For pictures and cupboard doors yup.... Not so useful in that incarnation for speaker cabinet edge mitres.
For any tools, be it hand tools or the best table saws and routers... Setup and maintenance is the whole game. Understand where there may be inaccuracies in the tool set and work on scrap to reduce/eliminate them before reaching for the black walnut or that nice piece of oak. It's less likely that there will be glaring problems with better/nicer/more expensive tools but there will always be something.
Given my toolset, skills and patience (lack of), I wouldn't be making mitre joints for cabinet edges, most especially not to show them off. There are a couple of tricks that might help if joints are problematic.
1) Cut a rabbet 1/4 to 1/2 way into the edge and insert a length of hardwood to cover the joint.
2) Cut a slot 45 degrees 1/4 to 1/2 way through the glue line and insert a piece of hardwood.
"2)" is harder to get right as width of cut and thickness of the wood are critical. It's also used more to make a harder and more decorative edge on pieces intended for the home/WAF environment. Where metal cabinet edges and corner caps are likely to result in significant frowning.
J.
Hi Gnobuddy,
Yeah, my Dad taught me 50 years ago how to clamp a guide for use with a circular saw, and heck yes that still works !
Here are a few things that make a track saw really nice, IME.
Having the saw slide through a track, as opposed to having to hold the saw against a rail with even straight pressure, solves the skill and feel necessary with a rail, to make fine non-wavering cuts.
The tracks, or saws, have teflon or some other friction reducing guide material to let the saw glide very smoothly.
The tracks have a rubber-like membrane on the bottom, that grips wood well, and given the width of the track, often doesn't require clamping.
Clamping occurs by pulling the track down to the wood from underneath the track. The clamps slide in grooves under the track running from ends of the track. No clamps in the way, or marring work without blocks.
The plunge aspect is really nice. When you need it, it's invaluable, and it helps make the track span a bit wider than it could without.
Especially on miter cuts, having the saw run in a track, holds so much truer than what I can do against a rail.
A small dust collection bag is easy to attach and works well because of the shrouded blade. Maybe that's on circular saws today too...dunno??
Only drawback I know of is price.. I too waited for a few years for them to come down ...never happened.
I chose the Makita based on reviews, price, and positive experience with their battery powered tools.
I also like that the Makita has a lock tab, which holds the saw in the track on steep miter cuts...others without the tab can let the saw fall over.
I ended up springing for the long track too, 118" at a whopping $200.
But I've found it to be a very valuable investment for cutting 5x5 sheets of BB, or full length cuts on 4x8 sheets.
I was tempted to get a second shorter track with a splice kit, to avoid the long track cost, but folks advised against it. I'm glad they did...I easily routinely hold 1/4mm true over 8ft.
Hope this helps...can you tell I'm sold ?
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Clean as best you can then use spray shellac over the contamination before finishing.
I can indeed, and thank you for explaining the reasons that won you over!Hope this helps...can you tell I'm sold ?
My housing complex has a small wood-shop which includes a battered old table-saw that has seen better days. That saw has now failed twice in maybe six months.
The first time, it took months to fix. Now it's failed again, and I don't know when or if it will get fixed. There doesn't seem to be an actual budget for wood shop maintenance, and I get the distinct feeling the wood shop is a low priority for the lawyers and accountants who run the strata (it's a Canadian thing: Strata Housing - Province of British Columbia )
It might be time for me to get creative and make a DIY tracksaw. Trouble is, my existing circular saw is a crappy Ryobi with so much built-in runout that I doubt adding a track will be worth the effort.
-Gnobuddy
Come, now. Getting the supplier to cut it for you is certainly a valid solution to the problem. But it's hardly fair to say every other approach is "crap"!
-Gnobuddy
Funny !
When I think of the design process......
proto-type, measurements, trial and error, rebuild... repeat.....
...not to mention the different type boxes when putting together a complete system.....
...well, it would take a year, if ever, to get a project done,
and I could pay for a equipped shop just from the gas it would cost on all the back and forth trips to the cabinet shop
PS...what is Brit speak ?
I just fix it and slip the bill through the office mail slot. Can't count how many times I've had to do something in the shop. They never complain, they're just glad that someone will fix stuff. I'm not the only one, our residents are a pretty good volunteer bunch.
The guy is a novice, he has no tools, what else can he do?
It really is the simplest way to address his problem.
Again, get the rough cuts done accurately then spend the money on a router, and a good jig saw, unless after 50 years of this I haven't a clue.
Brit speak? We speak the same basic language but this is a multi national forum, I posted advice to a fellow Brit, we don't always understand the States take on English, and neither do you us, that's without offence of course but it seems to be the case here?
It really is the simplest way to address his problem.
Again, get the rough cuts done accurately then spend the money on a router, and a good jig saw, unless after 50 years of this I haven't a clue.
Brit speak? We speak the same basic language but this is a multi national forum, I posted advice to a fellow Brit, we don't always understand the States take on English, and neither do you us, that's without offence of course but it seems to be the case here?
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I'm not sure if you are talking about me? If you are you're wrong, I do have some tools.
I have a compound mitre saw, a jigsaw, a circular saw and a router. I used the hand circular saw with a clamped straight edge guide to make my long mitre cuts, and I used the compound mitre saw, at a stopped depth to make my rabbets. However, I have found using the tools in this way has not produced results I'm happy with. I expect it is probably mostly user error.
The mitres are not quite tight enough, not by miles, but enough to open a bit and enough irritate me. At the time I did calibrate my blade with an inclinometer, however I wonder if I should have gone for 44 degrees rather than 45 to anticipate a little flex in the blade or my grip.
And the rabbets joints are deeper at the front than the back. I think this is because the circular saw has some flex at full extension in the mounting posts of the sliding mechanism, so it is cutting a little deeper with the extra leverage.
I plan to use a router to try and fix the issue with the rabbet joints, by making a uniform depth cut. But other than lots and lots of sanding I'm not sure I can fix the mitres.
Lots of good tips on here though.
I appreciate that the easiest way to get something done, is to have someone else do it for you, but that defeats the purpose of this DIY project for me. I'd rather find a way to get it right myself.
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I've built hundreds of pairs of speakers - in a commercial cabinet shop with all the right tools, which I'm soon gonna miss big-time , and IMNSHO, mitres for loudspeaker enclosures are a waste of effort - a good dado will give you more glue surface area and make for easier assembly - but I guess that depends on how you plan to finish the boxes. I use baltic birch
When desired, they are probably most easily attainable with a table saw / sled, or even better a sliding table saw where the work piece can be clamped to prevent movement.
Since it sounds like you've committed the invested the materials and time, you're likely not going to have much better luck with sanding to tighten them up - I'd be inclined to secure the joints with internal cleats / battens if accessible, and fill any remaining gaps.
, and IMNSHO, mitres for loudspeaker enclosures are a waste of effort - a good dado will give you more glue surface area and make for easier assembly - but I guess that depends on how you plan to finish the boxes. I use baltic birch When desired, they are probably most easily attainable with a table saw / sled, or even better a sliding table saw where the work piece can be clamped to prevent movement.
Since it sounds like you've committed the invested the materials and time, you're likely not going to have much better luck with sanding to tighten them up - I'd be inclined to secure the joints with internal cleats / battens if accessible, and fill any remaining gaps.
@ the OP:
Have you looked into a router table? No sure how large the panels you are working with are but perhaps you might get more satisfactory results by first cutting them all at 90 degrees and then giving the required edges a pass on a router table with a 45 degree bit. You might even be inclined to push your luck and use a lock miter bit.
Have you looked into a router table? No sure how large the panels you are working with are but perhaps you might get more satisfactory results by first cutting them all at 90 degrees and then giving the required edges a pass on a router table with a 45 degree bit. You might even be inclined to push your luck and use a lock miter bit.
Since you have the circular saw, get a couple of cheap clamps (Harbor Freight, if in USA) and clamp a straight edge to the wood, follow along that. Doesn't help the angle problem though. I design most of my cabinets so that edges are joined at 90 degrees, so no proble then. (And I actually like that look better too)
Marshall use a router on the edge of their speaker and amplifier cases.
Its rounded off rather than angled.
Router tables are great, but 45dg bit suitable for material as thick as most of us would be using for speaker boxes - i.e. nominally 3/4" - will cost a few bucks, and needs a pretty substantial router to spin. It's also been my experience that a lock mitre bit is a royal pain in the *** to align for a perfect joint - but then I'm just a lazy bugger.
You make some good points, bwaslo. But tell me, does it have to be a circular saw? I say this as I use only hand tools. I reckon a clean cutting Japanese style pull saw would be very good for this kind of work. Thinking about it, two straight edges set up properly would make an excellent 45 degree mitre.
Kindness tapestryofsound
All is now clear. It seems you (Oldgit the tenth) intended to speak to only ONE PERSON, namely the person who started the thread. But this was not at all clear from your post - you appeared to be telling all and sundry to "cut the crap".
The problem here wasn't American English, or British English, it was a lack of clarity in your post that made it impossible for the reader to know whom you were addressing.
That said, where I come from, "cut the crap" is a fairly aggressive and offensive thing to say to someone else. It implies that whatever the other person had previously said was either stupid or untrue (i.e., was "crap".)
I didn't see any posts on this thread that appeared to be stupid or untruthful, so personally, I don't think your "cut the crap" response was appropriate or justified. But that's just my opinion.
I suppose it's always possible (though perhaps highly improbable) that "cut the crap" actually means "I love you to death" in your corner of the world.
-Gnobuddy
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