A miter saw is a power tool mostly used to cut mitered, square, angled or beveled or crosscuts on woods and timbers or any other materials you want. You just have to select the right type of saw and the right type of blade for the material you want the cut on. It can make fast instant cuts with excellence. Knowing how to use a miter saw is very important for any DIY or carpentry workers. In this article will learn about how to use a miter saw.
Quick Overview
Safety
A miter saw might be a very useful tool for you if you are into DIY works. But it is still a power tool which runs on electricity. So you must ensure full safety of you and your surroundings and your project before you start cutting with a miter saw. At first, put on your safety goggles, hearing protection and safety gloves. Also, unplug the saw when you do not need to work with it or when you are finished working with it. Put on the blade guards and unplug the saw from the power socket and store it away at some safe place. Unplug it even when you are changing the saw blades. When you are making cuts with your saw, keep your fingers at least 6 inches away from the saw blade.
Miter saw
There many types of miter saws depending on their various useful functions and features. You have to choose the right saw for your desired cut or project or work. In this article (miter saw usage), you will find the names of various types of miter saws commonly used. To master this tool, you have to learn about its parts and what their use is. There are many buttons, levers and many more things in a machine. Read the manual which comes with the machine and learn about their specifications. What are they, what do they do, how you operate them, etc.
Get yourself comfortable with your new saw. Before working on an actual project, I would like to suggest that you make enough cuts with your saw. If you are a beginner in woodworking, you should make sufficient cuts with your tool first. So cut every piece of scrap which comes in your sight. Because practicing cutting scrap materials will help you to grow your skill and experience about using a miter saw or any other saw. Another important suggestion for the beginners is that, before you start cutting, release your blade part of the saw so that you can pull it up and down. Doing so will make you familiar with the motion of the saw.
Cutting with a miter saw
The concept of cutting with a miter saw is very easy and simple. Just put the wood on the table, start the saw, pull down the blade, make your desired cut, pull the blade up when the cut is finished and you are all done. But before all that, there is a lot of work to do. Though the concept is very easy to say, working with it is hard. And mastering it is even harder. You have to go through these things before you start cutting.
Step-1
First of all, make a comfortable working environment for you. Build a simple miter saw stand for your convenience in work. If you have very long or large materials to cut then handling them and positioning and balancing them perfectly is a bit troublesome. So if you have a stand in your workspace then it will be much easier for you to work more comfortably.
Step-2
Your next task would be to make marks on your workpiece. Make sure you are marking with a pencil or marker. Make the marks in such a way that it is easily visible to you. You can follow the mark when you are cutting with your saw. And when you will cut according to the guide of your mark, start your cut a bit away from the mark. Because a little portion of your wood will vanish into sawdust when the blade will cut. So if you cut right from the mark, then you might end up with a short piece of wood which you did not want. That is why you should cut away from the mark at the scrap part of the workpiece.
Step-3
If you are working on a large workpiece then handling the large wood and making perfect cuts is very hard for a man. So it will be very good for you if you clamp the whole workpiece down. The clamps will hold down the workpiece for you and you can focus on just cutting with the saw.
Step-4
Another important thing about the miter saw blade I should inform you that, never turn on the blade when it is touching the wood. First, turn it on and let it go to full speed and then pull it down to start cutting. But, when you have finished making your cut with the saw, do not pull it up while it is still spinning. When your cut is finished, release the trigger or turn the switch off. Let the blade fully stop and then pull it up. If you pull it up while it is spinning then it might toss some small pieces of wood up in the air and splinter the area of cut which will result to a rough cut and then could be the reason of a messed up project.
Step-5
If you are using a miter saw then you do not need only straight cuts. You need angled, cornered, beveled cuts in your workpiece. To make fine cuts, adjust the blade angle slightly to fine-tune miter cuts for a decent match. Give the blade adjuster a little jab and hold it in the position till you have tightened the lockup handle.
That would be everything for you know about using a miter saw. If you are intending to use a miter saw professionally then you should have a saw of your own. You can practice and train yourself with it. Besides, having a saw of your own will make your work easier. But if you need to cut with a miter saw for a one-time purpose then I think you should consider renting one rather than buying a new one. But, for doing all these, you must know how to use a miter saw first.
