I am building a church pulpit and have some small oak trim. I am trying to figure out how to cut 45's, compound cuts and straight cuts without it exploding on me. Is there a certain type blade I need to use? Some of these cuts are opposite 45's on each ends and about 3/4 " long to wrap around 3/4" fluted 1X3. Any help will be appreciated.
From contributor ki
I go "old school" when it comes to very small trim pieces. I break out the old back saw and miter box. If you don't have one, maybe you could make a jig and use a Japanese pull saw. Good luck
From contributor Je
Put a backer board behind it. They explode because of the space between the fence and the blade and the molding will flex, then spring back into the blade. Just grab a scrap of anything to put between the molding and the fence so it is fully supported right up to the blade.
From contributor Ji
Saw to rough length, then use a stationary disc sander fitted with a miter fixture.
No danger, no blowout, perfect fit.
From contributor Je
Gerald,
Just for clarity, are you wrapping the three faces of 1 x 3 columns? and if so how many are you trying to do? and what is the size of your molding? Using the hand saw mitre box as recomended is usually the most effective when dealing with tiny moldings, when dealing with real small pieces of wood, not just in length but in girth as well, there are many small aluminum mitre boxes often sold with a saw, for little money. If you have many to do you might want to set up a stop style blowout fence. By the way when I say many, I mean like fifty or more cuts, because the time spent doing this is typically a wash with just doing them by hand.
Jeff Marholin
From contributor ed
Can you shorten the flute. Route three sides of a cap to fit. Instead of cutting trim?
This would depend on design and finish of the end grain that would now show.
If the flute is all the way to the end. This gives a nice look. No flute holes.
From contributor Da
The best tool for that would be an old fashioned miter knife. Lion used to be a good brand. Trimmed out a lot of houses with that tool in the days before chop saws and miter saws. With a sharp blade, even small moldings can be trimmed to length 1/64 at a time with no spinning blade near your fingers and no molding exploding.
From contributor Ge
Thanks for all the responses. I finally used a fine tooth Japanese saw and a home made miter box set to a 45. It worked perfect. I cut 4 pieces 3/4x3/4 perfect the first time. Thanks again.
