Safely Cut Small Wood Pieces on a Miter Saw
I have 4 Tips and Techniques for How to Safely Cut Small Wood Pieces on a Miter Saw. Including, an easy way to cut small pieces of wood even smaller without making a jig.
I use these techniques a lot when making my own DIY scrap wood wall art. I always end up needing small wood triangles, squares, and lengthwise for my designs. But, these are handy tips for any beginner woodworkers and woodworking projects.
These tips for how to safely cut small wood pieces come in handy on projects like DIY scrap wood wall art.
Before we get started, always remember to follow the safety guidelines in the manual on your Miter Saw. Let your Miter Saw have a couple seconds to get up to full speed before cutting. And, lower the blade arm in a clean, steady motion.
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Now, let’s get to those tips for How to Cut Small Wood Pieces on a Miter Saw. 🙂
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The safest way to cut small wood pieces is to cut small pieces off longer boards, whenever possible.
Miter Saw Cutting Small Pieces Safely
Safety is key when cutting small workpieces. The safest way to cut small pieces is to figure out how to make the small wood cuts while it’s still attached to a longer piece of wood.
This is a lot easier to figure out when you can use a pencil to mark your angles and cuts before making any cuts on your Miter Saw. Then the final cut to get your small piece will cut the piece away from the larger piece of wood.
So, if I need a triangle piece, I cut my first angle on the end of a long enough board to keep my hands safe. Then I finish the triangle with the second angle cut that removes the small piece from the longer board.
How to Cut Small Pieces on a Miter Saw Video
If any of the tips and techniques for How to Safely Cut Small Wood Pieces on a Miter Saw are confusing, I highly recommend watching this video.
Hopefully seeing how I do each of these techniques can help clear up any confusion. You can find my Dewalt Miter Saw here on Amazon.
How To Make A Small Piece of Wood Smaller
Sometimes you need to cut a small piece of wood smaller with a Miter Saw. This can be tricky and dangerous if you don’t know how to safely hold the small piece down without putting your fingers need the blade.
There are a bunch of different ways to safely cut small wood pieces smaller. Some people like to build jigs, some use hold down sticks. Both work. But, this is the one I use most often. Just because I can generally set it up quickly.
Start by taping the small piece you want to cut to another longer board with the same thickness. Use painters tape so that it doesn’t leave residue and removes easily.
The small piece of wood I needed to make smaller is taped to a longer board of the same thickness with painters tape.
You may need to cut a matching angle on to the longer board to completely secure the small piece with tape.
Once the long board is taped to your short board, place a second long board over both pieces. That top board will let you hold the small piece safely in place when you cut small wood pieces with a Miter Saw.
That top board can be over the cut. But it will be harder to line up the cut, if you can’t see your pencil marks. I usually prefer to keep that top board slightly to the side so I can still line up my cut.
After taping the 2 boards, place another long board over both boards to hold the small piece safely down. I put the top piece to the side of the cut line.
Make sure that the part you will cut OFF is the smaller side of the cut. That way you can hold down the largest side of the piece.
Can you Make Lengthwise Cuts with a Miter Saw?
Yes, you can make lengthwise cuts on short pieces with a miter saw. This is another handy Miter Saw trick for how to safely cut small wood pieces.
Set up a quick safe cut using the painters tape and 2 scrap blocks I mentioned above. Just make sure the scrap blocks are long enough to keep your hands away from the saw.
The bottom block needs to be the same thickness as the piece you want to cut. And, it will be easier to do a lengthwise cut when the 2 scrap blocks are also similar depth to the cut.
So, if you want to cut lengthwise on a 6″ long piece, use 2 – long pieces of 1x6.
And, don’t forget, the one on the bottom should be the same thickness as the piece you want to cut. So that the top board can apply even pressure across the piece you want to cut.
An offset arrow point on a 1x2. For offset points, I mark the pointed in with pencil before cutting the 45 degree angles. You can see how I made this White & Stain Simple Scrap Wood Wall Art here.
How to Cut Arrow Points or Pointed Ends
This one is easiest when you use pencils to mark your angles and cut lines too.
To make a centered point on the end of a board, mark a straight line across the board with a pencil and a square. Make sure it’s far enough from the end to make your point.
That straight line you cut is your guide for lining up your cuts.
Use a pencil and square to put a straight line across the board to use as a guide.
Start with a 45-degree angle on one side of the saw. Once that cut is made, switch to the 45-degree angle on the other side of the saw OR flip the board to make the next cut. If you use the pencil mark guide, you should have a perfectly centered point.
That’s it for this tutorial on how to safely cut small wood pieces with a Miter Saw.
Looking for some Geometric Wood Wall Art Videos? Check out this Wood Wall Art playlist on YouTube.
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Feeling inspired? Now that you’ve read these tips for How to Cut Small Wood Pieces on a Miter Saw, you can do it too. Let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.