Nearly accurate miters at last!
Stephen Kirk in Quakertown PA
>After much swearing at the table saw, and even some harsh language for the LV LA Jack, I think I finally solved my 45 deg miter problem. I already had a workable shooting board for 90 deg cuts, but I couldn't seem to get anything to work right at 45 deg, and a donkey's ear is a bit tricky to build (at least I thought so on my first try). I finally did use the table saw to but a very accurate right triangle, doing a little shimming to get it perfect. Then, I fix that against the fence of my shooting (or chuteing) board with some double stick tape, such that the miter to trim lays on the ramp and presents the mitered face at 90 deg to the plane. I also added another block to up the fence height so I have something to hold the board against. A few passes with the plane, and they are pretty darn close.
One thing I'm still seeing, which puzzles me, is that when I assemble the joint, it's closed, and square, but I often have a slight gap running down the inside of the joint. For reference, I am putting 45 deg bevels on the sides of boxes (not miters like you'd use on a picture frame). It's not a big deal, but I can't figure out why it's happening.
