Cutting accurate miters on the table saw is always a challenge. But when you’re mitering small, fragile pieces of molding that highlight a project, the difficulty factor increases. Due to the small size, the moldings can be difficult to hold on to safely. You need a way to maintain good control of the workpieces while keeping your hands and fingers safe. Second, the moldings can be flexible, so firm support while making the cuts is essential.
The solution to all these challenges starts with the small miter sled shown here. It gives you support below and behind the workpiece so positioning and control is easy and chipping is minimized. Plus, once a kerf is cut in the sled, you always have a quick, precise way to align your mark with the blade. The sled consists of a pair of hardwood cleats and a 1⁄4" hardboard platform. The front cleat helps stiffen the sled, while the taller back cleat serves as the fence. Both cleats are glued to the platform. I like to clamp the sled to the miter gauge, but screwing it in place works too.
The drawings show how to make a miter cut with the sled. It’s just a simple one, two, three. Line up your mark, push the sled through the blade, then slide the piece away from the blade. Whenever possible, I like to make both inside and outside miter cuts with the business end of the miter gauge and sled angled back toward me, as shown in the first slide. This gives you a much better view for fine control of the workpiece. It won’t work for all cuts, but if you orient the piece in the right way, it often will. When making a miter cut, I always try to orient the molding to confine any minor chipping to the unseen surfaces. You’ll have a molded or exposed side and a hidden side. If possible, make the cut so that the blade exits the unseen side and any minor chipout will be confined to this edge.
