[Shop-talk] Aligning round tubing for mitering?

[Drew Rogge]

For the miter cuts at the corners of the platform I'd cut one end at the 45 degree
angle and then hold the flat side of that end up against an angle plate when I clamp
to cut the other end. If you don't have an angle plate then anything that can
establish a plane at 90 degrees from the table would work.

For cutting the fish mouths I would try to come up with some way that I wouldn't
have to unclamp the tube from the vise when I move it to the second end of the
pipe. For shorter pipes this would work better than for longer ones.

Drew

Obaa wrote:
> 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!