Angles on my table saw

[Stooby]

Hello, my table saw came with a very standard mitre fence that is okay but duff for an accurate angle. My birthday is coming up and so I have an idea for something to ask for. I am not sure whether to a better mitre fence or a digital angle finder. The mitre fence would be limited to my table saw as I have nothing else to use it on but the angle rule would be more useful for other things.
What would you advise I get and what models would you recommend of either?

 

[marcros]

It is unlikely that you will get a mitre gauge that will fit your saw without modification. I would probably go for the angle finder and use that to set the existing mitre gauge with it. That is assuming that the main shortcoming is that when it says the angle is x, it is actually something else. If the problem is that the gauge is sloppy and inconsistent then the replacement gauge and modifying the bar to fit your saw may be better.

What angles do you want to cut- 45s mainly? I would make a sled for these if so.

 

[Stooby]

Yes mainly 45 degree or right angles, maybe at some point though angles for hexagonal boxes. Not sure what a sled is though.

 

[marcros]

Have a google for "mitre sled table saw". It will show you what I mean.

 

[Owl]

Hi Stooby, go to Jigs, Tips & Shop Made Tools ... then onto The wonderful world of Niki's Jigs .... second from the top shows you how he made a sled.

 

[Stooby]

Thanks, I will take a good look through. On early looks I may struggle with space to store jigs so will have to be selective over any I make. And presumably I will still need something accurate to measure the angles to make the jig anyway.

 

[masher_oz]

Why not an Incra mitre gauge? They can do quite a few angles, and have in-built shims for making sure they're snug in the slot.

 

[marcros]

Why not an Incra mitre gauge? They can do quite a few angles, and have in-built shims for making sure they're snug in the slot.

our slots are typically too narrow for aftermarket gauges to fit.

 

[ACF]

Stooby
Do you have an accurate parallel fence? if so why not just use a 45 degree protractor (or get somebody to make up a 45 degree blank) against it to ensure an accurate mitre? Failing that I think you need to work out why your mitre gage is inaccurate - does it need shims to correct sloppiness? cheers Andrew

 

[Steve Maskery]

You can get perfectly accurate angles - any angle - with a bog standard mitre fence.

The tool you require is called a Sine Bar. It's a shaped piece of wood with two circular anvils in it a known distance apart. I'd post a pic but mine was part of the Haul, along with my (fairly decent) mitre fence. I didn't use it often but I do miss it for some jobs.

Let's say the anvils are 10" apart. It's a handy size. The sine of 45 deg is 0.707. Multiply this by the size of the sine bar, in this case 10 (which is one reason why 10" is a handy size). Cut a piece of hardwood 7.07" long and use it against a roofing square to set the angle. You don't use the scale on the miter fence at all.

There is a much better explanation of the method on one of my DVDs, I forget which, but it will be 9 or 10. And I wouldn't be surprised if there is a TY video about them as well.

I know it sounds complicated but it isn't, and once you have made the block, label it and keep it safe for next time. A 5" block will give you exactly 30 degrees (because sin30 is 0.5).

One of the advantages is the repeatability and the ability to set it left or right-handed with equal ease and accuracy.

If anyone has a standard fence they no longer use, preferably one that fits a standard 3/4" slot, let me know, will you?