Mitre Saw Skirting Board Height and Blade Type

[Lamentable]

Will be replacing all the skirting boards in the house (over the next 100 years....).

Was looking for a compound mitre saw to do the job. The skirting will be around 160mm in height.

How can I tell from the saw if I can put material of this height into it? Which factor do I look for? Is it the blade diameter?

As an example I was looking at a Dewalt DWS773 on a well known global online retailer and the description reads:

• Maximum depth of cut (saws) 70 mm

Does this mean that I can only get skirting board of 70mm height in the machine? I think ideally I want to mount the skirting board in its normal orientation rather than flat and tilt the machine to the side if that makes sense.

Also what does (from a Makita specification):

• Max. Cross Cut: 95 x 90.5mm

mean?

The Makita has a blade depth of 260mm.

Additionally, for cutting MDF is there a recommended type of blade and number of teeth?

Opinions welcome. Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You saw the skirting board flat, not upright using the bevel cut facility. The skirting board is only 18 to 22mm thick so the significant dimension becomes the crosscut capacity, and even a non sliding mo compound mitre saw csn handle a 160mm cross cut. In any case tit is far easier to flat cut skirting than trying to hold a 5 metre length of squirming MDF skirting upright on the saw. A sliding compound mitre saw is nice, but expensive and unnecessary for your task, but it's your money.

Number of teeth depends on blade diameter

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You also only need to do a mitre on an external corner. On an internal corner you take one board into the corner, the cut a profile to match it on the other board with something like a coping saw.

 

[Lamentable]

Thanks both for the information.

@JobAndKnock - so where the Makita says max cross cut 95 x 90.5mm this refers to the depth of the material being bevel cut (in this case 18mm) ?

@Harry Bloomfield - planning to get a coping saw for the internal corners but I think the compound mitre saw will still be useful for other tasks such as cutting skirting to length and cutting flooring etc?

Thanks again.

 

[^woody^]

Number of teeth depends on blade diameter

 

[^woody^]

You need compound sliding saw to cut anything wider than about 120mm. Look for the cutting width dimension.

A 210mm blade will generally cut up to 50mm thick (deep) timber, and 250mm 75mm.

Any standard saw blade that comes with the saw will be fine for mdf, and a quick rub with sand paper will smooth any blade marks if required. If using wood and finer joinery, then go for a 60T or 80T blade - the more teeth the smoother the cut.

Look for other features that you may need in the future, but don't go mad as a basic saw will probably do all you need for DIY.

 

[Lamentable]

Thanks @^woody^ .

Tempted to pick up a £200 Dewalt DWS773-GB 216MM from a well known click & collect trade retailer. This has a 250mm slide capacity.

I can always sell it again on Ebay once I have finished all of the work.

 

[big-all]

Thanks @^woody^ .

Tempted to pick up a £200 Dewalt DWS773-GB 216MM from a well known click & collect trade retailer. This has a 250mm slide capacity.

I can always sell it again on Ebay once I have finished all of the work.

30 day no quibble return policy with dewalt dont like the tool return it to dewalt

 

[lostinthelight]

You also only need to do a mitre on an external corner. On an internal corner you take one board into the corner, the cut a profile to match it on the other board with something like a coping saw.

Still need to cut off at 45 bevel to outline the profile of the skirting, or at least to make it easier to.

 

[Lamentable]

Just following up on your comment @lostinthelight

So if I am doing an internal corner and using a coping saw:

Skirting board piece 1 - cut to length against wall and no need to bevel any edges?

Skirting board piece 2 - bevel to 45° and then back cut with a coping saw?

Thanks again.

 

[lostinthelight]

Just following up on your comment @lostinthelight

So if I am doing an internal corner and using a coping saw:

Skirting board piece 1 - cut to length against wall and no need to bevel any edges?

Skirting board piece 2 - bevel to 45° and then back cut with a coping saw?

Thanks again.

Yes you cut bevel and highlight in pencill where it meets the full thickness as a clear guide to cut to
I was just tyring to find some pics on my phone
Dont cut piece 2 short by mesuring from opposite wall to face of piece 1, it needs to be full distance between walls,then bevelled

 

[Lamentable]

Great thanks. You predicted my next question!

 

[lostinthelight]

Try and plan to have only one scribed end per length.

 

[Lamentable]

The room is more or less a square with the door opposite the window.

I was thinking about doing the section under the window and behind the radiator with one length scribed at both ends.

Would this work?

 

[lostinthelight]

Can try but what if I am doing this part of the room from points a to b. Surely here I will need to scribe both ends?

a b
||============||
|| ||
|| ||
|| ========||

Is a to b new skirting between two existing walls with skirting on then or just the last length to complete the area?