good hand mitre saw? recommendation?

[thecyke]

Lo all,

With the current hand mitre saw i am using i get a shocking number of cuts that arent 45 degrees at all which is causing me no end of grief.

I'm after a new good model, this one was recommended to me;

Proman mitre saw http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... e=1&jump=0

just wanted to quickly check if anyone had any good recommendations or could endorse anything?

thanks!

[Spit]

I tried that type of mitre saw with my first few frames, and it just wasn't good enough for my tastes. No matter how well they seemed to be made, I couldn't get a good enough cut out of them enough times in a row to make a square frame. The finish on the cut is too uneven to get a tight join.

Could you afford/have the space for a second hand morso instead?

[Bill Henry]

I’m not aware of any hand operated miter saw that is manufactured with the precision needed for picture framing.

All of them I’ve played with have a slight wobble and cannot be set precisely at the required 45° angle needed.

If you are off, say, by just 1/4°, by the time you’ve cut eight miters, one of the corners will be off by by 2° – unacceptable by any standards in the industry.

As Steve suggests, try to grab a used guillotine chopper like a Morsø. Their blades are fixed at an immovable 45° so you will get dead bang accurate miters each and every time. In the long run it will save you scads of money since you won’t have botched moulding you have to discard.

[John]

I've never used one myself, but Lion sells a precision sander that should make a good job of hand cut mitres.

In conjunction with this item, perhaps your existing saw would suffice until you are ready to move upmarket.

[prospero]

I started off with a Nobex saw and they are OK up to a point. For small mouldings they are not too bad if you do a bit of filling. If you want to cut wide chunky mouldings then you will find that your arm gets very tired.

Have you thought of a (cheapo) power saw? With a decent blade you can get a cut nearly as good as a morso. I have been doodling about lately with a borrowed one. The main prob is the accuracy. They really need to be built into a dedicated bench with a measuring system. Even better, have two - one for each end. This way you could fine-tune the angles and not disturb the settings by having to swing the blade around.

Just a thought......

[kev@frames]

Nobex saw, and think about using a clamp when cutting,
Also consider the axminster finishing mitre trimmer!

a lot of hand saw work will come unstuck if the mouldings have anything of a twist in them, it happens And its easy to spot in a morso with its built in straight edge and flat bed, but not noticed in a hand saw, so think about building supports either end to support the moulding whilst cutting.

But the trimmer (or sander suggested by John) will sort out the mitres however you cut the moulding

[thecyke]

quality advice, thanks to all, this is a great forum for a relative newbie like myself, thanks for being such a friendly bunch =)

[Not your average framer]

Have you thought of a (cheapo) power saw? With a decent blade you can get a cut nearly as good as a morso. I have been doodling about lately with a borrowed one. The main prob is the accuracy. They really need to be built into a dedicated bench with a measuring system. Even better, have two - one for each end. This way you could fine-tune the angles and not disturb the settings by having to swing the blade around.

I agree. At present I have a Nobex Proman 110, with the extension measurement system from Lion. I has served me well, but I'm planning on getting an electric saw in the new year. I have a morso, but there's still some jobs where a saw is the best way.

There are saws out there which are very accurate, but you have to check these things out before buying. Many (if not all of the cheap ones) are very poor indeed.

[prospero]

The saw I borrowed is a Wickes own brand one which I think retails for <£100. There is a bug with the angle stops in that as you tighten the locking screw it moves the angle off 45deg. That's why I thought of having two mounted on a bench each of which could be finely tweaked for perfect angles. I you were cutting mostly of big mouldings this would be a nice setup. A 10" blade will cut though mouldings up to 4" wide and for mouldings with undercut backs it has definate advantages over a chopper.
Fabricating a measuring stop and moulding support system should be simple enough. OK it's noisy and dusty but WTH . For a budget
of around £250 you have a cutting system that will tackle anything, although spending a bit more for a dust extractor would be better.
(Whats a new Morso cost?)

Alternatively, one saw plus hand trimmer would cost about the same.

Obviously this setup is aimed at relatively small volume work. And for mouldings <1" wide a Morso would be much faster. But for biggish mouldings I think the saws would have an advantge.

[Bagel Framer]

I've got a Nobex Champion Saw (one up from the Proman) and have had no problems with it (you can even make wooden bowls on it)....!

I keep a new, sharp blade in stock plus mark off every time I make a cut so can see how old the blade is getting. I've also got the Ezy Measure System from Lion, plus two extensions and may even get a third one.

Champion has two neat clamps on the back fence too.

Granted you can get tired cutting big mouldings, but it keeps you fit. I also found that you should stand well above the saw so have made a platform (as my bench is too low) - I breeze through big mouldings and minerva (plastic) ones how.

No disrespect to Wickes and co, but I'd say there saws are aimed at the DIYer.

Regards