Advice on making 45 degree cuts

[Dave LoSapio]

Not sure this is the correct forum to post this but you all seem to know a whole lot! I'm planning a "louvered lattice" project to gain privacy underneath an elevated home. I'm modeling based on actual installed work I've seen and consider to be the best approach for stability. What I am trying to figure out is how to make all the cuts most efficiently and expeditiously. The picture attached shows a finished mock-up as well as the piece I need to make cuts on. The material is treated 2x8x12. The cuts are 45 degrees, spaced every 3" at a depth of 4".

Can I use a 12" compound mitre saw to make these cuts? Would a circular saw and a jig of some sort be better?

TIACapture.JPG

[ChrisA Edwards]

Assuming the louvers would be permanently fastened to the pieces with the 45 degree cuts, why not use a router and cut slots at 45 degrees the thickness of the louvers. It would be easy to setup a simple 45 degree straight edge jig that the router could slide along.

Just a thought.

[Matt Day]

circular saw would probably be the way most would do it, like cutting stair stringers. If you’re going for a finished look you’d need to have a steady hand and clean up the corners to finish the cut.

Could rough with a jigsaw or circ saw and use a router with jig.

[Bradley Gray]

You could pattern route the support piece you show in your rendering on the right, making 3 per section - one for the middle- the others for the ends. Nail or screw the slats to these.

This allows for slat replacement and avoids trying to fit them all into grooves at the same time for assembly.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Or just scribe layout lines with a combination square and nail it with galvanized finish nails. This is a paint grade louvered vent, not fine furniture.

[johnny means]

Most sliding compound miter saws actually have an adjustable stop for just this purpose. You can gang your boards up and cut several at a time.

[Edwin Santos]

I notice your material is 2x8x12. I'm tempted to think about a way to cut this on the miter saw with an indexing key of some sort and the stop Johnny mentions.
But really, I think the simpler solution is to lay out your job and cut to the lines with a jigsaw. Use a Bosch progressor blade and use a speed square against the jigsaw baseplate to guide both the 90 degree and 45 degree cuts. Let the blade do the work, don't force it, and you'll get clean, square cuts.

[Dave LoSapio]

Thanks for all the suggestions, some good ones I hadn't thought of. I am looking to make as few cuts as possible, Johnny's suggestion to use the mitre saw and stack/gang pieces would be a huge time saver (assuming I get the cuts right). I think the best thing will be to practice a few methods on some scrap lumber and figure out what works out the best and is most efficient. In the end, as Thomas points out, this is NOT a piece of fine furniture, getting it done is the main goal!

[Tom M King]

I would use a radial arm saw. Two different setups.