Shopsmith Forums

Occasional task, usually done by hand, almost always poorly. Am I the rule or exception?
I'd love to hear how the SS Forum experts (and I mean that!) handle the job of cutting square ends on cylindrical items (dowels, tubing, pipe, conduit, handles, etc.), either by hand or with the Band Saw or Table Saw.
F'rinstance, how to hold the workpiece in the front vise so it's above the workbench-top for cutting? Basic, yes, simple- ?
[Note: I ran a series of Searches and found, well, almost nothing on this particular.]

for dowels I use one of my hand miter boxes. (Xacto miter box with razor saw for really small diameters. Stanley No. 115 (Up to 2 in diameter or Nobex 110 no more than 1 inch diameter)
Set the angle (90 degrees in this case)
push the dowel all the way against the fence
Make the cut.

For larger cylinders similar process using my Sliding Compound Miter saw (Up to 4 inch diameter)

This assumes that these are aligned properly and the cylinder has a straight outer wall. For a cone you need a jig to hold everything square and secure.

The same process could be used on the table saw. Cross cutting with the cylinder held in place to the miter gauge.

terrydowning wrote:for dowels I use one of my hand miter boxes.

Dang. Ever since I wore out my last miter box set I plumb forgot about it. Maybe 'cause I never could get a good cut from it. Don't know why- plastic box, from Ace Hardware, $1.87, and the back saw, a 9-incher from Mom/Pop's Hardware and Sushi Grill, $3.45 (I was flush that week in 1987).

Sounds like I need me a good box & saw.

PS: I meant to say I tend to shy away from the Band or Table saws, since it always seems to take so much trouble to figure out and then set up some way to hold the cylinder securely. And by the next time I need to do it again I done forgot.

Thanks.

IMO a decent miter box while not essential to woodworking should be high on any wood workers list of tools to own.

This one on the bay for $5 after clean-up and a decent back saw is a good example of my Stanley. Not the highest end, but it does the job nicely.

As an added aside a decent tenon saw would work well in this and you have a good saw for other straight cuts.

I seldom cut cutting, dowels, etc on the table saw. I feel the bandsaw is the tool to use for this.

The band saw with a miter gauge. I use the IncraV120 for its' adjust-ability and accuracy.

It is very important to maintain absolute control of that tubular stock while it is being cut.

I generally prefer to use my compound miter saw for such cuts, because the workpiece is supported against both table and fence for a goodly length, and the workpiece does not have to slide on a table (which makes round ones want to roll).

If the cut quality is important, I dress the cut end on the SS with a 12" sanding disc, using the miter gage to align it. That will turn even the most ragged cut into a beautiful square end. Leave a little extra length on the rough cut, and it's easy to dress the workpiece to the precise length desired.

Tubing cutter(miniature pipe cutter) works well on smaller dowels and even 1/2" steel EMT.

If you have a lathe chuck, you can chuck up the dowel or pipe - let her spin and use a hack saw or Japanese saw to make the cut. Just hold the saw steady and it will cut right through.

When I take to hand cutting dowels or other such items I go with this

[ATTACH]23141[/ATTACH]

I think I paid like $17 for it and it is small enough to store near by for occasional use. It does a pretty good job and can except various blades, the one shown is a 14 tpi, if you want to do metal they have a 24 and 32 tpi.

This looks and works a lot like the old Jorgensen miter box but this is much smaller with a lot of plastic parts. I'd say it is worth the price as long as you don't get carried away with what you do with it and forget the gorilla strength....

If I recall these came out in the mid 2000's or so and I think they still sell them but I haven't looked of late.

Another plus is that it has rubber feet so for small jobs you can just pick it up and set it some where with a flat surface and make your cuts. For larger jobs it has holes to screw it down.

Fixed stops at 90, 45, 36 (5 sides), 30, 22.5 and 15 degrees. All of which seem to work very well.

Ed

For thin wall pipe or conduit I use a tubing cutter. This prevents burrs.