"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message news
...
The fixed jaw won't angle when moved close to the blade, but the
pieces that need minimal overhang are short enough to fit on angle
blocks in the mill vise.
-jsw

*** I pretty much true everything up on the mill or on the lathe
anyway. Its not like I'd saw cut pieces and just start welding them
together. (Well, I have back in the day, but...) However, I thought
about your close to the blade jaw idea. Make a softjaw for the
fixed jaw of the saw's built in vise that has screw slots. For most
work leave it slid back. For close work loosen the screws, slide it
out to the blade, and snug the screws back up. In the stock
location the soft jaw will reduce your capacity, but you can always
remove it when you need the full stock width capability.

It would have to be fairly thick to not deflect from the clamping
force. Just c-clamping a spare piece of stock to the fixed jaw works
too.

I don't angle the fixed jaw very often so it usually stays in the
closer position. I can usually follow a pencil line accurately enough
to cut angles freehand, for non-critical projects like the truck rack
I'm making now. I've carefully milled rectangular tubing cuts before
clamping and welding but still had to force the finished frame back to
square with a hydraulic jack because of the welding shrinkage
distortion.

The 4x6 is also my main wood chopsaw, with a 6-10 tpi blade. The
telescoping jack from an old Toyota Land Cruiser makes a good outboard
support for long timbers.
-jsw