Is this type of bevel cut safe?

[Stytooner]

That piece is way too small to be doing that cut. It will have a tendency to want to walk up the blade and burn. You need enough room so that you can hold it down well. A fence hold down might help here. I would still do this cut using another tool.
A part that small could be locked into a tenoning jig. Then the stock wouldn't want to wander and you would have a better cut. No burning this way either. You wouldn't need to trap the offcut in the fence with a TJ either.

[LarryG]

Others will disagree, but I wouldn't consider the "trapped" offcut in this particular situation dangerous. The offcut is small in all three dimensions, and it's contained by the fence and the blade. In theory a similar cut except with the blade at 90d would actually be more dangerous than this one, because the vertical blade would increase the chances of the offcut lifting and being flung back at the operator.

Lee is correct about maintaining control of the actual workpiece, however. I would not want my fingers that close to a spinning blade, which would be a virtual requirement with a workpiece this small.

The setup is indeed as scorpio guessed, which after some further thought I realized it would almost have to be. But I'd probably never attempt this (even with a larger workpiece) because while it looks good in theory, it would be difficult to get perfect results because the blade, fence, and workpiece must all be aligned within a gnat's hair of perfection ... and even then you'd end up with a feather edge of the workpiece sliding against the fence, which as Lee points out will put the nice crisp corners you would naturally want at risk, especially if you're trying to control the workpiece indirectly, such as with a push stick. If your aim is fine woodworking, there are easier, better ways.

[oakchas]

Is this type of bevel cut safe?

NO.

Everybody else says use the miter guage, SMT if you have one. They are right.

If you wanted to use the fence to make certain the sides remain the same length and didn't have a stop block for that purpose on the far end of your SMT/miter guage... you could use a small indexing block on the fence that helped set the distance but was no where near the blade.

[JBCrooks]

Wouldn't a router table with a large 45 bevel bit be about the best way to get a good and safe result for this type of operation?

[pdimond]

I've included a photo of the bevel cut which is shown in the book. Anyone care to comment? I realize getting the fence/blade set "just right" is the key. But safety is paramount.

This is definitely a dangerous cut. It's analagous to the 'hidden arrow' when you cut a rabbet in the wrong order (the right way is to make the second cut with the waste away from the fence so it is not trapped between the workpiece, the blade and the fence .. and use a pushstick that traps the offcut .. but I digress....).

In the illustrated example, the trapped waste has a good chance of kicking back and flying out toward the user at high speed (and it's nice and small, too, so excellent penetrating power right in the gut). The user will be putting pressure on the top of the workpiece which will then put a little force on the blade pressing it down into the offcut. When the blade clears the rear of the piece, a little extra pressure and ZING!.........

And it's going to be a pain to make the cut accurately anyway, you would need the blade to bite into the sacrificial fence at exactly the depth of the workpiece, unless the intent is to cut a partial bevel.

The correct ways to make this cut would be:

1. To use a mitre gauge to the left of the blade (for small pieces) - still a chance of the waste kicking back, but reduced.
2. To use a fence to the left of the blade (for bigger workpieces) - still a chance of the waste kicking back, but reduced.
3. The best and by far the safest way - To use a crosscut sled set up for bevel cuts (which makes your cut far more accurate if you use a stop block on the sled fence).

I like your instincts. If something feels like it may be dangerous, it probably is. Whenever that particular little birdie sings in my ear I stop, make a coffee, and think the situation through carefully.

Cheers!

[JimD]

I like the offcut to be free and the work piece to be between the blade and the rip fence. The sliding rails of the BT3000 and 3100 make it fairly easy to slide things over and make the cut the way I consider to be "right". A left tilting blade would make sliding the rails unnecessary. My way gives you a good edge to support the blade on the first cust but you still have a thin edge on the second cut if you are making a box. I have tried this before but I was not happy with the results. IMHO, you are only semi-guided by the fence because of the thin edge.

Jim