Beveled Edge Tutorial

Gus Dering

I thought this technique of beveling an edge with a table saw might be a good topic.

I was in the trades for a long time before this was shown to me. So if it's old hat to you, I apologize, if not I think this will come in handy throughout your career.

What I have done here is bevel an edge at a 45. Easy enough to do just by swinging the blade over to a 45 and set the fence and rip under some circumstances. We all have done that and will again.

I find that this way is easier to handle as the work piece is not trapped between the blade and the fence. Leaving room to apply pressure down and in as you feed without your fingers in that tight slot.

Another situation is when you need bevels on pieces of multiple widths. One set up and you're golden.

Where this technique will really shine for you is when you are putting a beveled edge on both sides of the work piece. If you have a right tilt saw like this one, all your fence is to the right, forcing you to have your first long point down and into the little space below the fence when you make the pass on the second edge. This gets you out of that bind.

You start by sizing your pieces as if they were all square edged. Make them the exact size they need to be to the long point of your bevel.

The jig is nothing more than a sacrificial fence. Start by placing the sacrificial fence on top of a piece of stock that you will be cutting And clamp it to your fence.



Then take the piece of stock out and tap the sac fence down about an 1/8" or less. No need to loosen the clamps, it will go.



Get your blade to the correct angle and set the depth to just over the stock thickness



Bring the fence over and kind of work the blade into the sac fence about an 1/8th or more.



With the fence locked down, take a piece of scrap and test to see where the blade is.
The goal is to cut the bevel without loosing any width.
This picture you can see where I tried a couple times and I kept bumping the fence over with each try.



Once you get it just right the stock shoud pass to the out feed side of the blade without loosing contact with the sac fence. Like this.



The off cut should have room to fall away under the sac fence or you will be headed for a serious game of cowboys and Indians. This is not an arrow you want to tangle with. Thats why we just tapped the sac fence down a little.



When the stock gets to the end the off fall is safely under the sac fence. Easily removed without incident.



And you have it. Note the off fall resting peacefully and a nice crisp edge without loosing any dimension.



I set this up at 45 but you can use it at any angle. It takes a couple minutes to set up after you have done it a few times.

I only wish someone showed me this 30 years ago.

Enjoy

loneframer

That, Gus, is a new trick for this old dog. Thanks man. That will save a few fence adjustments for sure. What else you got in that bag Felix?

__________________
__________________________________




"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



__________________________________

knucklehead

I am glad you simplified it for me.

SLSTech

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Now why didn't I think of that before?

__________________
Alabama Full Service Remodeling, Renovation, and Preservation by SLS Construction
Certified Energy Efficiency Audits, Ratings, Modeling, Verifications, & Consulting
Residential, Commercial, & Industrial Infrared Thermography Scans

KMac

Great tip Gus - thanks for taking the time to share it. I can think of a few times recently that would have been a huge help.

silvertree

I like it, thanks

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

Gus Dering

You're all welcome. It's just a thang.

There is one point I forgot to make that may be self explanatory but here it is .

Ya know how it isn't easy to rip to the long point and get the width right on the correct number. There is no help from the gauge and measuring with your tape is of little help. It's just trial and error till you get it right.

This way you get the piece sized correctly the easy way with your normal methods. Then bevel without any sizing changes.

It's kinda like using a joiner somehow

mmike032

great tip, thanks for the pics of the process also.

BattleRidge

That is clever. Now I can go show the old guys I know a new trick!!! Thanks

__________________
www.battleridgebuilders.com

macatawacab

Gus, Thank You!!!! I have some base to rip just like this and was worried how I was going to get it just right. This is it.

basswood

Gus,

That is a good example of a benefit of a right-tilt saw. All of us lefties will have to move our fences to the left of the blade and tune-up our technique for feeding on the right side of the fence.

Very cool method.

G'day,

Bass

AKA "Lefty"

mmike032

yea, I got a left tilt saw.

Gus Dering

Most of what you want to know is wrapped up in that machine in the backround

Glad I could help out a young guy.
Just remember to do as if you have been doing it since you were sh!tting green. Practice the set up alone a few times so you can move through it easily. Then lay it on them without fan fare.
Being humble about things like this will add to your credibility.
But have a great time showing it off

This would be perfect for back beveling base.

Like I told you and Leo, I still wish I had a left tilt saw.
Any time you just want a quick rip with one beveled edge, I would prefer to have the long point up so the piece is not trapped under the blade.
But this technique is just as easy on the left side. Except I have to say that I generally stand on the side of the saw when ripping this way. The lefties will have to stay behind. No pun intended

atnas

That is awesome. Thanks!

__________________
If you don't have time to do it right the first time..., when will you have time to do it again?
Klaus Finish Carpentry

Leo G

But it is thickness dependent.

Good trick though. If you have a right hand tilt the gauge should be almost close to the scale reading. I know my Jet right hand tilt saw was really close. My Delta is a left tilt and you need to measure.

__________________
Sawdust Follows Me Everywhere

http://lrgwood.com
Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

Inner10

I could have used that trick a few months ago; I ended up throwing out more wood then what I used.

TBFGhost

Free bump for Gus. I used this trick a few months ago on my left tilt saw. I ripped all the parts to final width, then set up this jig and ran all the different width parts through this one set-up. Edges came out PUURRRRFECT.

Old Grumpy

I'm such a dolt. 30 years doing similar cuts, dodging arrows .... all I needed to do was raise and tap the sac. piece down. Now I know how the young guys feel when I point and say "That's why cousins shouldn't marry."
Thanks

__________________
Ignorance is cureable, stupidity is forever.