Angle cutting. Homemade device for precise cutting of boards with a hand-held circular saw Device for cutting boards at an angle
A miter box is a device that carpenters have been using for centuries to saw off trim, baseboards, baguette strips and other parts that require miter joints. What are the features various types such tools, let's figure it out together.
Is a hand miter box an amateur tool?
This word comes from the German language - Stöße(joint), Stoßlade- miter box. This device is a rectangular tray with slots on the sides, usually at an angle of 45º. Usually it is made of wood, less often of plastic and aluminum alloy. A “box with cuts” type tool can be factory-made, or you can make a miter box with your own hands. This simple design used for cutting wood and metal parts. Used in piece production.
Miter boxes of simple design are in demand. Many well-known companies, along with all sorts of complex tools, also produce such “boxes with cuts.” When purchasing a miter box, it is advisable to choose a product from brands that have already proven themselves. For example, model Fit 41255 made of hard plastic, designed for cutting wood, metal and plastics. Parts can be sawn at angles of 22.5º, 45º, 90º and 135º. The kit includes two eccentrics for fixing the part. Weighs 700 g, length – 310 mm, maximum width of the workpiece – 120 mm. Can be equipped with a saw.
Recognized among wide circles of masters is Stanley 1-20-112, which is made from impact-resistant plastics using injection molding, is equipped with two eccentrics, you can cut workpieces at angles of 22.5º, 45º, 90º on a vertical plane and at 45º on a horizontal plane, dimensions– 310x130 mm. Can be rigidly attached to a workbench. Convenient to use also BISON 15375-75, this miter box is made of impact-resistant ABS plastic; grooves are cut into the base, which allow you to saw the workpiece to the end without damaging the device. Miter box STAYER 15402 (PROFI) differs from other models in that you can cut parts at any angle in the range from 0 to 180º, the graduation step is 15º. A fixing screw is provided to securely fix the angle.
Miter box as a professional tool
In a workshop environment, when higher productivity is required, simple miter boxes no longer meet the requirements, and it is more rational to purchase professional mechanical devices with a metal body and a rotary carriage. In such tools, instead of side walls with cuts, there is a special rotating design, with a securely fastened saw blade. Almost all rotary models are equipped with axle saws. This hand saw with a thickened and reinforced canvas with a special lining. This fairly rigid design allows you to perform all sawing operations at any angle as accurately as possible.
All professional miter boxes have a graduation from 0 to 180º, in addition, almost all of them can cut in two planes. The most popular brands: Fit, Champion, Stayer And Bison.
- FIT Pro 41321– rotary miter box, supplied with the saw, working part length – 600 mm. It is made of steel, aluminum alloy and durable plastic. The built-in clamp securely fixes the workpiece. The saw blade is made of high-quality steel.
- Champion 180– rotary miter box, length – 0.5 m, equipped with a bow saw, blade with a pitch of 1.4 mm. There is fixation at 45º and 90º, as well as angles for cutting workpieces for polygonal (4, 5, 6, 8 and 12 angles) products. It is possible to adjust the depth of cut, maximum height– up to 200 mm. The maximum width of the workpiece is up to 200 mm.
- Miter saw Bison– professional, rotating model for cutting workpieces in vertical and horizontal planes. The saw is mounted on the device body on a rotary axis and can be adjusted to the required angle. You can install blades for working with workpieces made of non-ferrous metals, alloys and steel. The saw is made using precision equipment from a material that provides structural rigidity and strength. On work surface scales in centimeters and inches to determine the dimensions of the workpiece, there is also a scale in degrees.
- Miter saw Stayer used for precise sawing of workpieces, the accuracy of setting angles is quite high here, the base of the miter box is marked - allows you to work without additional measuring instruments. Cutting depth up to 600 mm, workpiece width up to 160 mm. The base of the device is metal, the tension of the saw blade is adjustable.
- And here is the company's miter box Küpper- an even more functional product. The device differs from other types of this class in that not only the saw rotates desired angle, but the entire carriage moves along a guide on the miter box body. This allows you to fix the carriage at any point on the workpiece without moving it. To set a given angle, you need to combine the required values on the scales of the carriage and body. Sawing can be carried out in horizontal and vertical planes. For working in a vertical plane there is a special hinge with a scale. You can work in both planes at the same time. The workpieces are fixed with removable clamps. There is a function that allows you to set desired depth cut, this is important when making parts with “spikes”. The maximum cross-section of the workpiece is 150x150. The length of the canvas is 0.7 m.
How to make a miter box and how to use it?
Whatever tool you come across for miter cuts, the principle of working with it is the same, so we will outline in a few words how to use a miter box correctly. Let's say we, then the first thing we do is measure the angle at which the walls meet, divide it by 2, and mark the cut line on the product. The parts of the plinth should already have the length of the wall and on each side where the corner will be cut, have a margin of 5 cm. The front side of it is placed in the miter box; the markings should coincide with the slot on the tool, i.e. become its continuation. We firmly press the plinth to the box and cut it with a hacksaw; we also cut off the adjacent part, only we place it on the other side of the slot. We clean everything with sandpaper, try it on the wall, if everything matches without gaps, you can fix the baseboard to the wall.
If you don’t want to buy a factory copy of the instrument, then you can develop your own plan for how to make a miter box, although you will have to tinker with its accuracy; this is where it is important to measure seven times and cut only once. Find a board made of durable wood up to 1.5 cm thick; if there is no very strong (deciduous) one, then coniferous will do, but the thickness should reach 2 cm. We grind and make blanks for the bed and sides, a width of 15 cm is enough. What remains connect them into a box at right angles.
You can only use self-tapping screws, but our advice is to additionally coat the ends with glue and use. Secure the entire structure with a clamp and leave to dry, removing any excess glue that appears.
Now it’s time to mark and create slots, here you need to measure the angles; in the simplest case, a square will help you. First, we apply a 90° mark on both ends (two lines opposite each other), then retreat 15 cm and draw oblique lines for 45° angles and others that you will presumably need in further work, between each subsequent markings, retreat a distance equal to the width of the box, this will ensure maximum service life of the product. All that remains is to cut the slots with a thin and well-sharpened hacksaw and sand them. This is how we made our miter box, we already know how to use it, so we can start renovating the house.
Industrial machines as miter boxes
A hand miter box is quite suitable for the production of small batches, but cannot satisfy the demand for cutting in mass production. In industry, miter saws or miter boxes with electric drive are used.. The working body of a cross-cutting machine is a head with a fixed saw blade. The head can be rotated relative to the table in a horizontal plane at an angle of 45º in both directions. In modern production, machines with a rotation of 15, 22.5, 30 and 55º can be used. The machine can be used as a regular circular saw; the disc can be changed in a few minutes.
First of all, when choosing miter saws you need to pay attention to the power - for a home workshop, optimally no more than 1.6 kW and 5-6 thousand revolutions. Cross cutting machines produced by most companies specializing in the production of power tools. The leader, of course, Bosch, GCM 10 J– an excellent leading model German company, assembled in China. Power 1 kW, speed 4.5 thousand per minute. The design of the electric motor provides reliable dust protection. Table rotation angle – 45º in both directions, maximum depth cut up to 90 mm, workpiece width – up to 130 mm. The weight of the installation is about 15 kg.
Keeps up with the leader and Hitachi C 8 FSHE- this Japanese model popular with both home craftsmen and professionals. Power 1.05 kW, speed – 5500 rpm, cutting angle 45º. You can process wood, aluminum, laminate, polymers. The cutting depth is 75 mm, the width of the workpiece is up to 312 mm, and the weight is also about 15 kg. The kit includes LED lights, dust collector, laser pointer. And here is a domestic representative ANCOR Corvette has all the same advantages as its imported counterparts, but costs about half as much and weighs 18 kg. In addition, the dust collector must be purchased separately!
Manual circular saw In the standard version, it is extremely difficult to make precise cross-cutting of the board. A simple homemade device, easily made from scraps in your home workshop, allows you to get the perfect cut in accordance with the markings.
The saw is designed for perpendicular cuts of boards ranging from 100mm to 250mm wide in 50mm increments, but can be easily modified to suit your needs.
How does a handheld circular saw attachment work?
The device in question is extremely simple and consists of only a few parts: a base for the saw, a guide rail, a stop block and eccentric clamp ensuring reliable fixation even on lumber that has been loosened with slight deviations in width.
The homemade product is very easy to use. First, markings are made on the board.
Then a homemade device is installed on top, the lower stop of which is pressed against the edge of the workpiece, and the right edge is aligned with the mark.
Now all that remains is to place the circular saw on the base and make the cut, pressing the edge of the sole against the guide side stop.
The result will be perfect straight cut, exactly repeating the markup.
With this device it is convenient to make many cross cuts when you need to frequently move the tool to a new cutting line, for example, when making grooves in beams. It is also useful if it is necessary to reduce the length of the workpiece by several millimeters, and it will cope with this task no worse than a miter saw.
How to make a device with your own hands
The cutting device is made for a specific model of power tool. On your circular saw, measure the distance from the engine to the bottom plane of the sole and subtract 5 mm. The result obtained is the height of the guide stop.
Prepare a plywood base with right angles and wooden slats with parallel edges.
Measure the distance from cutting disc to the edge of the sole.
Add an allowance of 6–10 mm and install a guide rail at this distance from the right end of the plywood. Secure the plank with countersunk screws, ensuring its strictly perpendicular position.
Screw with reverse side thrust block and fix the device on the workbench.
Cut the plywood to the final width with a circular saw, creating a reference edge for precise positioning of the jig along the markings.
Draw a template for the cam clamp cam on paper.
Mark the piece on 10mm plywood and use an awl to mark the center of the drill hole for the bolt.
Cut the workpiece with a jigsaw.
Make a washer with a diameter of 50 mm from the same plywood using a ballerina extendable wood drill.
Sand the workpieces and select an M6 or M8 furniture bolt with a mustache (or with a square headrest), a handwheel nut, a washer and a bushing. The latter can be made from a tube of suitable diameter. The length of the sleeve is the total thickness of the base, lever and plywood washer.
Make holes in the base with a drill according to the diameter of the bushing, which serve to rearrange the eccentric clamp according to the width of the board being cut.
Assemble the eccentric mechanism: insert a bolt with a sleeve on top, and install a wooden washer, the cam itself and a steel washer from below. Tighten the parts with a nut.
Stick a strip on the inside of the stop sandpaper to prevent slipping when the eccentric is locked, which can occur when the device is fastened to a smoothly planed workpiece.
Clamping system of this device has a stroke that ensures fastening on boards with a spread of approximately 10 mm in width. If you need to cut or trim pieces of a different size, simply place a wooden block in front of the stop beam.
If desired, the potential of the considered device can be expanded by adding a cutting angle of 45°. To do this you will need to slightly increase the dimensions. support platform and install the second thrust block at this angle.
During the construction or renovation process, it is impossible to avoid such an operation as cutting wooden, plastic, foam or other elements at a certain angle. There is a special tool for this, called a miter box. With this device you can easily cut any workpiece at a fixed or independently determined angle. For novice craftsmen who do not know how to use a miter box, this article will be useful.
The principle of operation of a simple miter box
A simple miter box is a rectangular platform made of
plastic or wood, with raised sides, on which there are several guide slots (90, 45 and 60 degrees). The workpiece is placed on the bottom of the platform and sawed off at the desired angle hand hacksaw. It should be taken into account that the technology for working with flat elements, for example with a beam or board, differs from cutting corners on baseboards or therefore you need to remember how to use a miter box correctly. In both cases, it is first determined which angle is needed - right or left. But if the board or trim lies flat on the platform, then the plinth should be placed on it with the side that will go to the floor or ceiling. Only by following this rule will you never make a mistake and make a beautiful and correct angle.
Rotary miter box. How to use?
A simple miter box with three angle options is usually used by home craftsmen. For professional activity most often more complex devices with rotating mechanism, which allows you to independently set any cutting angles, down to the smallest trajectories. The precision of this tool is very high, which guarantees quality finished products. Before using the miter box, the material being cut must be secured using a special device. Then the desired angle of inclination is lined up and fixed using the marks. hacksaw blade. After this, the mechanism is ready for operation.
Electric miter box
How to use an electric miter box? This is the most modern and technologically advanced device for obtaining precise and beautiful angles. In terms of its operating principle, this tool is similar to an electric saw with the option of adjusting the angle of the hacksaw blade. This is a serious structure consisting of a table equipped with special supports and digital indicators for high-precision setting of the cutting position. Some models are equipped with laser markings, making the process of sawing any material almost perfect. High accuracy, excellent quality and high speed are the main advantages of this tool. Before using an electric miter box, you must carefully study the instructions for it and become familiar with the safety rules when working with this type of electric saw. After this, fix the material on the table, use it to mark the line for the future cut, set the desired angle on the digital panel and carry out the work.
When installing platbands, floor and ceiling skirting boards, there is a need to cut workpieces at right angles, as well as at an angle of 45 degrees. Despite the simplicity of the products, the accuracy and quality of the cut plays a decisive role.
If the angles do not match, the pairing turns out to be ugly, and sometimes it is not possible to connect such halves.
If errors on plastic ceiling moldings can be corrected using plaster, which will not be visible when painted, then with wooden floor plinth, and especially the platbands around the door - such a trick will not work.
Quite a long time ago, when all skirting boards were made of wood or plaster, the problem of geometrically correct cuts was solved once and for all. The craftsmen came up with a device called a carpenter's miter box.
A good oak miter box worked for decades and was passed down from generation to generation. And gypsum stucco molding was generally made immediately required form. Today, with the variety of moldings available, every homeowner can create a ceiling “like in Smolny.” But to fit and cut workpieces correctly, you need to understand how the miter box works.
The operating principle is simple. The device is a profile in the shape of an inverted letter “P”, in internal corner which the workpiece is laid. On the vertical walls, cuts are made at the desired angle, along which the saw blade or knife moves.
It is desirable that the miter box material be stronger than the material blanks. Otherwise, the device will wear out quickly. The grooves are quickly broken by the saw teeth, and the processing of workpieces becomes less precise. Another problem is the alignment of the saw teeth.
This forces us to increase the width of the groove in the miter box. Modern products made of durable plastic, solid chipboard-based composites, or metal. The angle in professional miter boxes can be set to any angle; the rotation of the hacksaw blade is fixed with magnets.
Moreover, the most advanced models are sold complete with hacksaws. The design even includes guide rollers to prevent the blade from “walking” during operation. Errors when cutting the workpiece are reduced to a minimum.
How to use a miter box correctly
The workpiece is pressed against the sole with its wide sides and inside side wall of the miter box. The teeth of the hacksaw blade are directed towards the thrust wall, and force is applied in the same direction.
Movements are smooth and wide. We must try to ensure that the hacksaw goes as far along the workpiece as possible. The fewer movements you make when cutting, the better the cut you will get.
If you need to make a neat corner connection between two wooden parts, then you need to make a corner cut at their ends.
Miter box
The most cheap solution for making cuts at an angle - this is a simple miter box. It is usually made of plastic or wood and has slots to allow a saw to make a 45° or 90° cut. In addition, there are miter boxes with more holes for different angles. Use a fine-tooth, wide-blade hacksaw and press the piece of wood you want to cut against the back of the miter box. The relatively narrow miter box shown in the picture is suitable for working with small parts, such as cutting wooden planks under a picture frame or other small wooden parts.
Miter cutting with fixed guide
When using this tool, the saw is fixed in a horizontal strip or guide. The angle between the workpiece and the saw can be precisely set to 22.5°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°. The saw blade is easy to replace when it wears out.
Electric miter saws
The most convenient and quick way Making bevel cuts is using an electric saw to cut at an angle. With a saw like this, you are not limited by the width of the workpiece. The rotation speed of these saws can be continuously adjusted and they also have a connection for a vacuum cleaner to collect dust.
Working with a miter saw
If you want to cut a beam or baseboard, first accurately measure where you want to cut and mark it with a pencil by drawing a line.
Set the saw to the desired angle and clamp the workpiece; You can, for example, use a gluing clamp. If you're not sure what angle you need, first make a test cut on a piece of scrap wood.
Before making a cut, check that the saw blade is sharp enough - otherwise the material will split severely and you will have to apply additional force. Fine tooth blades give the best results.CLUE!
If the saw often gets stuck, rub the saw blade with the end of a candle. Candle paraffin will allow you to cut without jamming.
Cutting width
The maximum width or depth of cut when using an electric miter saw depends on the diameter of the blade. The maximum cutting width is equal to the disc diameter, which is usually 250 mm. An electric miter saw may have two guides. They allow you to move the saw towards you and get a larger cutting width.
Sawing
Measure the cutting angle, for example using a measuring stick. If two wooden blanks are at right angles to each other, then the angle is 90°. In this case, each of the two angles at which you need to make a cut is 45°. Using a miter box, you can make a cut at a 45° angle to the left or right. For the best appearance make sure the same sides of the workpiece will be visible from the inside and outside of the completed joint. If you have learned how to make miter cuts, you can also make a straight join with a bevel edge to join two pieces of wood to add length. In this case, two planks or two plinths will be neatly connected to each other.
Variable cutting angles
Using different angles cut you can make the connection at the required angle. For odd angles, you can make a neat joint by measuring the required cut angle using an adjustable jig or contour gauge. Set the grinder exactly at half of this angle and make corresponding marks on each workpiece. After this, set the grinder at the same angle and you can make a neat connection.