# Mini Miter saw



## Geophyrd (Nov 7, 2010)

I've been very frustrated trying to cut precise cuts on pen blanks.  I bought a table saw, but it won't permit a zero tolerance insert.  I bought a bandsaw (second hand) and it won't cut straight no matter what jig I try. I tried PSI's small table saw (4") but it keeps getting stuck in the material and won't cut through a 3/4" piece of material in one pass. 

I'm trying to make relatively simple cuts, but I need them straight and predictable.  Today I bought the 3-1/8" True Power Mini Miter saw.  Supposedly, it can cut up to 1-15/16-1/1/4 depending on the angle of cut, is essentially a chop saw.  At $60, it seemed like a possibility.

Has anyone used this? I know it says for wood only but has anyone used it on acrylic?


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## jttheclockman (Nov 7, 2010)

Geophyrd said:


> I've been very frustrated trying to cut precise cuts on pen blanks. I bought a table saw, but it won't permit a zero tolerance insert.





Geophyrd said:


> I bought a bandsaw (second hand) and it won't cut straight no matter what jig I try. I tried PSI's small table saw (4") but it keeps getting stuck in the material and won't cut through a 3/4" piece of material in one pass.
> 
> I'm trying to make relatively simple cuts, but I need them straight and predictable. Today I bought the 3-1/8" True Power Mini Miter saw. Supposedly, it can cut up to 1-15/16-1/1/4 depending on the angle of cut, is essentially a chop saw. At $60, it seemed like a possibility.
> 
> Has anyone used this? I know it says for wood only but has anyone used it on acrylic?


 

What kind of saw is it??  Never seen a saw that can not be retrofitted with  one. To me I think you are wasting your money on toys and basically any of these little table saws or chop saws are toys. Now don't me wrong there are some fine examples of these but they are precision tools and cost abit of money and are true professional tools. 

If you can not get the table saw to work why not try a mitersaw??  Yes the hand kind. Now forgive me because a senior moment is happening but there is a person here that does truely amazing segmented work using a basic mitersaw. It is a good saw and the name slips me too but he has a tutorial in the library of his segmenting. He maybe able to help you. I think he even cuts acrylics with it.


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## DozerMite (Nov 7, 2010)

If you can't purchase or make an insert for your TS, make a sled. It's better for holding the small parts, so you don't loose your parts.


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## ldb2000 (Nov 7, 2010)

I'm not too sure how good it is going to be , the motor is most likely going to be way underpowered . If it can cut wood it should be able to cut acrylic but again with a 2.5 amp motor don't be expecting too much from it . Also make sure if you replace the blade that the new blade is rated for 9000 rpm , that is an extremely high speed and an improperly rated blade can explode at that high a speed .


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## DurocShark (Nov 7, 2010)

I picked up a Delta 8 1/4" miter saw that is great. I still prefer a sled on my table saw for most things, but that miter saw is accurate and fast.

http://blog.woodscrub.info/2010/02/delta-8-14-compound-miter-saw.html


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## hasha2000 (Nov 7, 2010)

I went old school and got me a miter box w/hand saw. Besides being slow, getting stuck in acrylics,and limited to 90/45/30 degrees, it's not that bad...


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## ctubbs (Nov 7, 2010)

Here is a link to Lumberjocks on bandsaw tuning.  It may be a help on getting your bandsaw working.  http://lumberjocks.com/topics/1945  Hope it helps.
Charles


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## Jim Smith (Nov 7, 2010)

If you really want zero varience and want to give yourself an early Christmas gift, consider a Byrnes Model tablesaw.  http://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com/tablesaw.html?id_mm=1107MM966701 

They are pricey but they are a beautiful machine.  I bought mine about a year ago and it is perfect for segmented pen blanks.  There are several people here on IAP that use them and they are not toys.  I've used it to cut wood, acrylic and truestone all with no problems at all.  The only limitation I've found is that the blade is limited to cutting material that is 15/16 inch thick.  Any thicker and you have to run it through twice.

Just a thought...

Jim Smith


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## GaryMGg (Nov 7, 2010)

DurocShark said:


> I picked up a Delta 8 1/4" miter saw that is great. I still prefer a sled on my table saw for most things, but that miter saw is accurate and fast. ... [photo elided]...


 
Don, A 1/4 to 3/4" thick plywood base deeper than the base of the Miter Saw will give you a ZTP and make cutting with it even safer and more accurate.
I personally use 3/4" material. I typically glue and screw it to the bottom of the fence. When the glue dries, I remove the screws.
Cut after it's complete and "Bob's your uncle, a zero tolerance throat plate on a miter saw." :biggrin:


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## Displaced Canadian (Nov 7, 2010)

The best way to make sure your cuts are accurate is to use stops or clamps to hold the piece still. Most blades don't have flat teeth and will pull the wood to one side or the other when you start to cut them. Rockler sells TS insert materiel or you can make one out of plywood. Also make sure your TS blade is parallel to the fence or whatever you are using to run the wood through the blade. Hope this helps.


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## DurocShark (Nov 7, 2010)

GaryMGg said:


> DurocShark said:
> 
> 
> > I picked up a Delta 8 1/4" miter saw that is great. I still prefer a sled on my table saw for most things, but that miter saw is accurate and fast. ... [photo elided]...
> ...



Yup. 

I toss a piece on the bottom when cutting something critical. Otherwise, it seems the bulk of the tearout happens against the fence when cutting blanks, so the zero clearance fence handles most of it. 

I love that little thing. It won't do 2x4's with the fence, but if I'm chopping 2x4's I don't need it. Everything else cuts just fine. I used to have a nice 10" Hitachi but it took so much space I sold it.


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## Geophyrd (Nov 17, 2010)

*I got the 3-1/8" Mini Miter Saw by True Power*

I gave it 4 stars on Amazon. Here's the review that I wrote:

I unpacked the miter saw last night and made my first cuts with it this evening. I make pens and have been looking for a way to do clean accurate cuts that I can use to make complex pen blanks. 

First of all, the saw cuts cleanly and easily. If its your first time, don't forget to cut the space below before you get started. I did and wound up with melted plastic all over the first cut. After that, it cut cleanly. The angling appears to be accurate but sometimes it isn't easy to assess where the blade is going to fall. It took me 7 or 8 cuts before I had a handle on where to cut to trim 45 degrees from center of blank. Then I was able to do it repeatedly so it isn't really a problem. 

It did seem to get stuck once or twice and I couldn't tell what was blocking it. Will futz with it some more and see what I can find. 

What is a problem is the blade guard. When the saw is turned to 45 degrees, on a 1" piece of wood, the guard doesn't get out of the way the way its supposed to and the cut needs to be made in two passes, not one. That's a bit of a pain. I'd remove the guard and do without but I have a child in the house and while I'm careful, I need that guard. The motor seems powerful, but all I've cut is wood so far. I'll be cutting acrylic by this weekend, so we'll see how it does. All told, the saw seems like it will do what I need it to do. 

I took off one star for that problem with the blade guard...here's hoping I can work around it.​


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## spnemo (Nov 18, 2010)

I couldn't put a zero clearance insert in my table saw so I built a sled. The cheap  Ryobi table saw is now a precision instrument.  It simplified my cutting of just about everything.  I still use my bandsaw for most things, but when I need to be precise, the tablesaw with sled is the way to go!


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## Padre (Nov 18, 2010)

Jim Smith said:


> If you really want zero varience and want to give yourself an early Christmas gift, consider a Byrnes Model tablesaw.  http://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com/tablesaw.html?id_mm=1107MM966701
> 
> They are pricey but they are a beautiful machine.  I bought mine about a year ago and it is perfect for segmented pen blanks.  There are several people here on IAP that use them and they are not toys.  I've used it to cut wood, acrylic and truestone all with no problems at all.  The only limitation I've found is that the blade is limited to cutting material that is 15/16 inch thick.  Any thicker and you have to run it through twice.
> 
> ...



That is one cool little saw!  A lot pricey, as much or more than some 10" contractor saws, but still, nice.

How does it cut?


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## aggromere (Nov 18, 2010)

I use the byrnes table saw as well. For pen blanks it can't be beat, but you wont be able to cut anything over 15/16 thick with it, but most pen blanks are smaller. It has a precise miter guage and bar that can be set at a variety of angles and you can repeat them. I sometimes set it at 60 degrees and cut pieces from different blanks and they fit precisely together for making segmented blanks. Its a powerful little machine and could take a finger very easily. It also cost a good bit at $350 i think.  As long as you keep your fingers away, I think it could cut just about any thickness or angle you want.  I sometimes drill blanks extra long and cut to length afterwards.  The pieces come in handy for woops bands and such on the pens.


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## LeeR (Nov 18, 2010)

If you think you will ever make larger wood projects, then opt for a 10" table saw, or 12-14" bandsaw.  

I'm no expert on pens -- just bought my first lathe last month, found this forum, and I have a whopping 3 pens to my credit (plus a wine stopper).  But I have been a woodworker for about 40 years.  In that time I've accumulated nearly every major power tool you'd want or need, and then some.  

My favorite tool for cutting blanks is my 14" bandsaw, a Powermatic.  With a 1.5HP motor, it glides thru the toughest of woods. But a lesser model would be perfectly fine. I've been cutting strips of various exotic woods for platters and cutting boards for several years.  I run my cutting board blanks thru a jointer, for precision glue-ups of the blanks, but for pens, a slightly rough cut is just fine.

Unlike a table saw, the narrow blade of a bandsaw means minimal loss of material with each cut.  And a bandsaw pulls the wood downward while cutting, so there is less danger of kicking a small piece away from the blade, compared to a table saw.  I also have a 10" tabletop bandsaw, but it is reserved for model making, cutting very thin or soft stock.  Like some of the budget mini table saws, it is just too underpowered for cutting thru 3/4" thick, tough exotic woods.


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## Geophyrd (Dec 20, 2010)

*OK,*

Gave up on the 4" miter saw...bought myself a 10" Hitachi compound miter saw for $99.  Now I have to design me some jigs...any suggestions?


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## DurocShark (Dec 20, 2010)

Make zero clearance plates. Use 1/4" (or whatever you have handy) ply with double sided tape on both the base and the fence. 

The Hitachi's are good saws. I had one for a while and loved it. I got rid of it only because it was too big to be pulling out for just one or two cuts then packing up and putting back under my bench.


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## oneleggimp (Jun 27, 2014)

Is it a plastic mitre box (home depot) or is a good stanley mitre box?


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## t001xa22 (Jun 27, 2014)

I use the same setup that Don does on a 10" Ryobi miter saw. I set it up with a thin kerf plywood blade to cut most pen blank material. My wooden fence inserts are actually clamped onto the saw fence so that I can quickly convert the saw back to standard board cuts. One type of material (Inlace Acrylester) is so sensitive to cuts like these that I set up a manual miter box using a bow hacksaw frame and medium toothed hacksaw blade. Using this method, I have not had a bad cut yet on Inlace.


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## shastastan (Jun 30, 2014)

I just didn't want to cut pen blanks on my 10" table saw.  Using a stop block and the hold down clamp, I have good luck with my Makita 10" scms.  I've also had good luck using a little miter box and a Japanese dozuki hand saw. I clamp the blank to the miter box.
  For mass producing, I would rather use some kind of power saw.  I did buy a rockwell saw that uses a saber saw blade.  Well, it's a waste of $.  I've seen those little mini chop saws but the reviews say they can't even cut through a !" thickness.  Cutting a blank with a sharp dozuki saw is really fast but may not be perfectly square on the end either.  You do waste some with a 1/8th kerf on the scms, but the cuts are accurate.  I just made 10 blanks with it.  Since I'm using the PSI blank drilling chuck, I like the ends to be square.  YMMV


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## walshjp17 (Jun 30, 2014)

I followed the directions in this post ==> http://www.penturners.org/forum/f14/i-like-my-fingers-84347/ and am quite happy with the results.


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