Table Saw Miter Cuts, the Dummies Version

Table saw miter gauge

Here at the Antisocial Network, we firmly believe that people who open their search engine and type in some sort of question don't already know the answer. Based on that belief, we're also pretty certain that someone asking about a simple procedure does not need to be fed some long list of complex steps. That's why our staffer flagged today's DotD nominee, a HomeSteady.com post by returning Dummy Michael Straessle. Without further ado, here's "How to Cut Angles on a Table Saw."

Right away Straessle should have remembered, and informed the OQ, that there is more than one way to "cut angles" on a table saw. The first is the bevel cut, a cut that is not perpendicular to the top and bottom of the stock, This is accomplished by tilting the motor and saw, usually with a locking arrangement accessed from the operating side of the saw. Straessle doesn't seem to know about bevel cuts.
The second type of cut is the miter, a cut that is at an angle across the face of the stock. Beginning table-saw users – the sort of people who would ask the question at hand – would simply use the miter gauge supplied with the saw. If there is none, miter gauges are available at hardware and woodworking stores. That's the answer we fully expected Michael to give...

...but we hadn't counted on Michael's unfamiliarity with table saws. Instead of pointing out the simple answers that a first-time saw owner might need, this "BA in technical writing" freelancer found it necessary to hack away at a rather complex project that only a hardcore woodworker would attempt, that only a hardcore woodworker would even need: a crosscut sled that covered the entire top of the saw table.
Mike himself said that this project is "moderately challenging." We ask you, is that a project for someone who doesn't know how to cut angles on a table saw? Or is it a project for someone who thinks that,

"This is good for ceiling mold [sic], cabinetry mold [sic]..."?

Nope, it's a Dumbass of the Day project, that's what it is.

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