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TENONING
Lower the blade. Place the end of the workpiece
against the fence, and hold it against the protractor,
set at 0
O
. Make a series of cuts, moving the
workpiece away from the fence by one blade-width
after each cut. Repeat on the other three faces,
and you should have a perfectly central tenon.
MITRE CUTTING
Set the protractor at 45
O
. Make sure both knobs
are tightened and that the protractor slides freely.
Hold a straight piece of wood against whichever
face of the protractor best supports the workpiece
near the blade.
Hold the wood firmly against the protractor during
the cut, otherwise It will tend to “creep”.
The protractor can be used in either of the two
outer slots, and either way around to suit your job.
Fit subfences (400-500mm long) to the protractor & for good workpiece support and a precise
means of lining up your cuts. Face them with glued-on sandpaper strips.
If the wood you are cutting is flat on both faces, cut the reverse mitre at the other end by turning the
piece end-for-end, and lying it on it’s back for the second cut. Or preferably, cut the reverse angle
on the adjacent face (as shown in & ). See explanation in blue text below.
MITRE CUTTING MOULDING
If the workpiece cannot be turned over, (e.g.
moulded picture framing or beading) make the
first cut with the workpiece held against one 45˚
face of the protractor , and cut the reverse
angle mitre with it held against the other 45˚ face.
Mouldings should always be cut with their flat
base resting against the table, and the taller edge
against the face of the protractor. Because the
moulded face is always upwards, there will be
less visible splintering.
If using a router to make the mortices, select the
cutter first (say 19 mm diameter) and make your
tenons 19 mm wide to suit. It will make the
morticing easier.
Cut about 150mm off the end of a piece of scrap. Place the offcut against the main piece and see if
they form a perfect right-angle. If necessary, adjust the protractor angle slightly.
The two shorter faces of the protractor form a perfect right angle. So a piece cut against one face,
when placed against a piece cut against the other face will always form a perfect right angle,
whatever the angle. For example, if the protractor was accidentally set at 44
O
, the other face would
give you 46
O
, totalling 90
O
.
Similarly, 30
O
off one face will give you 60
O
off the other. By selecting the correct angle, you can use
this method when mitre joining pieces of differing widths.
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2
3
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5
4
5
Guard (not shown)
must be fitted
Guard (not shown)
must be fitted
