Bevel Angles on a TS

User beware. I have seen it both ways too.
Gotta keep your wits about you.

(At least we don’t have metric angles.)

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Hi sIKE,

Among other things, I have a degree in mathematics. Not that it makes me any more qualified to answer the question but it sure sounds impressive!

I believe you are correct when you say both are right.(!) This is because when the angle is given in reference to the tool ( set your blade to 60°) rather than the angle relative to the piece of wood then it is ambiguous.

When given in reference to the piece of wood, it should be relatively straightforward to figure it out ( as long as the author was using the same basis for my thinking). Here’s the logic:

I think we can all agree that if someone told you to cut a piece of wood at 90°, you would know what to do. If you were told to cut a piece of wood at 0°, you wouldn’t even need a saw! So instinctively ( or intuitively, as my math professors would say) you know that the basis for the angle is either the length of the board or the face of the board. With this in mind, it should be clear what is a 30° cut across the board, or a 30° angle on the end of the board.

Now consider the tools, in particular a TS vs a RAS which is I think where the confusion began. A 0° cut on a TS (blade vertical and parallel to the fence) is marked as a 90° cut on the RAS ( 0° is the blade vertical but 90° to the fence – that’s how mine is marked). No wonder it gets confusing. The two tools have the blade in different orientations in the normal setting. Now it’s confusing if an angle is meant to be reference off of the blade or the fence.

For bevels I believe there is a similar issue between the two tools though I didn’t check this carefully but something tells me that not all saws are marked the same way. ( Is blade vertical marked as 0 or 90?)

And just be thankful that we do measure angles in degrees because, yes, there are metric equivalents and other units for measuring angles ( radian and steradians :eg 1 radian = 180/pi ~= 57.3 °!)

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com

SPalm said what I was going to say, keep your wits about you:-)) Depends on the reference face of the board you are cutting. I was just cutting some compound miters on the table saw to make for dovetails the other day. There are some cuts that don’t work because you are limited by the right or left tilt of the blade. Sometimes you have to do it one weay and sometimes the other ;-)

daltxguy, I’m glad we don’t use radians on the miter gauge :-)) I almost forgot all about them!

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

daltxguy,

Ouch! My brain just thunked!

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

the angle you want ,
is the angle formed on the board ,
where the saw blade first cuts into it .

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

Sorry to explode any brains.
In the end Spalm said it best.
And when in doubt, hope for pictures
or buy extra wood!

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh well for me I draw a line forthe angle I want then sight down the side of the blade and hope Im right, I like your method, But well I have to many senior moments for it to work usually

-- Randy, Fla http://www.kelleyscabinetsupply.com