Table Saw Angles for Woodworking Dummies

Miter gauge on table saw

The Antisocial Network staffers in the woodworking and carpentry working group have been complaining that they've been shut out for the last couple of weeks, so the editor in chief handed over today's slot to the whiners. They'd better do a good job; at least something better than the rubbish that multiple DotD winner Carter McBride managed in his HomeSteady.com article about "How to Measure & Cut 45 Degree Angles With a Table Saw"!

Although he's making his sixth appearance at the AN, this is McBride's first attempt at killing someone with a power tool (we imagine there are others, but haven't looked). Carter's unfamiliarity with the tool, however, is pretty obvious right from first sentence:

"Most table saws come with a way to change the blade angle. You can change the blade angle then to 45 degrees and make your cut. However, if your table saw does not have a way to adjust the angle, it is possible to use a protractor to measure your angle."

Based on that passage, we can be fairly sure that Carter doesn't know the difference between changing the blade angle to cut a bevel and cutting a miter using the miter gauge. If the OQ wants to cut a bevel, there's no way that using a protractor is going to help. If the object is a miter, freehand cuts on a table saw are inherently dangerous. Need more evidence of his ignorance? Check out this twaddle:

"Using the table saw, you can then cut along your plotted line at 45 degrees. This can be more accurate than changing your blade angle, because your blade angle may be off."

Oh sure, that'll work... so let's see how McBride thinks this can happen:

Draw a line with a protractor and a ruler (six steps)...

That's it: how to mark a 45-degree angle on a board, but not one word about how to cut the wood! This moron's "references" were a post on how to align a table saw and how to cut acute angles on a miter saw with a special jig. And some jackass content editor let this rubbish pass! No, OQ, that's not how you do it. If you want a bevel, you use the scale on the front of the saw to tilt the motor assembly, which changes the angle of the blade. If you want to cut a miter – 45 degrees across the face of a board – you use the miter gauge that came with your saw. If you want a better one, well there are plenty at Amazon! If you try to use McBride's "solution" and cut off a finger attempting to make a freehand cut, don't blame us: blame our Dumbass of the Day!

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