Shopsmith Forums

The latest issue I have found-

Went to cut an octagon with 6" on long sides.
Put a nice square hardwood fence extension on the SS miter gauge that crossed both MiterSet pins.
Locked it up and tried practice cuts on pieces of squared up DF
The pin setting for 8 sides came out no where near accurate in angles. It needed a more acute setting
I tried several times each time adding feeler gauge distance between the "0" pin and the miter fence for a more acute cutting angle
It wasn't until I got to .059 inches under the pin that I had anything near correct cuts for 8 segments.
Its by no means perfect but I can work with it with a little disc sander trimming (very slight).

Does anyone actually get good polygons with just the settings on one of these things?
I'm not getting anywhere with it yet.
I have a step off fence for the length setting before cutting
Miter gauge slides very smoothly in its groove
I can't figure out where the angularity difference comes from and I've made many octagons with it trying.

Ideas anyone?

Yes. Accurate octagons are possible with the miter set.

Could you do this? Either post a picture of your miter gauge mounted on the MiterSet with the pins set for an octagon OR

Post a picture of that set up.

If you have to touch up the cuts for an octagon there is NO FUTURE for segmented turning.

I hope this gets resolved. I was interested in getting the MiterSet. I won't bother if I have be making manual adjustments.

I need to learn how to post a picture here
I don't see how to do it
I will post a picture of two IF I can learn how to do it.
I don't see any link to locate and find a picture to upload
BTW Dusty I have relatives in Tucson

Below is a link to a Forum Thread on "How to Post a Picture" from the community section.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19246

Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble using the Miterset Segments. Seeing a picture of your miter in the Miterset will help us understand what is going on.

Cliffy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 06, 2021 11:23 am I need to learn how to post a picture here
I don't see how to do it

Since the last upgrade to the phpBB software posting a picture is much easier than it used to be.
Choose the photo you want, drag and drop it onto the composition window.
If it doesn't exceed the size limits, which were increased, the file will download and show up in the Attachments window below.
You can either do nothing and it (they) will appear at the bottom of the post, or you can place the cursor where you want it to appear in the message, then click the "Place inline" button in the attachments window.
Click the Preview button to see how it will look when posted. and make any changes you need to to get looking the way you want.

Check out this video on the Miter Set. WWGO seems to think it works just fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnxAB3OwIsQ

It’s possible for the Miterset to set your miter gauge head to the perfect angle, and for you to still get poor results.

One reason for inconsistent miter angles is that the workpiece tends to drift down the face of the miter gauge on anything other than 90 degree crosscuts (and maybe even on those). This can be very subtle and hard to detect. Some people affix sandpaper to the face of their miter gauge to combat this problem. A miter gauge stop rod is probably an even beter solution, assuming that the workpiece is long enough for you to tilt the face of the miter gauge away from the blade. Or you can attach a sacrificial fence to your miter gauge, and eliminate workpiece drift with a stop block clamped to the sacificial fence — this works even for short workpieces.

If you haven’t yet controlled for this issue, the Miterset may not be the source of your problem.

Do not forget that the blade may also flex/wobble as it cuts.

Another way to do this is use a miter saw. A whole lot easier and you do not have to buy anything extra.