Fxguy Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Hello everyone! First off thank you to everyone who gave great advice and helped me get my table saw aligned and up and running. So I decided to use it to build my 9 month old son an adirondack chair. However, I need some help in figuring out how to cut some angles. I struggle with math (particularly geometry) but I have had trigonometry and calculus I (although both of those were over 10 years ago!) So I have to cut some angled cuts for the stringers and not sure of the best way to go about doing it. If I know the angles and the lengths of each part of the triangle, how do I figure what to set my miter gauge at to cut the triangle side? (Basically how do I set the miter gauge so that the side of the triangle that I want to cut is parallel to the saw blade? ) thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Kinda hard to follow what you are asking. But don't feel bad I have a hard time Googleing something because I am using the wrong term and flounder around until I stumble on a phrase that clicks and life is good from there on. Maybe you should watch a few videos and see if something starts to make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fxguy Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 I'll try to clarify. So I have a plan for this adirondack chair and for the stringers, the plans call for cutting off a bit of the front and back in order to angle the stringers and be flat. The front of the stringer has a small piece cut out of it that is 3/8" from the top and 1 and 7/16" from the front creating an angle of 15 degrees for the scrap to be cut off. So what I'm wondering is how to set the miter gauge so that the cut is parallel to the blade. So for the top piece that needs to be cut, do I set the miter gauge at 15 degrees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdie Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 If I'm understanding correctly you need to knock of the edges at an angle the length of the piece forming a parallelogram? -> /-\ You would do that by angling the blade to 15* and ripping the length of the slat against the fence rather than using the miter gauge. If that's not the answer you're looking for perhaps you could draw a picture and scan it or diagram it in SketchUp, save it to a two D image and upload that. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 I've been trying to figure this out as well.. Is it possible that he's talking about a taper? Perhaps a drawing or a picture would help. Do you have the plans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fxguy Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Ok, sorry guys, Photobucket wasn't cooperating last night. I think its probably considered a taper, but its not the full length of the board. Here is an image from the plans: Hopefully this helps! I think what I need is a bevel gauge to measure out the angle and use that to set my miter gauge accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Grab any board that has parallel sides that is 4-5" wide. Set your rip fence parallel to your blade within an inch or so. Mark your cuts on a work or scrap piece. Put a scrap of that material on your table by the fence. Butt that first board along your rip fence and over your work piece on top of the scrap material just to keep the board floating (blade is lowered.) Line your cut line along the edge of the board, set your miter gauge to the board, cut wide and adjust as needed. This is a cheap way without a real need to know angles or possess a bevel gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el capitán Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Draw the lines on the diagram on your work piece, cut to the scrap side of the line with your saw of choice. Then sand/plane it to the line. Done. If you have multiples use the same method just substitute template for work piece and pattern rout your work pieces from your template and your done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdie Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 I'm partial to Shaffer's method only, instead of using a board against the rip fence I draw the layout on my piece and use the edge of the miter slot to line up the angle based on the layout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I would lay a straightedge against the saw blade, line the cut line you have drawn up on the straightedge , then slide the miter gauge up to support the board and tighten it. Double check that it didn't move.... I would also mark a line an1/8 into the scrap portion and make a test cut first to ensure the angle was correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Discover your layed out angle from your piece with the bevel gauge, set the angle on your miter gauge with the bevel gauge to the blade of the saw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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