¶ Introduction
Instructions to make a bevel and compound angles on the miter saw.
¶ Skills/Class Required
A membership or day pass is required to access the Wood Shop. The following Shop Safety Class is required before using the Miter Saw:
¶ Machine Reservations
- A machine reservation is not required to use the Miter Saw.
¶ Before you Begin
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
Sturdy, close-toed shoes must be worn at all times.
For more information on shop safety visit Wood Shop under "Safety."
¶ Time to complete
- 10 minutes.
¶ Tools Required
- DWS780 12" Double Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw.
- Tape measure.
- Combination square.
- Pencil.
- Clamps (OPTIONAL).
¶ Materials Required
- Workpiece.
- See Miter Saw under "Material Considerations" for help choosing a workpiece.
¶ Before You Begin
¶ Bevel vs Miter: which should I use?
A bevel cut and a miter cut can be equivalent. It is often easier to do a miter cut rather than a bevel cut. Sometimes the pretty face of the material needs to be preserved from blowout.
¶ Practice piece
It's always good to do a dry run. A practice piece on scrap wood is recommended on miter cuts because of how deceptive the angle can be. Use good practice as described here.
¶ Making Miter cuts
The saw can be mitered up to 60° right and 50° left. The default position is 0°, perpendicular to the fence. To change the angle of the saw (or 'miter' it), lift the miter lock handle, push the miter latch button and rotate to the miter angle desired. The scale around the edge of the machine is in degrees and has common angles marked. Push down on the miter lock handle to lock the angle.
The saw has several common angles as stops. This allows you to quickly set the angle. To set uncommon angles, use the miter latch override, located to the left of the miter latch. To use the miter latch override, push the miter latch button and flip the miter latch override lever to
the vertical position.
¶ To set the miter
- Lift the miter lock handle and push the miter latch button.
- While holding the handle and button, rotate to the angle desired.
- Push down on the miter lock handle to lock the angle.
- Practice cut!
¶ Making Bevel cuts
The saw can bevel up 45° to the left or right. The default position is 0°, perpendicular to the bed. Read the angle of the bevel using whichever pointer is closest to the top of the scale.
¶ To set the bevel
- Loosen the bevel lock knob on the back.
- Push/pull out the yellow bevel 0° stop on the back.
- Tilt the saw head to the desired angle.
- Make sure the fence does not interfere with the blade or the operation handle or the motor housing.
- Tighten the bevel lock knob on the back.
- Practice cut!
The blade may not enter or exit the material where you expect it to. Do a practice piece with the same dimensions and markings as your work piece and observe how the blade and cut move through the material.
¶ Moving the fence
- Loosen the fence adjustment knob and slide the fence outward. Make a dry run with the saw turned off and check for clearance.
- Adjust the fence to be as close to the blade as practical to provide maximum workpiece support, without interfering with arm up and down movement.
- Tighten the fence adjustment knob securely.
¶ Making compound angle cuts
A compound angle is a combination of a miter and a bevel where both are set. Here are compound angle calculators for a variety of situations.
- Set the angles as described above.
- Practice pieces!
¶ Next Steps
- Clean up the area.
- Reset the miter position to default.
- Reset the bevel position to default.
¶ References
Instructions adapted from the manual.