The day my miter saw decided to retire mid-job in Portland

Last Tuesday I was framing out a closet in a house over in Southeast Portland. Everything was going fine, cuts were clean, then my miter saw just stopped spinning. Not a bang or a pop, just silence. Turns out the brushes gave out after 7 years of heavy use. Had to finish the job with a circular saw and a speed square. Took me twice as long. Has anyone else had a tool die right in the middle of a critical cut?

3 comments

3 Comments

grayc2711d ago

Had to finish with a circular saw and a speed square" - sounds like a rough day, sure. But I've been using those old school methods for years. A miter saw is nice but not the end of the world when it dies. You could have also just clamped a straight edge and ran the skill saw along it. Probably would have been faster than messing with a speed square on every cut.

averywilliams11d agoMost Upvoted

... yeah, I used to be one of those guys who'd swear by the speed square for everything, thought it was the only way to get a true cut. But honestly, after reading what you and @oliver_morgan said, it makes total sense. Clamping a straight edge would have saved me a ton of headaches on that last job where my miter saw died mid-afternoon. I guess I was so stuck in my old habits I never really stopped to think about it. You're right, it's probably way more consistent and definitely faster than flipping that square around for every single cut.

oliver_morgan11d ago

Yeah exactly, I've been there too. Clamping a straight edge is the way to go, way more consistent than flipping that speed square for every single cut.

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