I want to

[devonwoody]

Is it worth going to the expense of purchasing a 45 degree router bit to cut a mitre for jewellery box corners? The good quality ones cost upwards of £25 and I dont feel like buying one to try once and then be dissatisfied and then sticking it in a drawer

 

[jasonB]

I suppose it depends on how accurately you can pass the endgrain accross the cutter on your routertable, you will not be able to regester the end of the board against the fence so will need to hold it solidly.

Personally I would do it on the tablesaw with the blade accurately set to 45 degrees. I have a simple homemade sledge that I use for this as I can hold small work safer than doing it with the sliding carrage.

I tend to keep my big wealden 45deg cutter for chamfers

Jason

 

[Chris Knight]

I would say yes if you are prepared also to make a sled. As Jason says you cannot really register the mitre accurately against a fence as the corner is too delicate. I bought a set years ago of several different mitre angles so I can make four, six eight sided boxes etc. I have probably used the hexagon most as I made up lots of hexagonal deskset pencil holders at one time and it was very useful for this.

It is quicker than setting up the table saw accurately for this purpose.

 

[CraftNav]

Hi JJ

I did buy a large CMT 45 degree cutter for that job, I use a large substantial router table made by Woodcut Trading (10 years old) with a big cast bed and sliding carriage

But the results were poor, not the cutter but getting the bit perfectly parallel to the bed, I used washers & shims but gave up in the end and bought the Axminster mitre trimmer which is easy to use and so far is spot on accuracy, also less 'scary' to use

John

 

[ike]

I agree with Chris. Although I only use the 45 cutter for chamfering, I found the mitre lock cutter can produce a perfect joint but oh is it a sod to set up!

ike

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks for the input above, it looks if I shall have to think again.

Perhaps one day there will be a perfect table saw for me.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I don't know if you are into hand tools, DW, but I think I would try making up a shooting board for use with a hand-plane for that sort of job.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[devonwoody]

I did that in the days of yore but have got addicted to machinery in my old age.

I reckon all the sweat it would generate I would have to think about global warming.

 

[woodbloke]

DW - I've also trimmed up largish mitres (50-60mm) without too much sweat using a disc sander and fence set to 45 deg. Needs a bit of careful setting up but works quite well - Rob

 

[Nick W]

Another vote for the Axminster mitre trimmer. Set it up right, and keep it sharp, and you will be rewarded with spot on, beautifully polished mitres.

 

[devonwoody]

Another vote for the Axminster mitre trimmer. Set it up right, and keep it sharp, and you will be rewarded with spot on, beautifully polished mitres.

Using this tool can you be certain that two piece finish up the same length. ie is there a stop block setup?

Re keeping sharp, is that a saw blade?

 

[Nick W]

There is a stop available I believe, but I don't have it. You can sneak up on a knifed line very nearly as finely as you can with a plane.

It is not a saw blade, the trimmer has a pair of knives.

See here

 

[devonwoody]

So is it a guilotine?

 

[CraftNav]

Yes but mitre trimmer is easier to spell !! :lol:

I have the stops which makes repeat cuts easy, I think it was about £20 extra and you could make your own, If your seriously considering one I'll take some photos of my set up.

John

 

[devonwoody]

Something went wrong with spellchecker!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I would be interested to see a better picture than the web page photograph.
Perhaps you could do a review if moderators allow.

 

[CraftNav]

Hi DW as promised I took some pics of the Axminster mitre trimmer and 'cut length attachments'.

The attachments are pretty simple and cost £23 Like most things once you have seen something 'in the flesh' you could easily get some metal angle and a piece of wood and knock your own up in half an hour :?

The pull (or push) handle is removable (good safety feature). When the unit arrives it comes with a WARNING piece of cardboard, I've kept mine and I leave it in place when not in use.

As you can see in the pic I have mounted the mitre trimmer to the top of one of my rolling work stations so it is always out and I have found I use it quite a lot (I make a lot of boxes).

The trimmer is just that - i.e. it is not a mitre cutter (unless its very small beading) I usually cut the mitres to within 1 or 2mm and then slice off minute slithers of wood till I get to the mark.

The 'slicing' is very satisfying (the same feeling when your plane is newly sharpened and skims off wafer thin amounts of wood) 8)

I use mine to cut 90 degrees accurately as well as mitres, here is a piece of ply cut on the trimmer, the picture doesn't do justice to the mirror finish the trimmer gives to the wood

All in all I am very happy with it

Regards

john

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks for the demo, so it looks like I would need a trimmer , plus a good blade sharpening system to go with it.

I suppose with some timbers there would be edge break off so waste needs to be allowed for.

 

[iajon69]

Thanks for the demo, so it looks like I would need a trimmer , plus a good blade sharpening system to go with it.

If the blades are the same as ones used by similar looking machines in the picture framing industry then the only thing to watch while sharpening these blades is that they need to be hollow ground and ideally sharpened as a pair. Charnwood sell a similar machine but not sure what the quality of the Charnwood machines are like though.

 

[ike]

Just curious, but what is the vertical capacity i.e. the height from the bed to the uppermost corner of the blade adjacent to the fence.?

 

[Nick W]

The maximum capacity is 100 x 150mm. 100 is the height.