How to mitre small parquetry blocks?

[Kritta]

In brief:
I'm after advice on how to cut angles across relatively small parquetry blocks. The angles will form the mitre corner of a row of blocks that run into the corner of a room. The room has a border of two rows of blocks that run parallel to the wall. The room may not be square. I currently have the TS55 with a couple of rails, but no other Festool tools.

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In more detail:

Firstly, I'm new here and also new to Festool. I bought a TS55 to achieve a clean cut to form the border of a parquetry floor. I'm delighted with the quality and accuracy of the cut.

Now I want to lay a border around the room. The border will consist of two rows of parquetry blocks running parallel to the walls.

The blocks are about 65mm along the short edge and 260mm along the long edge (2.5 x 10.2 inches). If the room were perfectly square I could just cut a 45o angle. But of course the room may not be perfectly square and the corners are not quite 90o. So the angle I need to cut may be slightly (but not much) more or less than 45.

The problem I have is that the blocks are so small that they are completely covered up by the rail. I can put a block under the rail, but not hang onto it after that. In some cases the blocks will be quite small (or short) so that the cut will almost be across a square(ish) block. I can't hang on to one end of the blocks while I cut off the other. The blocks move as soon as the saw blade touches them.

I also need to cut some very small triangles to fill in gaps where the pattern meets the border. You can see in the picture that I've tried to do one but made it too small. Also, my angles are not right on the border, so the whole corner is very sloppy. (I do have ones that I've tried that look better, but I've used this pic as an example of the problems I'm having.)

I had thought about:

• Mitre saw (Kapex). (A bit expensive for me.)
• MFT3 with the angle and fence attachments and surface clamps to hold the block to the fence.

Any other suggestions?

I'm not really a woodworker - so the cost of any tools should be justified by this one flooring project and possibly some home maintenance and low level DIY. Some of the stuff I've seen and read here is inspiring, but I'm uncertain as to whether I will really get into woodwork enough to justify a huge investment in multiple Festools (or any tools, for that matter).

 

[nickao]

Are you using a slip tongue(spline) on those? If not you should. Or use a domino or biscuit if you have one.

I dont use miters much on flooring and only if requested and I always try to talk people out of it. I butt the pieces in the corners and make sure the butts have a T&G connection.

At the very least glue those miters together and right to the floor as well.

 

[jimbouk]

Mitre saw is your best bet. I would hire one if you dont want to buy. Or you could get some spare blocks and make a jig to keep rail level and cut a repeat angle.

 

[jmbfestool]

260mm isn't that short and chopsaw will do most the work.

If/when it comes to very small pieces you cut them as an off cut.  So you are holding the larger part of the piece.    Problem is if you don't get the cut correct first time you would struggle cutting it again. It gets a little dangerous so I either try again with another piece or using block plane, chisel or what ever I'll manually adjust the cut to fit.

Personally I would think a TS would be a little fiddly

 

[Kev]

Hiring a mitre saw (typically not well cared for) could lead to frustration.

TS would drive you bonkers on the small pieces.

If the job is important to you I believe you need to acquire a high quality mitre saw and use a high quality blade. You can always sell a tool as "used on one project".

 

[b_m_hart]

Is it possible to cut the angled portion to check the fit (on a larger piece), then once you've verified the fit, cut it down to the proper length?  That's how I did my floors when I had smaller pieces (I used the old style 2" oak strips) to deal with.

 

[bertv]

Stick both pieces of parquet to a bit of plywood with double sided tape (the stronger kind, used for carpets), draw your miter cut, and cut with your TS55 and the rail, with a slight inward angle (2 degrees will do the trick). This ensures a tight fit by compression when putting down. Take care that you do not cut through the plywood backing.

(Turn around, draw corresponding corner and do the other cut if length of material allows for that).

Use other pieces of plywood and parquetry to stabilize the rail if necessary.

For a limited number of corners buying specialized equipment is not worth it.

 

[Cheese]

Is the room square with only 4 corners or does it have more corners than that? Four corners equals 16 mitre cuts, (providing you get each one right the first time), and that'd be doable using the plywood and doublestick tape method, more than that and I'd try to locate a mitre saw for a day. If I was in your situation, I'd rent a mitre saw for a day and then purchase and install a high quality, high tooth count blade on the saw. Return the saw...keep the blade for future use.

If you don't want to rent a mitre saw, you could purchase some long "corner boards" of the material you're using and miter one end and then miter the other end. The long lengths allow you to clamp them down, and when you're satisfied with the result, then you cross cut them to size.

However as [member=3373]Dovetail65[/member] suggested, you will need to use slip tongue in the mitered corners to help prevent the miters from opening and also to keep both sides of the miter on the same plane. A router with a tongue & groove cutter is the easiest way to make the cuts.

The small corner triangles are probably best cut with a Japanese style pull-saw. They can be purchased for $20-$70. On this project...glue and oak tongue are your friends.

 

[Kritta]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really appreciate the thorough and rapid responses.

Careful set-up and double-sided tape proved to be the key to doing what I wanted to do. I basically reproduced the angle on a piece of MDF, stuck the pieces down with the double-sided tape, and cut them all at once. It revealed a new problem: bisecting the angle does not necessarily create a mitre that 'points' to the corner, but that's another matter and reveals how important it is to pick the point where the two edges of the main pattern meet.

The room I'm working on here is the spare room, and the first that I'm doing. It will suffer the results of a few errors, but I'm happy to be nutting out these issues and learning as I go.

The photos show a rough proof of technique. I've not glued anything together here... it's just laying on the slab. It looks a bit tighter and neater when it's all snugged-up. The step between the two rows is due to the centre line aimed at the corner of the wall, not bisecting the entire angle. I will try it both ways and see which looks best with the skirting board down.

Thanks again for the help.

- Andrew

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Used two bits of cardboard to copy the angle.

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[attachthumb=3]
Stuck two rows together with double-sided tape.

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And stuck them down to MDF.

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And cut across all four pieces in one go. Tape held well.

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[attachthumb=7]
Better than before, and okay for proof of concept. Now to re-do it with a little more accuracy, solid materials, and to try bisecting the angle instead of aiming for the room corner.

 

[nickao]

It looks like you are planning and taking your time, just the way you should do. I am sure the final results will be great. Just make sure the main floor is racked correctly( Iit appears you already are done laying the main floor though).

I stopped using miters in those corners years ago and simply butt edge them with a T&G. It looks great and never any worries on the miters. I  used this pattern whenever a client allowed it.

Here is a sample off the net"

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