In the Shop: Miter Madness

Every once in a while we like to check in on the WWGOA editors to see what they’re up to in the shop. Here’s your chance to get to know the faces and personalities behind WWGOA and take a peek into their own worlds.

Tom prepares to miter

It’s Miter Madness at my shop this month. I’m cutting parts for eight wall cabinets with mitered sides and mitered doors. (A completed cabinet is sitting on the assembly table behind me.) Each cabinet will be able to hold a complete set of bench planes.

I’m not building the cabinets for myself, though I probably own enough tools to fill them all. I’m making them for students in a class I’m teaching. I do the machining; they make the doors and raised panels by hand using a plow plane, beading plane, rabbet plane, moving filletster, and of course a smooth plane.

The mitering sled I’m using is pretty foolproof. It has two fences fixed to the sled and set at exactly 90 degrees to one another. I cut right ends on one side, left ends on the other. As long as I don’t get parts mixed up, the miters will come out perfect.

What are you working on this month?

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4 Responses to “In the Shop: Miter Madness”

  1. Manuel

    I have tried cutting miters on my table saw for the longest time, do you have a video showing how you made your sled?

  2. Bob Was

    I need to install a door in a post and beam barn, and the center beam is in my way. What is the right way to do the bracing so I can remove 36" of the center beam. In need of a few "POSTS" Can you help me! Bubba

  3. terilla

    Those are all flat miters and look great. How about some tips for making carcass miters.

  4. ROD

    I am trying to set up my new shop but I have changed my mind at least 5 times in the last 15 months is this normal or am I trying to be to perfect.