Mitre saw

[Victorthesecond]

Hello everyone. I'm very much a learner when it comes to woodwork - projects so far are all for outside, so things like a vegetable raised bed, a couple of planters and, my pride and joy, a mud kitchen for my grandson!

Anyway, I've been asked, by my son and partner, if I will fit some shelves for them in their new house. It's an old building, and the shelves are to go in an alcove. I doubt the corners or walls will be straight! (I've been researcging how to fit shelves into odd shaped alcoves and think I'm OK, but any advice will be welcome...) So, I'm ready now to buy a mitre saw - the shelving will need to be sturdy as they have many, many books and there will be a few shelves to build, so I think a mitre saw and stand will be a good investment.

I don;t think I need to spend a real fortune here. I've looked at Screwfix Titan (Titan TTB795MSW 210mm Electric Single-Bevel Compound Mitre Saw 240V) and B&Q's MacAllister (Mac Allister 1500W 220-240V 210mm Compound mitre saw MMIS210C-B | DIY at B&Q). I'm leaning towards the Titan as I think it has a bigger cut.

I'd just appreciate your advice here on which one I should buy or if you think I should invest a little more money (not oo much more though!)

Also, are there any real differences between the B&Q mitre saw stand (Mac Allister MMST150 Mitre saw stand | DIY at B&Q) and the Screwfix one (Titan TTU806ACC Mitre Saw Stand)

Thank you very much for any replies

Take care

Mike

 

[TheUnicorn]

not trying to be flippant but for that job I'd save your money and do it with a handsaw. The benefit of a mitre saw is identical repeatable cuts which it doesn't sound like you will being doing if you are expecting wonky walls.

I have an evolution mitre saw, broadly speaking the same sort of thing as the titan you've linked to, it is not a bad machine, for the money, but I hardly ever use it, it is stored packed away, and takes maybe 15 minutes to get out, run power to it, mount it to a board I made up for it, clamp that board into a workmate, set up the shop vac and hose (not an optional extra, they make A LOT of sawdust fast), found the ear defenders that seem to have moved since I put them down last.... I could have cut 10 shelves in that time, with modest mess and noise.

If I were buying a mitre saw now I'd look to spend a bit more and getting a sliding model, as the bigger cut would make the saw more useful. I also get the impression that the accuracy of the cut is much better on more expensive machines (bosch, dewalt etc), which quickly gets to a big spend.

I keep on meaning to make up some blocks to clamp to as per gosforth handyman's video

 

[Victorthesecond]

Thoughtful reply, thank you!

 

[Bojam]

Thoughtful reply, thank you!

I'd agree with much of what TheUnicorn said. Get yourself some kind of angle finder (a simple bevel gauge may be enough) to capture the wonky angles of the walls. Transfer to the boards and make the cuts by hand. If you don't already have a decent handsaw then consider Japanese pull saws, which are great for nice clean cuts. A Ryoba saw (e.g this) blade has crosscut teeth along one edge and rip teeth on the other. Two saws for the price of one. The pulling action is different to Western saws but I found them intuitive to learn/use.

If you do decide to go down the mitre saw route then I'd suggest considering a small sliding saw. I don't do much carpentry, mainly furniture builds and smaller decorative stuff like frames and boxes. I have the Bosch GCM8SJL which has an 216mm (8") blade giving a max cutting capacity of 70mm (deep) x 312mm (wide) at 0°. I rarely need to cut deeper than 70mm deep material. It's rare to use boards wider than 312mm either and I have a tracksaw to use for bigger panel glue-ups and sheet goods. I think the Bosch GCM8SJL is a great little saw: well build and robust, well calibrated out of the box and easy to adjust, with a powerful braked soft start motor. You can buy it as a package with the Bosch mitre saw stand, or just set up a table with support blocks as in the video linked above. The only drawbacks I've found with this saw are: (1) the space required behind it to accommodate the sliding rails, and (2) the less than brilliant dust collection (but tbh this is the case with most mitre saws).

Hope that helps.

 

[h-magic]

I would advise just to get a jigsaw Or a cheap option would be get a second hand evolution chop saw model but again if you want spot on accuracy spend some more money.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

What you need for fitting shelves into wonky spaces is a Ticking stick.

 

[Lazurus]

I picked up a Evolution 3 sliding saw, and I have to admit that after a bit of fettling it is pretty dam accurate, always worth fitting a quality blade rather that the general purpose multi material one supplied. They can be had very cheap second hand and was quite a surprise to me as to how good they can be. I expected play in the sliding mechanism, wonky fence etc, but on mine at least all is good. (so far)

 

[BucksDad]

I would go for a Track saw. It takes up less storage space and you have effectively an infinite length of cut. I assume you may need to trim these shelves in both directions and I assume the shelves will be longer than 30cm