Marking Mitres?

[phil p]

Hi,

I'm stuck!

Ive been making a few planter boxes for the garden and Ive got to the point where I'm making a mitred framed top to overhang them (like you see on a lot of them these days)

I want a 25mm overhang inside and outside the boxes.

Anyway I'm not sure whether it's the heat that frazzled my brain today or I'm just slow on the uptake (I'm only a novice) however I'm not sure how to lay the timber out to mark the mitres where to cut?

Ive marked the diagonal lines on the top of the boxes but from there I'm beat on how you mark the timber from underneath on where to cut?

Any tips on how to do this please.

 

[TheTiddles]

If you want 25mm each on the outside, you want each piece 50mm longer than the outside length of the side. If you want 25mm on the inside, your material needs to be 50mm wider plus the thickness of the thing it’s covering.

I usually charge for such calculations, but that one’s on the house .

 

[phil p]

Cheers Tiddles.

Does that calculation apply to any thickness of timber and overhang required?

 

[David bonner]

That and abit for your work ok as in a mathematical work out ok.

 

[TheUnicorn]

I'm not sure how to lay the timber out to mark the mitres where to cut?

Ive marked the diagonal lines on the top of the boxes but from there I'm beat on how you mark the timber from underneath on where to cut?

tiddles calulations on the measurements are spot on

why do you need to mark the timber from underneath?

 

[owen]

Best thing to do is cut a mitre on one end of your timber first, then measure from the point of that mitre the width of the planter plus your 50mm and then mark and cut the second mitre. That way you're not trying to cut two mitres perfectly to the length lines on each piece just the one.

 

[TheUnicorn]

Best thing to do is cut a mitre on one end of your timber first, then measure from the point of that mitre the width of the planter plus your 50mm and then mark and cut the second mitre. That way you're not trying to cut two mitres perfectly to the length lines on each piece just the one.

agreed, but the same applies to any cut doesn't it?

 

[owen]

agreed, but the same applies to any cut doesn't it?

Yes of course, but I've seen people in the past struggle to measure and mark both mitres on a piece of wood then cut them afterwards, so it's worth pointing out

 

[TheUnicorn]

Yes of course, but I've seen people in the past struggle to measure and mark both mitres on a piece of wood then cut them afterwards, so it's worth pointing out

fair point.

 

[Rorton]

when doing mitres, I usually like to cut all the mitres on one end first, then check measurements, and then cut the other end after - usually using a stop block so they are identical