On Apr 17, 4:38 pm, "Leon" wrote:
"steve" wrote in message

...

I've been making my own picture frames but the joints are off slightly so
I
have to resort to filling the joints and painting.
What would be a good way of making these cuts so the miters would line up
tight enough to be left natural or stained?

I've tried a hand miter box, My 10" power miter saw, my table saw....

So what is the best way to get that cut at exactly 45 degrees.

TIA

15 years ago I had a small picture framing shop, and I used a
Makita chop saw with a good carbide blade. These were the days before
I took up woodworking. It took two things to make a perfect corner,
equal sides, and a good 45 degree cut. Equally important!!! Each
frame was custom sized, so I could take some time, but I would trim
the lengths to well less than 1/16 inch difference. The standard "45"
degree stops on the saw wern't! I had to tweek the stop until it was
bang on. At least the saw was repeatable from cut to cut. It seemed
that it read 1/4 degree off the stop to make a good cut, yours may
vary.

Then there were tricks after assembly. On metal frames, the side
of a screwdriver was used to roll the corners, kind of like putting
the burr on a scraper. You could roll the ends together quite a bit.
You can do the same, a little, on wood, but the key there is wax
sticks in various colors used as a filler. They also take care of
nail holes, and come in a variety of colors.

I suggest you take some scrap wood, and see if you can get a
perfect 45 from your saw. It also might be a handy skill for other
stuff.

Hope this helps...