miter saw, clamps to hold work down (not stops) ?? need help finding
goinoregon
| Posted in General Discussion on
i have a rigid miter saw, and am trying to find some clamps that can hold the cutting material down. i am shortly going to be cutting some aluminum extrusitions, and want to clamp both side of the work. for the life of me, i cant find. nothing from mfg. the fence has 2 holes on each side, but ?? i have plenty of room on LH side of blade, but RH the motor is there, so i cant have something tall.
any help would be appreciated.
thx
go
Replies
My first thought are shop built Left/Right MDF bases with screwed in toggle clamps. Use heavy-duty double-sided carpet tape to secure them to the tables and when done, they can be pried off and reinstalled with new tape when needed.
good idea. thx for your reply
Clamping both sides can be a little hairy in my experience. If anything shifts (even a bit of table flexing) there’s often nowhere for the work to go but into the kerf. The miter saw can throw and/or destroy a workpiece in ways that are different than what we expect from other tools. In most cases I find I am more comfortable with only one side clamped so in case of movement the other side can shift away. Otherwise you could even bend the blade cutting aluminum.
good points. the extrusions i will be cutting, 80/20 are generally light duty. if something is more robust, i will use bandsaw.
thx for your reply
I have a Ridgid too. I recognize all your complaints, and haven't found solutions. Its basically a tool designed for cutting 2x4s. Yes its very difficult to clamp for not having straight surfaces to attach a clamp, or room to add stops if the workpieces is short. Are you using the two plastic fence inserts? Is it mounted on a table, or on a MS stand? Only thing I can think of is to build a custom table for it with attachments that would allow clamps and stops to the table.
I'd be interested if anyone makes a MS more compatible with woodworking.
Its pretty easy to make your own.
A piece of plywood that clamps to the table would hold the material against the fence.
A hold down clamp fastened to the same piece of plywood would hold the material down against the table.
thx robert, this is similar to what elemaduro said earlier. this is the way i probably will go. wasnt thinking about these things when i bought the machine a few years ago.
thx again for your reply, much appreciated.
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