mitre saw / skirting board disaster...

[SimoninEaston]

A very small disaster in the big scheme of things, but still...
A couple of years ago, I bought a Ryobi EMS1426L 10" mitre saw to do the skirting boards and the deck. Now that I get round to the jobs, I see that the saw will only handle timber less than 150mm deep... That's the first 'oops', as I've bought 160mm skirting.
So I pressed on as it's pretty easy to finish the cut with a tenon saw. However, I can't seem to make a cut that's straight across the board (see photo) - it's OK when the blade is set to upright, but when it's set to 45 degrees, the cut seems to wander off. Is this normal for a fixed mitre saw? Or is it me?!

Untitled

• SimoninEaston
• 26 Oct 2014
• 1

Untitled

• SimoninEaston
• 26 Oct 2014
• 1

Should I flog the Ryobi and get the correct tool?

 

[Jackrae]

When you cut at an angle there's a tendency for the saw to pull the board horizontally which causes the off-square cut you show. That might be the cause of your problem: if so, you need to ensure the skirting is securely clamped to the saw back fence to ensure it cannot more during cutting.

There's also the possibility that you saw hasn't been set up properly and you need to make a few adjustments - see the user instructions.

 

[SimoninEaston]

A couple of good pointers - clamping was not done when I did the cut you can see... !

 

[spannerzone]

I had the same problems, 150 mitre saw (cheapo no name) and 160mm skirting, d'oh!

However I tried, I couldn't set up the saw to cut straight and true so concluded that mine was too cheap and nasty for such accurate cutting and resorted to a hand saw and wood filler

My saw always just drifted when cutting at an angle so I gave up, I guess that why the pro's generally use £500 saws not £80 ones

 

[Brigadier]

Could you not cut the one run bob on, flip the work piece around, finish the cut erring on the waste side, then level-up the rough cut to the "proper" cut with a surform plane / sanding block, or the like? Might be a work-around....

 

[big-all]

if your only doing bevels
cut a bit ply/ board or timber 9-12mm thick double sided taped to the saw table full size[where the wood sits on]
because the blade travels forward more than it goes up at the bottom you will get 15-20mm more width on your cut
it will also reduce splintering out
but be aware removing the tape residue is boring and time consuming with soapy water[damp cloth only] and a plastic scraper or bit off wood at a shallow angle

 

[SimoninEaston]

I get what you're saying there, the higher up the piece of work, the wider the cut - Clever! Might just work... I'll have a go next week-end, practicing on the old skirting board. That and Clamping it Good will probably be The Answer! Horrah!
Cheers, All.

 

[big-all]

actually because its beveled it will actually come out about 30-40% more than what i have said so maybe 3-6mm will be enough

 

[SimoninEaston]

Thanks for the posts, folks. I did a forum search for "mitre AND bevel" just now and I see from the many results that wonky bevel cuts are a common problem!
Some references to folk attempting to cut board upright, which is exactly what I did when I first got the saw, until I realised that's exactly what the bevel cut is for!! Doh!
Like you say, BA - we're all slowly learning.

 

[big-all]

yes bevel is lean like on a motorbike going round a corner

 

[Cabbyfan]

Looks like you are fitting the same skirting as me.

I bought a 254mm sliding compound saw, works fine so far. I did have to adjust it when out of the box as some of the angles weren't quite right but this is normal. It was a EBaur one from ebay which was used but not much.

If you are doing internal joins are you scribing them or doing a miter join on them ?

 

[SimoninEaston]

I kind-of wish I'd bought a sliding saw, too, but it was a bit beyond my budget at the time... I tend to go for 'good-value' new products - don't quite have the confidence to get nearly new off of fleabay!
As to your Q about the corners, all the advice I've read sez go for scribed cuts for the internal corners.

 

[kbdiy]

Internal corners should always be scribed to minimise the joint opening up with age.

 

[Jackrae]

Here's a technique I was once given as to how to corner scribe a skirting

a) One skirting is fitted right into the corner of the wall - this skirting is not scribed and forms the mating face for the scribed skirting

b) On the skirting to be corner scribed ensure it is slightly longer than required by a couple of inches or so

c) On the skirting to be scribed, cut a mitre as if you were actually performing a mitre joint.

d) If you now look at the face of the scribed board the line that the mitre cut forms with the board face is the actual shape of the scribe cut required.

c) Using a bow saw or similar cut away the mitred section, following the line of the face as in (d). I recommend you cut the waste away at an angle slightly more than 90 degrees to ensure the thickness of the skirting clears the face of the mating skirting.

 

[gregers]

as above,but to make sure it fits tight either use a bevel gauge or scrap piece of timber put the scribe board up to the fixed board place scrap timber against fixed board and mark the scribe board,this then ensures its totally scribed to the other board,then adjust the mitre saw for the bevel cut.