A miter saw is used for so many different cutting opportunities; it is definitely one of the most common electric cutting tools used in home improvement today. From cutting crown molding to flooring to siding, it is used in nearly every facet of construction and woodworking. But I bet you didn’t know you could do these three things when cutting with a miter saw! Save time (your fingers) and money with these three tips for cutting with the miter saw.
Stack it up
Cutting wainscoting, flooring and other consecutive pieces with the same measurement can get tedious and is time consuming. Use a break and stacking method to speed up the time with multiple pre-measured cuts.
A break is installed on the miter saw at the required measurement away from the blade. Now stack pieces can be bumped up to the break (or stop) and cut accurately without breaking out the tape measure every time. Once you’re sure the cut is accurate, stack multiple pieces onto the break and cut three or four pieces at one time.
Sandwiching
No, this method isn’t about food; it’s about cutting pieces that might be too small to cut by themselves. It can be very dangerous to cut small pieces in a miter saw as they tend to kick out or break apart at super high speeds-not to mention losing a finger.
Cut smaller pieces by sandwiching them between to larger pieces of scrap wood. Use a hand clamp to sandwich the pieces between two boards and let her rip! A small brad nail can also help hold little pieces in place.
Raising the bar
When you cut base and other tall trim, if you don’t have a high setting for your miter, you’ll have to lay it flat to cut it. This can result in bad angles and mismatching corners. You can raise the height of the cut by attaching a backerboard to the fence.
A 1×4 or thicker board can be attached to the rear fence of the miter to extend the cut on the miter. Now larger pieces of trim can be cut as it sets naturally instead of lying flat.
