Power miter saw for box making?

I prefer a miter saw over the tablesaw for mitered boxes. I use a 15” hitachi and the joints are as good as anything I can get on the tablesaw. I have tried a few of the compound mitersaws and just dont care for them. However they do have advantages like compound miters. the glue up is the tricky part. :-]

-- hey honey! watch this!

i agree on the 15” hitachi but if that is out of your price range i would go with the 10” sliding hitachi. thats gotten great reviews and I’ve heard its really accurate.

I have a 12” Dewalt compound sliding miter saw. It works great and is very accurate. That said, a good sled on the table saw makes better cuts. Is there a chance that your table saw just needs the stops adjusted? One of the other, more mechanically gifted, guys might be able to tell you how to do that. I’d also get a good gauge, like a Wixey to check your blade angle.

I think I’d be leary of trying to do a compound miter on a 12” board on the miter saw. But that’s just me, does not seem like that would be the safest thing unless you have a really good hold down system.

Just my 2cents – spend it wisely! :-)

-- Betsy - There is no strength where there is no struggle

When making miter/bevel cuts I really prefer to use my 10” Hitachi slider. You shouldn’t have any problems with cutting a 12” piece. Your fingers will be well outside the danger zone. Twelve inches puts the end of the piece just beyond the edge of the saw’s base.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Thanks for the replies, folks. Skeezics, you said that you prefer a miter saw but that you’ve tried compound miter saws and didn’t care for them. What’s the difference? I must be mixing my terms.

edit: I suppose that what I want is to make bevel cuts and that a standard miter saw wouldn’t let me do that, right?

-- Custom Daguerreotypes from your images and more: www.shinyphotos.com

Wow. These Hitachi saws look like spaceships! Weird!

-- Custom Daguerreotypes from your images and more: www.shinyphotos.com

its a personal thing. they seem to be too cumbersome or aukward but maybe they just take getting used to. anything I miter over 7” i use the tablesaw. there is nothing wrong with the compound saws its just me!:-]

-- hey honey! watch this!

Put your saw at 90 degrees and build a 45 degree, triangular box-jig that you can run in the miter fence slot. Cramp the box sides to the ‘sled’ at 45 deg., and cut your miters with the saw blade upright and guarded. It might mean some careful handwork to get the 45 degree box right on, but you can do that..

Best of luck
John

-- Semper Fidelis - I started with nothing; I still have most of it left.

If your stock is ‘skinny’, and you have a Leigh Dovetail jig use that. Put a 45 degree cutter in your router, and take small cuts, using the cross-cut bar to guide the router. Advance the stock gradually until you have the full miter cut. Any size collar will do, but the smallest you can use is the best. Include some scrap lengths either side to avoid ‘spelching’ or tear-out.

You can also trim a table-top up to 24” wide this way too, Well say 23.5” as you the need scrap stock again, each side to prevent tear out. Using a straight cutter, again any size bush (Collar) in the router will do, as it is the cross-cut bar on the Leigh that determines the amount of material taken off, and is adjusted in relation to the collar.

Try this. It’s quicker than clamping fences across a board.

John

-- Semper Fidelis - I started with nothing; I still have most of it left.

You could cut to “almost 45 degrees” and fine tune it with a shooting board and a plane. Check Blake’s projects or blogs, he did a good one on a 45 degree board.

-- Maplewood, MN

Get this DVD, has all the jigs/sleds for box making. Also alot of other info, well worth the $
http://www.dougstowe.com/book/book5.htm

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

I agree with Betsy. I work at a tool store and had the opportunity to test and use several different compound miter saws before choosing the one I liked best. The DeWalt 12” compound miter saw is by far the most solid, accurate, and best saw for precision cross cuts.

• Stay away from “sliders” which loose accuracy by the time the “ridgidness” is transfered through the sliding mechanism from the table to the blade.

• With a blade as big as 12”, don’t use thin kerf. There is too much deflection at that speed.

• Replace the blade insert with a home-made zero clearance version to reduce tearout.

-- Dust collectors suck.

I invested in a lock miter bit for the router table a few weeks ago. The setup is a little picky but it does a nice job and makes clamping simple.

-- hey honey! watch this!

Your table saw probably has some sawdust packed in there. Clean it out and you will probably be able
to make it to 45 degrees.

My table saw makes perfect miters.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I agree with gary, if you want to miter 12” wide stock then fix the table saw and use a zero clearance throat plate and a backer scrap to avoid tear out. With a good blade and accurate measurement you should be able to glue up straight from the saw.