Wood Working Tools - Mitre Saw

What Does A Mitre Saw Do?

A mitre saw allows you to make angled cross cuts.

Let us take a simple example of a picture frame. You have a long piece of wood that you want to cut into four pieces to make up the frame. But instead of simply joining the pieces together so they are aligned at 90 degrees to each other, you prefer to make a mitre joint.

What is a mitre joint? It is when you bevel the two pieces to be attached together so that they meet at an angle. In the case of our picture frame, 45 degrees is an appropriate angle. Think of a picture frame you have seen recently and you should notice that most of them are made in this way.

Why Make A Mitre Joint?

In general, a mitre joint is considered an attractive joint, especially for frames (picture or otherwise). When the depth of the joint becomes greater then stronger options such as dovetails may be considered.

Sometimes a pipe is joined using a mitre saw to create the joint. In some such situations there may even be no other viable alternative.

Manual Mitre Saw

This features a metal base onto which a backsaw is positioned and is able to freely rotate. A backsaw is used because this allows for greater precision in cutting.

The base contains vice clamps onto which you can secure your piece of wood. Guiding rods then allow you to fix the angle at which you want to saw. This is a very similar concept to the original "mitre box".

Mitre Box

The mitre box precedes the manual mitre saw but the principle is much the same.

It is nothing more than an open ended and open top box with slots cut in it. It is usually made of wood or plastic.

The idea is that you position your piece of wood inside the box and then place your saw through the guides and begin to cut. The guides are usually set at 45 and 90 degrees. Some models feature 60 degrees, 30 degrees and other less common angles.

It is good practice to clamp your work to a bench but if you are cutting small pieces then you can often go without.

Powered Mitre Saw

The above devices are generally only good for making picture frames and similar constructions.

For larger applications you may find it more effective to use a power tool. Also, the price of such tools has dropped considerably in the last few years.

A powered mitre saw usually features an aluminium base above which is mounted a circular saw. The saw can be rotated around the base and locked into position at whatever angle you choose.

A variety of different models are available on the market. The most basic is a sliding saw. The saw is able to slide along a rail and this means that it can cut to larger than its own diameter. Another popular version is a compound saw. This allows you to not only angle your cut but also to tilt the blade at the same time.