Precision wood cutting

[v8-powered]

Right, I'm after saving a few bob by doing a bit of woodwork myself - SWMBO wants some 'feature' wood trim added to our bedroom built-in wardrobes. This will require me to cut long strips of wood (likely thin MDF) and then mitre at various angles to fit the shape of the doors.

What tool would recommended to cut the longer strips neatly and accurately? Guy that fitted our kitchen has some fancy Festool stuff including a table that his circular saw fitted over and cut perfect lines, but I don't want to spend Festool money.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Get B&Q to do it when you buy the wood

[mangocrazy]

I've used an Aldi/Lidl tracksaw and track (actually Scheppach branded) and as long as the piece you're cutting is properly clamped down you do get dead straight lines. I've also used a standard circular saw with adjustable Wolfcraft track and that also cuts straight lines, albeit with slightly more faff. Basically if you want to cut straight lines you either use a table saw or some kind of circular saw on a track.

[v8-powered]

Get B&Q to do it when you buy the wood

I suppose I could do that for the longer strips and then just use a cutting table for the various mitres - good point....

[Yorick]

Clamp another piece of wood to your piece for the saw to run against.
That works great with my Makita 18v circular saw.

[mangocrazy]

Get B&Q to do it when you buy the wood

You are then tied into the timber/ply that B&Q sells which is not always the best quality. Ideally find a timber merchant that sells the quality of timber you require and that also provides a cutting service.

[mangocrazy]

Clamp another piece of wood to your piece for the saw to run against.
That works great with my Makita 18v circular saw.

That's fine as long as your guide piece of wood is absolutely straight. This is rare in my experience.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Clamp another piece of wood to your piece for the saw to run against.
That works great with my Makita 18v circular saw.

That's fine as long as your guide piece of wood is absolutely straight. This is rare in my experience.

Then use a long straight piece of metal

[mangocrazy]

Clamp another piece of wood to your piece for the saw to run against.
That works great with my Makita 18v circular saw.

That's fine as long as your guide piece of wood is absolutely straight. This is rare in my experience.

Then use a long straight piece of metal

Or a track. Which is a long straight piece of metal, but with advantages.

[Yorick]

Let's just use a fucking RSJ

[DefTrap]

Cutting long thin strips consistently, without a table saw, is a bit tricky if you haven't done it before. You need space to handle the material, and you need tools that are sharp enough and versatile enough so that it doesn't take forever or require multiple attempts. I mean you could do it by hand but it would take you a week and your sawing arm would drop off.

So, I'd probably get the B&Q guy to do it, or find something off-the-shelf length, width and depth-wise that would work.

When it comes to mitre-ing, I've struggled before with those bloody awful, cheapskate "mitre boxes" and I always end up throwing them in the bin. For your limited requirement a speedsquare would work, but this is assuming that all your mitres need to come out at 45degrees, not always the case. But then "it's only MDF", a bit of filler can hide a few mistakes.

[v8-powered]

Cutting long thin strips consistently, without a table saw, is a bit tricky if you haven't done it before. You need space to handle the material, and you need tools that are sharp enough and versatile enough so that it doesn't take forever or require multiple attempts. I mean you could do it by hand but it would take you a week and your sawing arm would drop off.

So, I'd probably get the B&Q guy to do it, or find something off-the-shelf length, width and depth-wise that would work.

When it comes to mitre-ing, I've struggled before with those bloody awful, cheapskate "mitre boxes" and I always end up throwing them in the bin. For your limited requirement a speedsquare would work, but this is assuming that all your mitres need to come out at 45degrees, not always the case. But then "it's only MDF", a bit of filler can hide a few mistakes.

Yeah unfortunately my wife is a detail freak and thinks she's some big QA inspector!

I did have a chop saw with an adjustable mitre block but stupidly gave it away when we moved - guess I'll just buy a new one . All the mitres are different angles as the wardrobes are custom fit to the room shape , so no chance of a 45 degree! I'm sure filler will be my friend too.....

[DefTrap]

You might get a lend of a chop saw if you knock on a few doors or ask around at work?

I bought the cheapest-of-cheap chopsaw from B&Q about (heavens!) getting on for 20 years ago for a single job (laying some laminate in our rental) and then threw it in my lockup and forgot about it. Recently dragged it out and was disappointed how shit it looked compared to all the Makita stuff I've acquired in the intervening years. And it hasn't grown a sliding rail either. But it does still cut surprisingly accurate mitres and got me out of a hole recently where I tried and failed to wing some mitreing.

[ZRX61]

*precision* & MDF??

[DefTrap]

*precision* & MDF??

Don't knock it, I've seen some incredible stuff done entirely in mdf, you can get a fantastic finish on it if you know what you're doing (not me!).
I mean it's not going to survive being submerged in water ....

[v8-powered]

*precision* & MDF??

Don't knock it, I've seen some incredible stuff done entirely in mdf, you can get a fantastic finish on it if you know what you're doing (not me!).
I mean it's not going to survive being submerged in water ....

The house boss has been doing her homework, hence MDF, after seeing what is achievable

[Mussels]

Cheap as chips and accurate.
https://www.diy.com/search?term=timber+mouldings

[Silly Car]

My tips would be to:

1. Break all of the arris’s, by either taking some sandpaper to all corners or rounding them over with an 1/8* router round over bit this will help the paint stick better
2. It is a git of a job getting a perfect mitre joint, therefore either spend ages setting up the mitre saw and checking the set up every few cuts or opt for shaker style
3. It is another git of a job ‘hiding’ mitre or butt joints, they look 100% better if you highlight them by breaking the arris on both pieces so you are left with effectively a small V joint.
4. MDF quality varies massively, I’d be opting for a better quality over cost, if you are prepared to throw a freeway more £££s at the project, Moisture Resistant (MR) tends to machine better, I’ve heard good things about Medite MR MDF but not used it
5. Replace the blade in the mitre saw for one with 80+ TPI, I can get a near ‘planed’ finish with my 80 TPI blade (mitre and table saw) which makes joints nice and tight and sanding and finishing a doddle. Just take your time pushing it through the material
6. Sand, prime, sand and prime again all of the edges before fitting, you may find you need to fill and sand the edges before / after priming to get a great finish
7. Mitre bond / superglue & accelerator will be your friend when it comes to fitting as will a decent PVA glue (Titebond 2 is good).
8. You may need to think about clamping the bits in place (although mitre bond may mitigate that) so think about that or alternatively pin them in place, 18g nails will need filling and sanding, 23g will likely disappear under a coat of paint.
9. Consider dust collection and PPE (eyes, ears and nose & throat) as MDF dust gets everywhere

It might be worth viewing the following (plus others) on YouTube as they both work with MDF and painting to a very good standard. You don’t need to go the full hog with airless paint spraying as roller / good brush gives a good finish, spraying just helps with a uniform/ quick finish. Both have done series / multiple clips on prepping and painting MDF for furniture.

Ten minute workshop / Peter Millard
The London Carpenter