I make a lot of picture frames. Sometimes my mitered corners turn out fine, but more often they don’t. I use a miter fence on my 10″ table saw to make the cuts. The miter fence has detents to lock it at 45 degrees. Always check the blade to make sure its perpendicular to the table. I use Wolfcraft corner clamps to glue the corners. As you see in the photos, my frame lumber meets at the top, but there’s a huge gap at the bottom. What did I do wrong? How can get good results every time?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Replies
That's a tough way to make exacting joints. It's surprising how small the tolerances are to make a tight joint not to mention the ways it can go wrong. The detents on a miter gauge are typically sloppy, play in the table slot, blade run out, the possibles are many.
You could make a sled for your table saw or buy a miter saw, just a couple of the countless ways to go. You could also make your current process work if you did it about a million times to master it.
I second this. I find that making a sled that creates perfect 45 degree miters takes a little bit of time but WELL worth the time if you’re doing it on any sort of regular basis. This guy does a great job of explaining the process. https://youtu.be/AgVthkUE4AU
Also, clamping down the material on the miter saw can help as sometimes the piece can get pulled slightly towards the blade as it’s being cut on a miter.
check to see if the material's edge is square to the face...
if not - fix it...
check to see if the miter's face is square to the table...
if not - fix it...
true your blade to 90°...
Serious frame shops use a miter saw and a miter trimmer for microfine cuts. It would be difficult to get a very precise miter with a table saw. Make your cuts on scrap material adjusting until you get what you need.
Do you clamp your frame material to the miter fence? If you're holding it only with your hand, it may slip just enough to add error in your miters.
any runout in the TS's blade???
Thank you all for your ideas. I do have a miter saw, but I have the same spotty luck getting perfect miters. Sounds like I should make a sled. I will consult the YouTube instructional video that was recommended.