Finally, some progress on windows

Today I worked on setting up saw for second time, since I exchanged the first one I bought. It was much easier this time, except saw they gave me isn't new and I had to restore factory settings. It was pretty hard to get everything lined up with 90 degree angles, etc and I was thinking I should have kept the one I exchanged which was new (it was later found to work after I exchanged it. This saw is fine however, and I'm making it work.

Here is a shot of the laser cutting guide. You can see the red laser line on the wood as I am about to make a cut. It makes accurate cuts super easy - you just put the laser line right next to your pencil mark and the blade cuts right where the mark is.


And here is the cut piece:




I cut my first piece of window trim, and it seems to fit perfectly on first try! Using the miter saw is so much easier to be than using a manual miter box. I am glad I held out and got the laser working - it is SO much easier to make good cuts. I'm still kind of mad at our prior incompetent contractor who gave me a bum steer when he told me to buy a manual miter box. The box was 15 dollars, and for 75 I got this awesome saw. Each manual cut takes about 10 minutes and isn't as accurate. The miter saw takes a split second and makes very accurate cuts. We could have used the saw so many times already, but at least we have it now.

There is a little bit of a learning curve in using the - how to cut the two different 45 degree angles, how to clamp, etc. One combination of miter and clamp doesn't work because a screw gets in the way so I have to find another way to make this cut. I also only have a few feet on one end of the saw so I can't cut the end of a 7-foot piece of trim with the end that way.

I would have nailed the trim piece in, but that involved getting the air compressor and nail gun out in the living room and set up. This is lots of noise, lifting, and set up time plus the dogs have to be contained in the bedrooms for safety. I decided to wait until my next session when I can nail this first piece and then do at least one other, but I am optimistic of finishing the first living room window in 1 session as long as I don't have to remove any plaster.

Today's session was 1.5 hours, bringing the total hours on the windows to 219.25.