hey there welcome back to another video
in the series of woodworking for
beginners today I am talking all about
miter saws a couple of weeks ago I
showed you all the woodworking tools of
baking their needs and if you caught
that video you know that a miter saw is
one of my favorite sauce it was the
first power tool I got and it was the
only saw I had for a long time so today
I am going to show you everything you
need to know about using a miter saw now
before we get started I have a bunch of
new videos coming to you soon about how
to use all kinds of power tools so don't
forget to hit that subscribe button now
let's talk about miter saws so first
things first what is a miter saw a miter
saw is a saw that can cut across a board
so it can cut across the board at a 90
degree angle at a 45 degree angle and a
bunch of other angles that we will get
to in a few minutes but what it cannot
do is rip a board that is it cannot go
across the board like this it's just not
safe now let's take a closer look at the
miter saw and all of its parts there is
a blade and a guard the guard protects
the blade of course and when you lower
the saw to make a cut the guard moves up
and out of the way next you have a fence
the fence is where you hold your board
against and it helps you keep the board
stable and steady and straight as you
make your cut
next you have the miter gauge it's the
angle gauge on the table it helps make
angled cuts across the board there is a
liver or a knob to loosen and turn the
table to set to the angle you want
almost all sauce comes with built in
angle stops to make common angles to
help you
now the beveled gauge is under or behind
the blade and it helps you measure the
tilt of your blade of course then you
have your handle and your trigger when
you operate the saw you hold the handle
and press the trigger to operate the saw
now let's talk about the different types
of mitre saws miter saws come in
different sizes and have different
capabilities and the pricing of the
miter saw depends on all of those
factors as well the first thing is the
miter saw blade size that comes starting
at seven and a half inches to almost
twelve or fourteen inches apart from
that you have a few other options for
the miter saw itself you can get a
single beveled saw which means that the
blade tilts in only one direction which
is what I have or you can get a double
bevel compound saw which means that the
blade tilts in both directions you can
also get a sliding compound miter saw
which means that the blade slides out
giving you the capability to cut wider
boards so let's talk about the different
types of cuts the first cut is a
crosscut which is basically a simple 90
degree cut across the board the next
type of cut is and a miter cut which is
basically an angled cut across the board
for example a 45 degree is a very common
angle cut next is a beveled cut which is
basically an angled cut across the
thickness of the board this is achieved
by tilting the saw blade using the bevel
gauge then you have the compound cut
which is basically a combination of the
miter and the beveled cut now that you
know all about the parts of the miter
saw and all the different kinds of cuts
it's time to show you how to use it but
before that let's talk about safety like
with any power tool be sure to read the
manual and follow all the safety
instructions specifically you want I
protected hearing protection
and dust protection also make sure you
don't have any loose clothing or hair or
jewelry and keep your hands at least six
inches away from the blade of the miter
saw there is one more thing you need to
understand before we actually start
making cuts and that is the curve the
curve is a very important concept to
understand so you are able to make
accurate cuts using a miter saw now the
curve is the width of your blade or
rather the part of your board that turns
into sawdust when you go through it with
your blade so if I were to take a piece
of wood and cut through it you would end
up with this you see this picnic right
here that is a curve you have to account
for it when you make cuts so let's take
an example if you have a ten inch board
well this is not ten inches but let's
assume this is ten inches if you have a
ten inch board and you wanted to make
two boards of exactly five inches each
you can't do that because one of the
boards would be missing the equivalent
of the curve so my saw has a curve of an
eighth of an inch which means to get to
equal boards of five inches each I need
to start with a board which is ten and
an eighth of an inch I know it's a bit
of a complicated concept to grasp so if
you have any questions about it or about
anything else be sure to leave it in the
comments and I will definitely answer
them so finally now let's use the miter
saw once you measure and mark your board
you want to draw a straight line where
you want to cut use a speed square if
you need to then you push the workpiece
against the fence and hold it with one
hand away from the blade without pushing
the trigger lower the blade to make sure
that the curve is on the other side of
the piece you want to keep once you're
satisfied with it lift
back up press the trigger and wait for
the saw to reach full speed then slowly
lower the blade through the board at the
end of the cut let go of the trigger and
let the blade come to a complete stop
before lifting the blade back up now if
you are using a sliding miter saw always
bring the saw out and then cut toward
the fence and that is how you use a
miter saw but before you leave a very
very important tip always always cut off
the ends of the boards that you get from
a lumber yard they are never square so
just cutting about an inch to a half an
inch off of the ends will give you
perfect boards with perfect ends to
start with and that's it I hope you have
fun using your miter saw it is
definitely one of my favorite saws if
you have any questions be sure to leave
them in the comments and I will
definitely answer them if you don't have
any questions I would still love to see
your comments and thumbs ups and of
course don't forget to hit subscribe
because I have a bunch of videos coming
out about how to use the basic
woodworking tools in the meantime here
are a bunch of projects for you to make
using your miter saw