Miter Saw Stop Saves Time And Aggravation

V Wheel Adjustable Miter Saw Stop

Miter saws are great tools for cutting pieces of wood at a variety of angles. If you have ever cut a really long piece on a miter saw there is no doubt you’ve either propped up the extended end on a pile of scrap wood or asked someone to hold the dangling piece so you could get an accurate cut. Doing either is a little hokey and is a general pain in the butt.

[Kram242] started a project that could eliminate these problems and also provides a solution to consistent length cuts of multiple pieces. It’s an adjustable stop that is sure to make miter saw cuts much less annoying.

The rig is extremely simple and consists of a piece of aluminum extrusion, v-wheel carriage and lever-actuated clamp. The movable carriage lets the operator quickly position the stop to ensure the wood is cut at the appropriate location. This stop also makes it easy to cut several pieces of wood to the exact same length.

If we had to make any suggestions for improvements it would be to add supports to the carriage that emulate the saw bed and backstop as well as an adhesive measuring tape guide.

V Wheel Adjustable Miter Saw Stop

26 thoughts on “Miter Saw Stop Saves Time And Aggravation

      1. I am just as likely to click on hacks I don’t like, as ones that I do. I am not too keen on this one because it uses such expensive materials to accomplish what could be done much more economically. I mean does it have to be an aluminum extrusion? Use a piece of wood.

        1. I think it depends on how much you use such a hack and how versatile you need it to be.
          If I had a spare piece of extruded alu laying around, I utilize it like this without a care in the world!

          1. Well, I guess that is where you and I differ I suppose. I use my stock of stock where I think it does the most good. Now if I had a spare piece of aluminum extrusion lying around it’d still be lying around after I used wood to make up a stop for my miter saw. Lying around waiting for a better project to go in! Because I do not burn though the best materials I have, just because I have them.

        2. Well, thanks to the Misumi deal earlier this year I (and many of my friends) still have spare stock sitting around. Use what you have on hand, the concept is the same.

        3. You do have a point.

          I see a lot of projects using aluminum extrusion and think it looks like it would be an incredibly versatile material to keep a supply of just lying around waiting to be used for whatever comes up. It seems many people are using it just that way. But… it really isn’t priced for that at all. Unless they have a secret low cost source (please do share!). Wood on the other hand is pretty versatile too, it’s easy to cut, attachment points are anywhere you want to put a nail or screw. And, best of all… It really does grow on trees!

        4. You can get factory seconds, odd lengths, and out of spec(largely cosmetic) lengths of aluminum extrusion on online auction sites for an as low as $2/ft depending on bidding skill, dimensions, and seller.

    1. How is this even a remotely useful comment?

      HAD often posts stuff that is ingenious and creative but not electronic.

      If you don’t have a comment that’s interesting, insightful, funny, inquisitory, positive or otherwise constrictive then don’t post anything; better than commenting trash.

    2. Sorry but the only trash here is this comment, It’s still a hack and a decent build regardless that serves a very real purpose(of which many electronics featured on here are just “for the hell of it”), think twice before voicing such blatant negativity and being a downer. You chose to click it. This isn’t electronics-a-day.

    1. It costs that much but when you click the “See what sawgear can do for you, watch video here” there is no video whatsoever. So very useful! I want one now that I don’t know everything it actually does.

  1. Interesting. And, yes, if you have plenty of spare pieces laying around, go for it. However, I don’t know of too many people with the eccentrics and rollers like that just laying around the shop. Another problem I see is that flexible materials will need more support since they will sag, throwing off the measurement. Also, some thin, flexible materials can snap mid-cut creating a hazardous situation (had to take someone to the hospital for that once). I would use either a recess in the bench for the saw itself, or maybe a couple of wide, wooden supports on each side of the saw at the height (or slightly less to avoid snagging as the material is pushed through) of the saw’s turn base. Then, all you would need is a clamp-on bar.

  2. I have seen this done before at my buddy’s shop. They build aluminum trailers out of the extrusion there (My Cheap Supply). They’ve recessed the saw into the middle of a 40′ long bench with an extrusion running on top of the fence on both sides. They use a bolt with a flat head that fits snugly into the slots, which has a race track shaped head so it doesn’t turn in the slot, instead of the rollers. Then they have a hand nut on top to tighten a “U” shaped plate down in place. Then they have another “U” shaped plate, that looks like an upsided down “L” from the side, that swings down to act as the stop. This allows them to cut without using the stop if they need to. They have one on each side, too! They also have the adhesive tape on the fence so you just have to line up the stop.

  3. “If you have ever cut a really long piece on a miter saw there is no doubt you’ve either propped up the extended end on a pile of scrap wood or asked someone to hold the dangling piece so you could get an accurate cut.”

    And how does this “hack” solve the long unsupported cut problem?

    Seems just to be a stop used for multiple cuttings of the same length, nothing about holding up the piece to be cut.

  4. If I plan on cutting plywood and/or dimensional lumber in straight lines, a circular saw is a versatile tool for my arsenal. With a few tricks and techniques, I can make nice, straight, square cuts without having to own several separate, bulky tools, like a table saw, and a power miter saw.

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