How do professinol cabinet makers cut mitres?

[promhandicam]

In response to an ongoing discussion I thought it might be informative to try and ascertain how professional cabinet makers (those woodworkers for whom their main source of income is derived from woodworking) cut mitres. So if you fit that category please answer the following question:

If you had to make a box with from solid wood with sides 120mm high how would you normally go about cutting the mitres?

Steve

 

[SBJ]

I voted table saw. I use the sliding carriage on the table saw, usually with a false bed

 

[Mattty]

I wanted to vote Axe :shock:

 

[joiner_sim]

table saw

 

[seanybaby]

Table saw for longish mitres. However if it's lipping or something smaller, hand powered mitre saw then finish on disc sander with jig. You don;t even have to turn the disc sander on if you only want a tiny amount taking off, spin it with your hands.

At home i would use a shooting board :roll:

 

[BradNaylor]

The table saw has got to be the logical choice for 'long' mitres like this. I can't see any reason why anyone would need to trim them afterwards in any way - they should be perfect straight off the saw...


...if it's a decent saw.

 

[Mike.C]

In response to an ongoing discussion I thought it might be informative to try and ascertain how professional cabinet makers (those woodworkers for whom their main source of income is derived from woodworking) cut mitres. So if you fit that category please answer the following question:

If you had to make a box with from solid wood with sides 120mm high how would you normally go about cutting the mitres?

Steve

A bit of a mistake Steve, that link ended 5 years ago. This is the one you mean, I think. https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/mitr ... 39893.html

Cheers

Mike

 

[promhandicam]

thanks Mike

 

[jasonB]

Table saw for me too, I keep the axe for sharpening my pencil or shaving my arms :wink:

J

 

[dannykaye]

sorry I answered before I saw the pro tag

 

[promhandicam]

dannykaye - you are the weakest link - goodbye :wink:

 

[wizer]

I know this won't be any great surprise to any one posting in this thread. But, as much as I have tried, I've never been able to get decent mitres on a SCMS. Yes, this was probably me. But my shooting board guarantees it's perfect. I do often wonder how the pro's do it and I'm puzzled that so many can get them seemingly so effortlessly. So maybe the Bosch was exceedingly bad at it. I'll continue to try to get perfect mitres on the new SCMS.

What steps do people take when setting up their saw? Just the pre-defined stops or something with more scrutiny?

 

[promhandicam]

What steps do people take when setting up their saw? Just the pre-defined stops or something with more scrutiny?

A good sharp blade, taking the cut slowly and holding the work so that it can't move. I've found that for whatever reason, wood has a tendency to move slightly on my scms if I'm not very careful. My Metabo cuts on the pull stroke which I think is easier to control than the majority of saws which have to be pushed across the work.

Steve

 

[wizer]

Thanks Steve. I've often though that cutting on the pull would be much easier, as in a RAS.

I'll do some tests when the Hitachi is up and running.

 

[petermillard]

If you had to make a box with from solid wood with sides 120mm high how would you normally go about cutting the mitres?
Steve

If I understand this correctly, you're talking about what I'd call a bevel cut i.e. the 'long' mitre, for example, where the corners of a drawer box meet and the 120mm is the height of the drawer.

I'd cut this with a SCMS - or a plunge saw on a guide-rail and do all four at once. Like Brad said on the thread referred to above, I really don't see what the issue is; set your machines up right, saw cut, domino, glue-up & clamp.

Job done.

Cheers, Pete

 

[Mattty]

The way in which the wood is presented is also crucial.
I have a strip of mdf with a raised lipped edge which i use as a sacrificial surface for this task. Placed on the saw and clamped down. The lipped edge against the fence.
I would tilt the saw to 45 degrees and do a trial cut checking for square. The required timber would be to the left of the blade (if it was a box side, it would be internal face up) and i would cut throught the pieces in the usual way.
If i was making a box i would cut one end of all four pieces and then using a length stop cut the other ends.
Doing the above produces 100% results for me. What is crucial is a sharp clean blade and the workpiece not moving during cutting.
All stuff you know i'm sure.

 

[Richard Findley]

In my workshop I tend to avoid mitres if at all possible but in a large production workshop that I have previously worked in, mitres are cut either on a Wadkin Spindle moulder or on a very accurate table saw with a sliding bed - when I say very accurate I mean digital readout electronic thingy costing around £10 - 20,000 - see "Martin" from Axminster :shock: :shock:

In my workshop I either use a hand plane or a mitre lock cutter in my router table which works a treat.

I've not acctually voted in the poll but the above is my experience.

Cheers

Richard

 

[Mr T]

Hi

As I now have an accurate table saw I use that. It has a hold down clamp for the sliding table which I always use for angled cuts as I find that the piece tends to move away from the saw if hand held.

Chris

 

[promhandicam]

Thanks to all who have answered so far.

Table saw is coming in tops with nearly half the votes followed by the SCMS / Chop saw. Not quite sure that a mitre trimmer would be able to do a mitre 120mm long and will be interested to see examples from the 2 people who voted for Axe :roll: :lol: Also interesting to note that no one, thus far, has voted for shooting board.

Steve

 

[JohnBrown]

I wanted to vote Axe :shock:

Teeth?