# DIY miter saw fence: good idea?



## xvimbi (Sep 29, 2009)

Hi,

I'm shopping for my first miter saw, probably a 12" single- or dual-bevel compound miter saw.

What puzzles me is that the placing of the stock fences seems to significantly reduce the capacity of the saws I looked at (Hitachi, DeWalt, Makita). When I lower the blade to gauge the maximum-with wood the blade could cut, the fences appear to be in by 1-2" on average.

I was wondering if I could make my own fence and place it further back. I am concerned foremost about safety, so my question is whether something like this would be acceptable.

I would build some sort of stand for the saw with wings on the side. I could thus build a fence that covers the entire width of the stand and goes over the platform of the miter saw.

It's not complicated; I am just concerned about safety.

Any thoughts?


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

To reduce your worries, get a sliding compound miter saw.
Mine is a 10" and it will cut 11.5".


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

xvimbi said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm shopping for my first miter saw, probably a 12" single- or dual-bevel compound miter saw.
> 
> ...


Hi Mischa - I don't see a safety issue moving the fence back but you will likely find that it wont cut completely through the stock due to the curvature of the blade. If you want increased cross-cut capacity look at a slider. Also, as long as we're working with opinions, I'm not completely convinced a dual bevel saw is worth the extra money.


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## xvimbi (Sep 29, 2009)

jschaben said:


> Hi Mischa - I don't see a safety issue moving the fence back but you will likely find that it wont cut completely through the stock due to the curvature of the blade. If you want increased cross-cut capacity look at a slider. Also, as long as we're working with opinions, I'm not completely convinced a dual bevel saw is worth the extra money.


I agree about the dual-bevel saw. Regarding a sliding compound miter saw, they cost quite a bit more, which is what's holding me back, otherwise I'd be going straight for the Kapex


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## Ralph Barker (Dec 15, 2008)

Check out the new 12" Bosch Glider (not slider). Crosscut capacity is supposed to be 14". Street price around $800 or so. The Kapex is kaput.


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

I have the DeWALT slider and were I home and not in Houston I would go down and measure it,s full cut capability. I know it is some where around 12-13". How would you move the fence back? If I remember part of the fence is cast into the base??!! It is probably that I just don't understand your question??? I mean it's past 3AM here!!!


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## xvimbi (Sep 29, 2009)

xplorx4 said:


> I have the DeWALT slider and were I home and not in Houston I would go down and measure it,s full cut capability. I know it is some where around 12-13". How would you move the fence back? If I remember part of the fence is cast into the base??!! It is probably that I just don't understand your question??? I mean it's past 3AM here!!!


Yes, I did see saws with part of the fence cast into the base. However, it looked like on some of them the fence was screwed into a flat base, but I can't recall now which ones they were. I would have to make sure that the base without fence is flat where it counts.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

jschaben said:


> I don't see a safety issue moving the fence back but you will likely find that it wont cut completely through the stock due to the curvature of the blade.


It also means that the gap in the middle (between the fence blades) will need to be much, much wider (if you don't believe me go look at a saw). That means less support for the work piece. 

The dual bevel argument is really down to one or two things; if you cut a lot of cornice (crown) or architrave (door frame) mouldings which are heavily moulded, so they won't sit flat on the moulded side then you'll need a double bevel saw to handle installs, similarly if you do a lot of baseboard, door casings, cornice (crown) moulding installations generally then a double bevel saw is a real time saver, if not completely essential. That said I've done trim carpentry on whole buildings with a basic 10in single bevel Makita chop saw


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## Jack Wilson (Mar 14, 2010)

Phil P said:


> The dual bevel argument is really down to one or two things; if you cut a lot of cornice (crown) or architrave (door frame) mouldings which are heavily moulded, so they won't sit flat on the moulded side then you'll need a double bevel saw to handle installs, similarly if you do a lot of baseboard, door casings, cornice (crown) moulding installations generally then a double bevel saw is a real time saver, if not completely essential.


Hey Phil, I do a lot of crown molding as well, (and door and window casing and base trim). I have a DeWalt DW718 which is a dual compound slider and I don't recall ever using the compound function for trim work. I liked the fence and the extended width of cut, but the compound function is pretty much obsolete for my purposes.


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## xvimbi (Sep 29, 2009)

Phil P said:


> It also means that the gap in the middle (between the fence blades) will need to be much, much wider (if you don't believe me go look at a saw). That means less support for the work piece.


I guess one could run into saw parts when the fence is further back, but if not, wouldn't a sliding fence work?

I also just noticed that some miter saws actually allow for removal of the main fence and use of a 'back fence' to increase capacity (a good example is the Dewalt DW716). Raising the platform (by putting scrap wood on it) further increases capacity. 

It seems my thoughts about a DIY fence further back don't seem to be totally detached from reality


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Jack Wilson said:


> I don't recall ever using the compound function for trim work. I liked the fence and the extended width of cut, but the compound function is pretty much obsolete for my purposes.


Maybe so, but you can't cut everything straight. A couple of years back I did a lot of built-up oak cornicing in a house where the main moulding was nearly 7 inches high when held in position against the wall. Even with a Makita LS1212 (12in sliding compound) we still needed to cut flat using both bevel and mitre.

A dual bevel to me is useful for any moulding which has to be mitred, such as skirtings (baseboard) where having left bevel and ruight bevel speeds up the operation. It's not essential with flat mouldings, but when you start working with deep dado mouldings, etc. I'm sure you'll agree it makes life easier (and the job a lot faster)


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

xvimbi said:


> I guess one could run into saw parts when the fence is further back, but if not, wouldn't a sliding fence work?


Just something else to go out of whack, especially if your chop saw gets moved a lot (mine do 5000 or so miles a year I reckon)



xvimbi said:


> I also just noticed that some miter saws actually allow for removal of the main fence and use of a 'back fence' to increase capacity (a good example is the Dewalt DW716). Raising the platform (by putting scrap wood on it) further increases capacity.


Does it? The DW716 has sliding upper sections to both left and right fences. These slide in to give more support behind the workpiece when cross cutting or mitre cutting, and out to allow the bevel function to be used. Raising the workpiece by inserting a false bed is a long-standing technique to increase cutting width but it comes at the expense of depth of cut.

You might like to know that some of the more recent sliders (Makita LS1016 and Festool Kapex) have a blade guard design which allows deeper skirtings (baseboards) to be cut than conventional sliders, again at the cost of obly being able to cut thinner stock


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## Jack Wilson (Mar 14, 2010)

Phil P said:


> Maybe so, but you can't cut everything straight. A couple of years back I did a lot of built-up oak cornicing in a house where the main moulding was nearly 7 inches high when held in position against the wall. Even with a Makita LS1212 (12in sliding compound) we still needed to cut flat using both bevel and mitre.
> 
> A dual bevel to me is useful for any moulding which has to be mitred, such as skirtings (baseboard) where having left bevel and right bevel speeds up the operation. It's not essential with flat mouldings, but when you start working with deep dado mouldings, etc. I'm sure you'll agree it makes life easier (and the job a lot faster)


I guess I can see that, I haven't done any extremely tall pieces. So, ya, if its too tall for the fence then the double bevel would be the ticket. I just cut some 6" crown today, and it fit the fence fine I suppose if I went any taller I might run into some trouble...

Back to the question about removing the fence, sorry I never even looked at my saw to see if I could remove the lower portion. However it does have quite a large depth of cut, I can also flip the work and come back in from the other direction, and sometimes I will pack the piece tight in against the fence and raise it while cutting, this is dangerous I'm sure, but it gives me a couple of extra inches of cut in a pinch. :fie:


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