My latest home repair project is to make a mantle around a fireplace, that is the wooded shelf on top.

I have a manual mitre saw, good for small cuts. But my question is how do I make the long cuts for the vertical sections? I have a table saw, but cannot make such nice square cuts that will allow me to mate the surfaces as when I feed the board through my inexpensive table saw, it would not cut in perfect line.

See a picture of my project.http://www.humanemontclair.org/extra/mantle.htm

 

If you have a circular saw, you can clamp a straight edge (another board, piece of straight metal etc) on the board you are cutting at the distance you want to cut, adding the width of your saws foot. Then keep the saw up against the guide board as you cut. You can also clamp a straight edge on your table saw. Sounds like your guide is moving or isn't clamping into position in a straight line. Good luck.

 

That's a weird one. Aren't you staying up against the fence? And if you are, it should be straight. Unless of course your blade is dull and the blade is wandering, producing a wavy cut when you sight down it.

If it has such a wave pattern, you better get the blade sharpened or buy a new one.

You would think the teeth on the saw would already be designed for a "rip" cut, but you better be sure about this. A combo blade should work, but a cross cut blade really won't. And if your intent is in ripping, you may want a blade just for ripping. If you are cutting oak, you have to have the right blade and the right teeth per inch and it should be new and sharp if quality cuts mean anything to you.

The "cheapness" of the table saw shouldn't really be causing this, IMO. A cheapy may be cheap on purpose for portability sake. You wouldn't really want a monster table saw with cast iron top with 5 hp motor in that case. (I had this luxury at the woodworking shop where I got my start prior to construction) As long as your table saw's rpm's keep up, then the cut should be good if the other things I mentioned are up to snuff. You also may need help feeding boards through the saw.

 

To put a smooth edge on a ripped board you need a jointer.

 

Thank you!