Miter Saw Tutorial

The purpose of a miter saw is to cut material (generally wood) at a specific angle. Modern miter saws come in a range of styles, defined mostly by how much you can adjust the position of the blade. When choosing a miter saw, consider what it will mostly be used for. For occasional projects around the house that might require an angled cut now and then, a basic, no-frills miter saw will be fine. If you're thinking of installing crown molding throughout the house, an investiment in a high-end double-compound miter saw might be worth it.

What Is a Miter?

A miter is any straight angled cut in wood or other material. Look at a picture frame in which the spans are connected along angled lines at the corners, and those are miters.

What Is a Miter Saw?

Miter saws--both the old-fashioned long blades that were used by hand and modern powered miter saws with circular blades--work by setting the blade in a frame that swivels it to different positions over the wood that's being cut. The wood sits on a platform, against a ``fence'' at the back end of it. Modern power miters have the blade hovering over the wood, and you physically lower it through the wood while squeezing the trigger that turns on the power to rotate the blade.

Basic Mitering

The most basic miter is a 45-degree cut, which can be combined with another 45-degree cut to form a 90-degree corner. Even the most basic miter saw will do this, allowing you to set the miter angle by the numbers on the swiveling platform. (The swivel mechanism is generally a knob on the front of the saw that pulls out to allow the saw the swivel, then locks into place.) If you don't know the numeric degree of a particular cut that you need, but you can draw it across the board with a template, then you can swivel the saw blade until it lines up visually with line you've drawn.

Compound Miters

The biggest challenge in trimwork is cutting compound miters, which are double-angled cuts, with one angle across the face of the wood and another angle through the thickness of the wood. Crown molding requires compound miters because it sits out from the wall at an angle, so rounding a corner requires two angles at once. Compound cuts can be made on a regular miter saw by holding the trim at a tilt while bringing down the miter at an angle, but it's difficult to get right. A compound miter saw simplifies the process by allowing the blade to tilt to one side as it's swiveled to a specific angle.

The Ultimate Miter Saw

Basic miter saws will swivel while the blade stays vertical. Basic compound miter saws will tilt the blade, but only to one side, meaning you have to flip the crown molding around in different directions to get the full range of cuts. For serious trimwork and other projects, there is the double-compound miter saw, which swivels in both directions and tilts in both directions, making just about any angle of cut relatively simple.

References

• Choosing and using a miter saw