Lion miter trimmer help

Greetings and Salutations....
(why do I think I am feeding a troll here???...Oh well...I
suppose it is not a TOTALLY unreasonable question).

On 15 Feb 2004 05:21:12 -0800, [email protected] (James Cassatt) wrote:

>Following discussions on this newsgroup, I bought a Lion Miter
>Trimmer. The instructions were quite poor. It is not at all clear

The best instruction I know of is "keep your fingers AWAY
from the blades". Everything else is gravy.

>how to swing the thing against the wood rests over the pinstop. Also,

Don't know about the instructions that come with the miter
trimmer...perhaps later this week, when I swing by Woodcraft, I will
take a look at them. However, your post is a little unclear as to
what is swinging where. The angle supports simply loosen and are
moved in an arc until they are at the appropriate angle. If 45
degrees, there is probably a spring-loaded stop built into the base
of the trimmer. Otherwise...measure twice and cut once. The frame
should be held firmly and so it is sitting FLAT on the trimmer base
(this is VERY important or the miters will never fit). If necessary,
you might have to cut a "V" block to hold round top frames properly,
but in most cases
Did I mention to keep your fingers away from the blades?

>I have my miter saw set up on a table so that I can cut pieces of wood
>to exactly the same length. It would seem that if I do a final trim
>on the miter trimmer, it would be difficult to trim exactly the same
>amount off to preserve the lengths. Any help would be appreciated.
>
The answer here is, of course, to change the stops on the
miter saw so you cut the stock 1/8" or so long.
Now...what works for me are these steps:
1) As above, cut the frame parts 1/8" long with a saw.
2) Trim one end of a frame piece to that perfect 45 degree,
glassy smooth angle on the miter trimmer.
3) Shave bits off the OTHER end of the frame piece until it
is at the "perfect" length. Oh Yea...keep your fingers holding the
frame piece away from the blades or you might only find out you have
taken the tips of one or more off when the frame changes color.
4) do the same operation to the OPPOSITE frame piece, shaving
it down until it matches the first one.
5) repeat for the other two sides of the frame.

Got to remember that the miter trimmer is a PRECISION shaving
tool. It cannot take off thick chunks of material without causing the
frame piece to travel a bit, ruining the miter. Because you are
cutting a 45 degree angle, the piece IS going to want to be pulled
along with the blade, so light cuts and a firm hand holding the frame
piece in place are what is called for.
Regards
Dave Mundt