45 degree cuts?

[Mick Walker]

I never use anything other than glue for mitered joints unless it is 16" X 20" or larger, then I use bisquits. Miter joints if glued with a good wood glue should be stronger than the wood itself. I apply the glue to both sides then let dry for a few minutes (until the shine is gone) then apply a second coat and clamp, leaving it over night. The first coat soaks into the end grain. I use Titebond ll.

[USMC1126]

When I do 45s on my table saw I use a digital angle gauge to make sure the blade is at a perfect 45. When I am using my mitre gauge, I use the Mitre-set to set that to a perfect 45.

The mitre set works good as long as your blade runs parallel with the mitre slot, if it is off just a little bit your cut will also be off. The digital angle gauge works great; I used to avoid tilting my blade once I had it perfectly setup, now I move it all over with no worries, it always gives you 45 degrees in relation to the table of the saw.

King


You can get the digital angle gauge from rockler.

[ubgoofy2003]

VB, I have a couple of jigs from Shop Notes magazine & Wood magazine that are pretty simple to make, just not easy to explain here on the site. If you would like, I can copy them & email them to you. Would not be difficult to make.
I'm at ubgoofy2003@yahoo.com Perk

[GrayBeard Phil]

Originally Posted by ubgoofy2003

VB, I have a couple of jigs from Shop Notes magazine & Wood magazine that are pretty simple to make.....

Speaking of Shop Notes, and it's sister magazine WoodSmith......

They sure do put a lot of emphasis on using stop blocks and other other holding devices when making miter cuts.

The people who do lots of mainstream woodworking with power tools seem to agree the 1st steps in making really good miters is #1-tool alignment and #2-understanding a person cannot use finger pressure to overcome the forces at play when using a power tool with a 10" blade on a miter cut; stop blocks are needed to hold the wood.

And no, I cannot make satisfactory 45 degree cuts on my craftsman table saw, even with a WoodSmith jig (there are many, I only tried 2). Can get 'dang close, but not satisfactory.

Have you tried a touch up with 45 degree shooting board along with very sharp low angle block plane?

Phil

[VB...]

OK as always this is why I love this site!!!

Mick Walker:
Thank you. I never thought of gluing it twice like you explained. I will definitly give it a try.

USMC1126:
I went on Rockler and they have several digital gauges. Which one would you recommend?

ubgoofy2003:
Your 100% right about the jigs I have seen some. I have even made a few. I wanted to know what people were finding helps them with their projects.

You folks rock thank you,
VB...

[VB...]

Originally Posted by GrayBeard Phil

Speaking of Shop Notes, and it's sister magazine WoodSmith......

They sure do put a lot of emphasis on using stop blocks and other other holding devices when making miter cuts.

The people who do lots of mainstream woodworking with power tools seem to agree the 1st steps in making really good miters is #1-tool alignment and #2-understanding a person cannot use finger pressure to overcome the forces at play when using a power tool with a 10" blade on a miter cut; stop blocks are needed to hold the wood.

And no, I cannot make satisfactory 45 degree cuts on my craftsman table saw, even with a WoodSmith jig (there are many, I only tried 2). Can get 'dang close, but not satisfactory.

Have you tried a touch up with 45 degree shooting board along with very sharp low angle block plane?

Phil

I'm afraid I'm lost. What do you mean by "Have you tried a touch up with 45 degree shooting board along with very sharp low angle block plane?"?

[GrayBeard Phil]

Originally Posted by VB...

I'm afraid I'm lost. What do you mean by "Have you tried a touch up with 45 degree shooting board along with very sharp low angle block plane?"?

Ok, Here goes......You might already know much of this, sorry but I just wanted to cover the bases....

In general, Block Planes are hand held planes used by finish-carpenters to trim the end grain on wooden molding that went around interior doors and windows. This was back in the days of hand-cutting the trim work with back-saws and wooden miter boxes.

A regular block plane has the plane's iron (blade) bevel UP, and the blade sitting at about 20 to 22 degrees in reference to the plane's sole (bottom.) {aside: So called "bench" planes normally have the iron bevel DOWN.}

A Low Angle Block Plane has the blade sitting at about 12 to 14 degrees, again with the bevel UP. The low angle adds cost to the plane. The idea is to 'cut' the end grain instead of tearing out the wood fibers.

Stanley Tools, Low Angle Block Plane #12-960

You should be able to find a 12-960 at a local store. There are many other maker's some are very fine instruments that cost a lot of money. You can also find Low Angle block planes on the web: Woodcraft, Amazon, Lee Valley and other places.

The real key is a sharp blade. Specifically, make sure the back of the blade is dead flat; mirror finish. Then work on the bevel. Should take about 6 to 8 hours to sharpen a new out of the box Stanley plane; 4 hours just on the back alone. Google on how to sharpen a plane blade and water-stones. Lots of video. Also, look up "scary sharp" on Internet. You may also have to spend some time on the sole of the plane to make sure the toe, mouth and heel are also dead flat on a Stanley.

Shooting board:

A shooting board is a jig (Fixture?) that you make yourself. You spend lots of effort to make the shooting board very accurate; not all that hard but it may take you a couple of times trying to get it as close to perfect as you can.

Best intro I have found on the web is the link below for a PDF download:
Popular Woodworking Shooting Board PDF
This is a large PDF file, and it really does not get to the meat of the article until about page 10 or 11. Plans for building your own start much later into the document.

Don't get hung up with the details on the above link's plans, YOUR shooting board can be made much simpler. Several other web sites offer just plans for making your own 45 degree shooting board but no explanations on how to use them.

I hope this helps.

Phil

PS: I hope it is OK with the Moderators that I linked to a general mainstream woodworking magazine.

[USMC1126]

The gauge that I got was the wixey, it was 39.99. Thats the only one I have tried but it works great for me.

King

[VB...]

GrayBeard Phil(Phil): I understand thank you. I have a few magazines and I was reading about very similar jig. Thanks to you it makes a lot more sense.

USMC1126 (King): I will order it today.




Your the best!!!
VB...