Safety: Is there anything wrong with this technique

[George Stoltz]

I do not own a compound miter saw.  Some people call them chop saws.

I can make great rip cuts on my $200 Ryobi saw, but cross cuts are usually off -- unless, of course, I am cross cutting sticks of wood up to 6 inches wide.  

Just today I had to remove a 16th of an inch from one board.  No way I could cross cut that on my saw so I did this:

1.  I determined the exact spot to the LEFT of the blade where a cut would remove 1/16th of an inch.  I did this through trial and error.  

2.  With the saw blade lowered below the table, I clamped the 13 inch wide board to the saw table in such a way that as I slowly raised the blade it would cut about half way through the 13 inch measurement.  Then I moved the board, re-clamped and again raised the blade slowly.  Viola.  Perfect cut

Am I missing anything that could create a problem?

Thanks for your input. 

[John Schaben]

Hi George - Ahh, yes, I do remember my saws being a bit on the sloppy side. Ken's suggestion is a good one but the masking tape will wear off on you. A more permanent solution would be to peen several places along the top edge of the miter runner with a center punch. This will expand the metal slightly and hopefully take out the side play. If you get to much, you can just dress it back down with a file, sandpaper, whetstone, to get a nice fit.  Another method would be to drill and tap 5 or 6 holes on the edge of the runner for nylon setscrews. 4-40 would be about right and that would make the bar adjustable.

[George Stoltz]

A another shop-made single-runner miter slide.

Slide-bar to fit miter slot in table top.

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[Ken Darga]

The link was deleted.

It featured a simple, easy to make, cross-cut slide, with a single runner.

a. 1/2'' plywood ''platform'' x W & L (sized to suit the applicable table)---

b. 3/4'' thick fence, 3'' wide by (suitable length)---affixed to the platform, on the far-side of the platform

c. ''single runner''---sized to suit the track in the saw table---

runner affixed to the platform underside 

George Stoltz said:

A another shop-made single-runner miter slide.

Slide-bar to fit miter slot in table top.

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[Ken Darga]

Cross-cut sleds for tables saws.

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/poll-how-do-you-cross-cut/

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/the-cross-cut-sled/

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/frankensled/

[Larwyn]

Sounds safe enough to me.