3 Tricks to Getting Perfect Cuts
Not everything comes down to just the perfect measure and mark. We have to be extra mindful of how to approach our cuts as well.
None of this stuff is hard — but the little extra attention will change your game completely.
Always make your first cut longer than you need.
I used to think that great carpenters measure twice, cut once, and nail it. Then I watched a trim carpenter at my house do this amazing closet job, and I asked him how he got such accurate cuts.
He said, “I cut it proud, then keep making smaller cuts until it’s perfect.”
Now I understand why. Our first cut should just get us in the ballpark so that we can make a second cut to refine.
We should never try to get the first cut right.
As I was building my own master closet I started to realize how spot-on he was. It turns out, that even with this method, you’d be surprised how many times the first cut (which was supposed to be too long) winds up being the right cut anyway
Also, you can always take more away, you can’t put it back. So don’t it take it away on the first cut!
Use Blue Painter’s tape to avoid Tear Out
You may have noticed that when you cut your boards, the edge where you’re cutting has some jagged edges where the blade passed through (that’s called “tear-out” and it’s super annoying).
A great way to avoid tear-out is simply to wrap the area you’re about to cut in some blue painter’s tape (or any masking tape really). The tape will be just enough to hold the fibers in place while the blade passes to avoid tear-out, and give you a really clean edge.
Pro Tip — tear-out usually occurs when you cut across the grain of the board. When you cut along the grain (typically with a table saw or circular saw) you’ll rarely see as much tear out.
Your Miter Saw Blade probably isn’t Square (bad cuts)
“Alright,miter saw, you have ONE JOB — cut a damn straight line! Why can’t you do that?”
It turns out that our miter saws are often just a touch out of alignment most of the time, which means even when we do such a kick-ass job of measuring and marking our cuts, our damn saw is going to cut them crooked anyhow!
Fortunately, it’s not super hard to fix. It’s a matter of simply applying your speed square to the blade and seeing if there is a gap. Another way is to cut a piece of 2x4 “tall” and then after we cut it, flip one side over and see if the two ends still match up. If they don’t match perfectly (they tilt a bit) — we’re out of alignment.
Just Google the model name of your saw with the keywords “alignment” and you should find a video of someone showing you how to do yours.
