Answered How to cut MDF at an angle?

mattkhan

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I'm building some speakers as my 1st foray into woodwork hence I have no end of noob questions. I'm now at the cutting up pieces of wood stage and I need to make some cuts like this (to remove the bit in grey)

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I have a jigsaw and a circular saw to hand. What's the best way to make such an angled cut? Do I just clamp some piece of wood on top to act as a fence?

Google gives me things like this but I can't see them for sale anywhere. All the esoteric tool accessories seem to be available in the US only dagnammit!

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Bonus credit question..... ideally I also need to make that cut at a ~7 degree angle across the end. Would I be better off just sanding that down by hand later or trusting myself with the circular saw by setting that at the relevant angle?
 
The jigsaw will be too wobbly. Use the circular saw and just follow the pencil line carefully. Clamp the wood to a work bench.
You could also clamp another piece of wood on top running parallel to the cut line for your saw to butt up against and aide in keeping the cut straight.
Depending on how many of these cuts you need and how accurate it needs to be you may be better off with a table saw with guides.
I can't imagine how you would sand the end to 7 degrees. If you can set your circular saw that accurately then that's the way to do it.
 
I've used a circular saw with a clamped piece of wood as a guide to ensure a straight cut, but a good quality table saw would be better. I have a cheap one, but it needs to be larger and more consistent in operation to produce repeatable results.

Even if you use a guide with a jig saw, unless the blade is very strong, they can tend to give a cut that curves under, so not very good. Free hand doesn't seem to produce the curve, but then it's harder to get a perfectly straight cut.

Gary
 
This is what you need Matt,it seems expensive, until you use one for the first time !
image.jpg
 
I use a nice straight edge (sprit level or something metal) that won't flex or not be totally true like wood.
Use 2 'G' clamps to hold the sprit level (my preferred method) at each end and use a circular saw, make sure your have the correct cutting blade in the saw for MDF material as a standard wood cutting blade will rip the edges of the MDF.

No need to buy expensive saws like the one shown above as you will achieve the same results.

Just take your time and always measure twice !!
 

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