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I've tried to use a miter saw and box many times and no matter how hard I try, my cuts always come out beveled instead of 90 degree. Is there someone that could give me a crash course on wood cutting by hand saw 101.






KIA'S--MIA'S--POW'S--DAV'S--are what our freedom cost us[b][/b]

If you are beveling cuts using a miter box and saw, my guess is you are using too much pressure. Let the saw do its job, and pay attention to the blade to keep it perpendicular to the wood.

Grandpa was a ships master carpenter in the navy and you did it his way if he was within eyesight. His take was if you can see the saw blade you are not cutting square. Your line of sight should be in line with the saw and all you will see is a thin line unless you have the blade tipped in or out.

Your miter saw should do this for you unless it is an old worn out wood one.

been there and got the T-shirt. The thing is to be very careful and have a really sharp---thin saw!!! You can do it with a chunky saw but your need to take careful strokes and not push into the wood. '

Oh yeah and if you are getting Yellow stuff straighten out your saw! Do you know you can get small stick on levelers?

If possable clamp the wood to the Miter box and keep your attention on the mark you made on the wood, as mentioned a sharp saw is going to cut easy with less pressure.
Dave

A good quality miter box is also helpful, I have a cheap plastic one, and it takes a lot of concentration to get a decent cut with it.

A: What Paul said.
B: Are you using the saw that came with the box? If your
using a regular saw with the box there is a good chance that
you have too much play while cutting.
C: Are you clamping down the wood so it doesn't move?

With hand saws, I find it hard to get good results with a miter box. Believe it or not, I get better results by not using and kind of cutting jig. The old school technique is to scribe a mark with a knife and straightedge on all four sides of the board where you want to cut. Then using a chisel in front of the mark, make a shallow groove for the saw to ride in. Start on the corners of the wood (45 degrees from the board faces), keeping an eye on the marks on both faces of the board, and cut into two perpendicular sides of the board at once, If you marked it correctly, the cut will be square. Japanese pull saws also help a lot.

back in the day cuts were always cleaned up with a paring chisel or a plane... anyway sight one face and one edge and cut at that diagonal. it's easier to start the saw on the corner and then align the blade to the two lines and cut to them both as you go. a thin kerf Japanese style saw will go a long way to getting better results as well.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Will practise on scraps and let you know how it goes.





KIA'S--MIA'S--POW'S--DAV'S--are what our freedom cost us

Thank you everyone for instruction on how to cut 90's with a miter saw. I made 20 practice cuts today and 18 were perfect. First two cuts I forgot to clamp the work down. Once I did that, bingo, worked like a charm. I've never clamped my work before and that's where my bevels were coming from. Thanks for the heads up.







KIA'S--MIA'S--POW'S--DAV'S--are what our freedom cost us

timlsalem wrote:Thank you everyone for instruction on how to cut 90's with a miter saw. I made 20 practice cuts today and 18 were perfect. First two cuts I forgot to clamp the work down. Once I did that, bingo, worked like a charm. I've never clamped my work before and that's where my bevels were coming from. Thanks for the heads up.







KIA'S--MIA'S--POW'S--DAV'S--are what our freedom cost us

clamping is good but gets boring real fast. we apply 180 grit paper to the face of the fences on our cross-cut sleds, mitre guides and the fences on the chop-saw. it gives you just enough grip to hold the pieces so you don't get creep from the cutting pressure.