Just thought I'd share a solution for creating perfect mitered corners I came up with since that is something people often ask about.

I am installing some wainscot right now that has a ton of small moulding parts that have to be mitered. Since the trim is small it can easily be torn up with a miter saw and although good results can be had using a shooting block with hand plane when you're cutting and fitting 70 parts, the charm of doing things the traditional way wears thin. When I am woodworking in my shop, I tend to cut mitered parts to close to final length and finish up with a disk sander but even that has its draw backs because there's a gap between the miter bar and the spinning disk and if you're not careful the part you're precision sanding can flex.

So what am I getting to??? Thinking about the number of small pieces to be fitted, I had decided to pick up a disk sander to drag around when I'm doing woodworking out of my shop. When HF's shipment didn't come in yesterday, I started thinking about alternatives and then the idea of using a sanding disk in a miter saw struck me. It works wonderfully and I'm stoked.

I have an older Delta 10" compound miter saw that I don't really use any longer and I also have a 10" sanding disk I bought for use in my table saw that I also don't use since I have a stationary disk sander. The sanding disk is a metal plate like a saw blade but without teeth and it has adhesive backed sandpaper applied to it. Together, I have a very useful precision miter sander that is both accurate and portable. Now, I cut my parts to rough length - if they're really small, I can snip them with large wire cutters, and then with the miter sander in the locked down position simply slide the part into the spinning disk and watch as the part quickly and efficiently removes the waste and sands down to the desired mark.

What is neat about using a miter saw as a miter sander is that now I also have a compound sander. Its not limited to 45 and 90 degrees and if your miter saw is in tune, it will be highly accurate. Just thought I'd share it with others who are interested...of course after I already sent in the tip to Fine Woodworking Magazine yesterday I picked up a deadman pedal so that I can hold the part I'm sanding with two hands and not have to pull the saw's trigger. My only other suggestion is if you try it, watch your fingers.