i get a lot of emails from viewers asking me to help them solve specific challenges they encounter in their shops and i wish i could answer them all but it would take up all my time and some things are just too difficult or complex to explain in an email here's an example a viewer needed a 48 degree bevel on both ends of a long board it was beyond the capacity of his miter saw and most table saws only tilt to 45 degrees not 48. some time ago i made a video about cutting acute angles beyond 45 degrees on the table saw by standing the board up on end i'll link to that video below but how do you stand a six foot long two by six on end and safely make that cut on a table saw it's just not practical now before you dismiss this video because you're unlikely to ever cut a 48 degree bevel on the end of a six foot long two by six or because you may have a large miter saw that can handle such a cut i'd like you to stick with me because there's a lesson in this video that goes beyond this specific case a lesson that is fundamental to good woodworking that lesson involves taking the time to find the right solution that considers all the details it's what separates a craftsperson from a hack the hack just wants to get the job done their mantra is good enough and maybe good enough is good enough but good enough here and good enough there can quickly add up to not good enough by the time the whole project's complete a craftsperson on the other hand wants to do his or her best even if that means spending 20 minutes building a jig to make a single cut more accurately because a craftsperson knows that an accurate cut here and an accurate cut there will all add up to a project they can be proud of the jig you saw me make is relatively simple it just slides onto the end of the board but now i have to cut it to 48 degrees you see the idea is that it's going to be a lot easier to cut a small jig to 48 degrees than it will be to cut a six foot long two by six at the table saw however i have to consider more details including how i'm going to make this cut safely how do i keep the jig from pinching down in that v-shaped gap on top of the blade as i make my cut my answer in this case was to nail a rail on the back that will ride on top of the fence and keep it off the top of the saw blade this will also prevent it from tipping as i push the cut forward i'm also using a pusher at the bottom not hard enough to push it underneath the blade but just enough to keep the jig from kicking away from the fence the saw doesn't have the capacity to cut all the way through my jig but it can cut deep enough for our purposes so i trim away the excess i know it's going to be critical to keep this guide from shifting as i work so i added a bit of sandpaper to the bottom i'm not sure that's absolutely necessary but if you could do anything to ensure a better result why not do it again this is what separates good work from poor work obviously a six foot board would have to lay down on its side as you work but for the sake of the camera i'm standing a piece of 2×6 up in a vise and clamping the jig over the end as you probably guessed i'm going to cut this with a handsaw and the jig will be my 48 degree guide i've actually done this before and i love japanese pole saws for guided cuts like this i'm using a ryoba because i like the nice large blade but i've also made plenty of guided cuts with a single edged catawba and even with the cheap harbor freight pole saw you could use a western style hands off that's all you have but i always get better results with a pole saw in these guided cuts in fact i recently made a video about the pros and cons of japanese pole sauce i highly suggest you watch it it'll change the way you work i'll link to it below this video whatever saw you use it's important to let the teeth do the cutting while you just concentrate on holding the plate against the jig start at that nice wide corner that's a lot of reference surface so it won't be difficult to keep the saw flat against it while you cut as long as you don't fight it hold the handle loosely that's one of the benefits of this straight handle you can hold it more comfortably at odd angles without inadvertently twisting the saw up off the jig as you cut as you might do with a pistol style handle just lay the saw on the jig and move it back and forth you're not going to cut your fingers with the sides of the teeth not at this speed so use your fingers to feel the saw as it glides upon the jig when you've cut halfway through from one side switch to the other side japanese saws have very little set in their teeth this creates a narrower kerf that resists the saw's natural tendency to wander but again you can do this with a western style saw as long as you keep your arm and wrist loose and don't fight it i can't stress enough how important it is to just let the teeth of the saw do the cutting while you concentrate on keeping the saw plate flat on the jig as i finish the second side i move to the middle to remove that last triangle of waste in there while i do let's reflect on the larger lesson here as i said a craftsperson doesn't mind spending more time to make a jig than they do using the jig if that jig will ensure the best results it's amazing how many problems you can solve with a simple well-thought-out jig sometimes that requires some creativity but you're a woodworker you're a creative person by definition just step back and analyze the problem break it down step by step consider the details such as the rail that i attached to the back to make this easier to cut on the table saw the sandpaper that i added to the inside that would give it a better grip my choice of a pole saw to make the cut more comfortable and therefore more accurate the first time i did something like this i spent an evening thinking about it before i went to the shop the next morning and did it woodworking is about the process as much as the end result there is satisfaction in doing it right even if it takes more time to do it and when you do the end result will be something you can look at with pride rather than something you hope nobody looks too closely at don't forget to check out those links below and i'll see you next time woodworking is about squares fences must be square blades must be square tables must be adjusted so cuts are made square our corners must be square our edges must be square even angles are sometimes laid out with a square we use double squares and combo squares and tri squares and t squares mini squares and miter squares to combine pieces to make squares if you need squares to make squares there are no better squares than these squares because bridge city makes neat squares so everything can be square visit bridge city tools at the link below this video and see for yourself
