In article ,
B a r r y writes:
On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 04:51:15 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Barss
wrote:


No you don't. Unless they are at an exact 45 degrees, one will be longer
than the other.

B.) Many miters have one side longer than the other. Think
rectangular box, trimming the base of a bookcase, etc...

I think you're thinking of perfect squares only.

I won't claim to know what Andrew was/is thinking, but when the
angle isn't 45 degrees, one cut will be longer than the other.
(If this isn't clear, you can draw a simple picture to see
what is meant.) This will most often give a result which few would
argue is a "perfect miter."

The length of the sticks being joined isn't the point of contention,
it's the joint which will look bad.

--
Jeff Thunder
Dept. of Mathematical Sciences
Northern Illinois Univ.
jthunder at math dot niu dot edu