Cutting mitres in mouldings

[glenfield2]

I’ve got about sixty mitres to cut in ogee mouldings for my boat cabin. They’re chunky (28x16mm max) mouldings but I’m still concerned about getting neat cuts on my admittedly rather mediocre chop saw. Would I maybe get a better result hand cutting with a jig? The only boxes and hand saw jigs I recall were all a bit rubbish.
I can’t afford to buy an expensive Fes-kita for what might be one job.

 

[JobandKnock]

You can always fine tune mitre cuts with a sharp block plane

 

[owen]

What about a mitre trimmer? The Axminster one is £200 and you'd be able to resell it for around £150 so £50 ain't too much money to spend?

 

[Ozi]

I feel your pain! I also have a cheap Wicks hand miter saw, it will give good cuts but only if I clamp the saw down tight the work piece tight and supported along it's full length then additionally clamp the saw angle adjustment and go really slow. The second cut gets tedious... cut No. 60 I don't want to go there.

 

[RichardG]

I would make a 45 degree shooting board and then use a block plane as JobandKnocksays. A standard plane will work as well as long as its sharp and setup correctly, even the best mitre saw will not produce perfect cuts. You can tweak the angle as well by using small packing pieces when planing.

 

[Jacob]

Do it by hand and you get better at it in no time. As JobandKnock says - fine tune with a block plane.

 

[Just4Fun]

I made a mitre shooting board. I managed to screw up the angle but a shim taped on sorted that. I make the saw cuts by hand, either with a mitre box or by eye and get them pretty close. Then it is a quick job to fettle them on the shooting board. I use a #4 or #5 on the shooting board whichever comes to hand first. I made the shooting board from scraps so no cash outlay was needed.

 

[Trextr7monkey]

I’d have a look around for an Orteguil mitre trimmer they make very light work of this sort of repetitive job and have great second hand value but if you get one you will probably keep it. Make sure blades are sharp when you buy it so you don’t have to get them sharpened which costs about £20

 

[Droogs]

As they are for a boat, don't worry too much, you will have shed loads of movement so will end up with small gaps anyway. Where you wan t to be sure they are not obvious in public/show areas then use a coping joint instead

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I assume the cuts will be different otherwise I'd suggest a mitre box and a saw like Bahco Profcut laminate saw.
If not change the blade on your chop saw - even indifferent saws work quite well with a sharp fine blade - TCT Circular Blade 255mm x 80T for example. I have one of these as well - Professional Range TCT Circular Blade 185mm x 80T it's an awesome little blade for the money.

 

[glenfield2]

As they are for a boat, don't worry too much, you will have shed loads of movement so will end up with small gaps anyway. Where you wan t to be sure they are not obvious in public/show areas then use a coping joint instead

Blimey I find mitres hard enough let alone coping with coping joints on this stuff!