To Forty Five and Beyond! - How to cut mitres past 45 degrees

Example of how to add a scrape piece of wood with a 45 degree mitre to a mitre saw to assist with cuts beyond forty five degrees

It’s not all the time, but occasionally you will come across cuts over 45 degrees. Usually this will be on staircases with trim, skirt boards, or in this instance, the frames for the cattle wire.

Once you figure out the required degree, you can take a 2x4 or any flat stock, and cut a 45 degree mitre into it. Brace the cut piece against the fence and the 45 degree will become the new fence that you will rest the work piece against.

From there, any degree past zero will be 45 degrees plus the additional needed degrees. Put it on 20 degrees, and you will get a 65 degree cut. Put it on 13 degrees, and you will get 58 degrees.

How to position the next cut piece of wood on a mitre saw with the braced guide.

One tip, is to get use to cutting the pieces upside down for the opposite cuts (if that makes sense).

This way you don’t need to reposition the 45 degree fence for those cuts. There are also some jigs you can buy if you do this regularly that make the process a little easier. But this is never a bad trick to keep up your sleeve when you only do this once or twice a year like myself.

Creating a cut on a mitre saw that requires a degree over forty five.