45 Degree Angle Cutting Guide for Bandsaws or Chopsaws

written by Tom Anderson - March/April 2007 Hammer & Tong

Do you have a bandsaw or chopsaw and have you taken the time to adjust the backstop so it cuts accurately at 90 degrees only to find out shortly after doing so that you have the need to cut something on an angle? I came across an item on the web a while back, I think it was on a woodworking site, that had a solution to that problem, a jig that can be placed between the backstop and the self adjusting holddown to secure items to be cut at an angle without the need to readjust the backstop. I recently had to cut a number of items at a 45 degree angle so I decided it was time to build a jig. Here is what I came up with:

* Fig. 01:

As you can see it's fairly simple. A Plate (I used 1/4 inch thick plate) approximately the width of the backstop cut to the angle you need (in my case 45 degrees). A piece of angle iron approximately the length of the angled side of the plate welded to the plate to serve as a backstop. And finally a piece of flatstock (I used 1 by 1/8 inch) with a 1/2 inch right angle bend at one end to catch the end of the backstop closest to the blade to keep the jig from slipping out as the holddown crank is tightened against the piece to be cut as shown here:

• Fig. 02:
  

It didn't take me any longer to assemble the jig than it would take to adjust the back stop once for the angle and then back to 90 degrees. You probably realized I know this because I had to make that adjustment one last time to cut the plate at a 45 degree angle to make the jig.

-- RebStaup - 30 Jan 2008