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Hand held miter cutter - any recommendations?


vbharrington

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I've been reading a dollhouse blog where the builder has used hand held miter cutters to cut craft sticks for hardwood floors and paneling.  The only one carried at my local Hobby Lobby has poor reviews, so I was wondering if anyone on here uses one, and if so, could recommend a brand to me.  Thanks in advance.

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I am actually giving a demonstration to our mini club on the proper measurement and cutting with a mini mitre box and saw.  A mini mitre box is good for cutting boards vertically and horizontally. They are best for cutting 45 degree angles for baseboards and crown moulding.  I think with your application an Easy Cutter would be better for multiple horizontal cuts. A mitre saw can be hard on your hands for multiple cuts, especially if the wood is hard. Plus sometimes they slip causing irregular lengths. For your application, I recommend an Easy Cutter. But you will eventually need a mitre box for your trim since an Easy Cutter doesn't cut vertically.

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So far I have cut all my trim with my easy cutter. Baseboards, crown molding, flat trim, even full sized quarter round. When I did the window trim on the San Fran, I used it for the compound cuts as well. I finally bought a miter box a few years back because everyone had one... But I've never used it. Guess you just use what you have and get used to that!

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If I'm mitering vertically I have better success using the belt sander, the baseboards are too skimpy for my miter box & saw; but unless I'm doing a flat cut on tock thicker than 1/4" I use my Miter Master.

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1 hour ago, bluebear said:

So far I have cut all my trim with my easy cutter. Baseboards, crown molding, flat trim, even full sized quarter round. When I did the window trim on the San Fran, I used it for the compound cuts as well. I finally bought a miter box a few years back because everyone had one... But I've never used it. Guess you just use what you have and get used to that!

How can you cut a 45 degree vertical cut with an Easy Cutter? I don't have one and the pictures of it only show flat horizontal cuts? How do you mitre baseboard corners with it?

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I draw a line on the bottom, and top with the angle I need. Then connect those with a line on the front then hold it an angle to match with my line. Like I said, I didn't know about the box for a while, and just figured out how to use what I had! I didn't know it was wrong because it worked for me. I did the quarter round in my real house the same way.

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Sable, I have the Excel miter box set already, it came with my "Dollhouse Tool Kit."  I thought the Easy Cutter had an adjustable angle thingy (love my tech speak) that you could just set the angle, then just snip away.  It seems like drawing angles on the wood and connecting dots would take even longer than the miter box and saw.  I was hoping the Easy Cutter (or equivalent) would be faster.

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For flat boards it's perfect. but I don't think you can cut them vertically/standing up.  Look at your baseboards at home. See how the corners are cut top down in a 45degree mitre? I don't think an easy cutter can do that.

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1 hour ago, bluebear said:

I draw a line on the bottom, and top with the angle I need. Then connect those with a line on the front then hold it an angle to match with my line. Like I said, I didn't know about the box for a while, and just figured out how to use what I had! I didn't know it was wrong because it worked for me. I did the quarter round in my real house the same way.

Nothing is wrong if it works for you.

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11 hours ago, vbharrington said:

 I thought the Easy Cutter had an adjustable angle thingy (love my tech speak) that you could just set the angle, then just snip away.  It seems like drawing angles on the wood and connecting dots would take even longer than the miter box and saw.  I was hoping the Easy Cutter (or equivalent) would be faster.

I always mark my wood before cutting. If I didn't I'd cut it inside out and upside down every time. The angle part does work great like Sable said for flat, but it's also useful for the crown molding since it has a flat side.

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