it by eye or feel on a very light pass with a very fine grit disc or use some gauge on your jig?

Originally Posted by 419

I've been thinking a bit more on this and, given that perfect mitres requires sides of perfectly equal lengths and that a disc sander can remove a lot of material very quickly, I am wondering how you avoid taking off too much?

Do you just judge it by eye or feel on a very light pass with a very fine grit disc or use some gauge on your jig?

Mitres on a disc sander or linisher

Originally Posted by 419

... Do you just judge it by eye or feel on a very light pass with a very fine grit disc or use some gauge on your jig?

I am kicking myself that I never thought of making a mitred fence for the disk sander. Just used a 90° fence.

My method to sand two or three lengths to precisely the same length with perfectly flat ends was to lightly stick them together with double sided tape, then sand to the pencil lines. Guided by the fence on the disk sander it is easy to sand to an accuracy of half a pencil line, with a little practice, to a third of a pencil line or right up to a knife line.

I find that a regular tablesaw (10'' in my case) does a pretty good job of miters. I use a sled with the blade tilted over. If the blade is sharp you can glue up strait off the saw. The other thing with miters is that even with the angles spot on the opposite sides have to be exactly the same length as well for success. Stop block on the sled gets that right.
Regards
John