[Shop-talk] Aligning round tubing for mitering?

[Karl Vacek]

Low-tech, but it works for low-volume light aircraft construction and the 
like -- mark a center line on the tubing.  One simple way is to lay it into 
the miter-gauge slot on a table saw, assuming you have a one - and draw your 
line onto the tubing along the edge of the slot.  Otherwise, roll the tubing 
up against something like a board or strip of plywood roughly half the 
tube's diameter, and draw the line from the top of the board.

Karl




> I'm trying to build a small rack/platform using some 5/8" round tubing.
> I'm planning for it to be rectangular, with the tubes cut at a 45 degree 
> angle (don't have a tubing bender).  I'm going to notch 3 crossbars with a 
> 5/8" drill, to form a nice, flat platform.
> The problem is, I don't know how to align the tubing to keep all the cuts 
> square with each other.  Is there a simple way of doing this?
>
> Thanks!