blade is on the waste side of the cutting line. Pull the workpiece back so it does not touch the blade. Start the saw and feed the stock to make the cut. The face of most miter gauges is about 6″ (150 mm) wide and 2″–3″ (50 mm–75 mm) from the blade. Many times this is not close enough to the blade to support short parts. Fasten an auxiliary wood face to the miter gauge that extends past the blade. Attach abrasive paper to the wood face to help grip the work. Short workpieces can then be easily crosscut. It is sometimes difficult to use a miter gauge for crosscutting to length. If the workpiece width is larger than the distance from the blade to the table edge, use a radial arm saw, portable circular saw, or panel saw. Crosscutting Duplicate Parts to Length There are two methods for cutting a number of workpieces to equal lengths. Use a stop with either the miter gauge or the rip fence. Miter Gauge with Stop A stop is attached to the miter gauge, Figure 23-15. To adjust the stop, mark the desired length on the first part to be cut. Align the mark with the saw blade, and then butt the workpiece to the stop. Make a test cut and adjust the stop position as needed. Sliding table accessories may be equipped with an easily read scale for positioning the stop, Figure 23-16A. This elimi- nates measurement errors and provides for repeat- ability in later operations. See Figure 23-16B. Patrick A. Molzahn Figure 23-14. Crosscutting with a miter gauge. Note the clean backer board to mark the exit of the cut and pre- vent tearout. Patrick A. Molzahn Figure 23-15. Cutting parts to length using a stop mounted to the miter gauge. Chuck Davis Cabinets Figure 23-16. A—An accessory sliding table has a 72″ (1.83 m) scale and stop for cutting parts to length. B—Use an adjustable stop attached to a sliding table for cutting duplicate panel parts to length. Guards are removed to show the procedure. Backer board A B Chapter 23 Sawing with Stationary Power Machines 379 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.