These saws excel at making consistent, repeatable cuts in 2x4's, 4x4's, 2x6's, molding, and trim. If it's a long piece of wood and it needs to be cut to size, the miter saw is the tool of choice. Quick to setup, portable, and easy to use, the miter saw is as much of a staple at a construction site as it is in a cabinet makers shop.

The miter saw looks a lot like a circular saw attached to a pivoting base. It makes its cuts by pulling the spring loaded saw down against the material to be cut. The saw pivots and tilts on a built in table with an integrated fence. Most of the saws have large, easy to read, (usually 1°) increments, miter indexes. Propery adjusted, they are very preciese. It's this index that gives the miter saw such consistent cutting accuracy.

Since the miter saw is so often used at the work site, a variety of quality portable bases exist to make support of those 16' long strips of molding as painless as possible.

Miter saws have some great features:

• Automatic blade guard which retracts only as the blade nears the wood.
• An intuitive to operate trigger, which encourages activation only when actually cutting the wood
• Blade brake to stop the blade quickly after releasing the trigger.
• Good dust collection even without connection to a vacuum.
• Positive stops at standard cutting angles.
• Safety clamps designed to hold wood to the miter table.
• The blade is pressed down into the material to be cut, and the rotation of the blade tends to pull the wood against the stops and away from the operator.
• Many newer saws have laser guides which trace the cut line on the wood.

Types of Miter Saws

There are three basic types of miter saws each with their strengths and weaknesses. The type of saw you choose will be determined by your budget and expected use.

The size of wood that a miter saw can cut is dependant on many factors including: size of blade, angle of cut, sliding (or not) and the manufacturer. It is important to carefully review the manufactures specifications for the saw you are considering to make sure that it is up to the cutting task you require.

No Bevel Miter Saws

These are the simplest to operate and least expensive of the miter saws. These saws find their home in construction projects where simple cut-off of long lumber is the only requirement. They only allow cutting of a single angle in a board. The size of the blade determines the maximum size of the board which can be cut. The advantage of these saws is that they can withstand some serious abuse with very little that can go wrong or get out of alignment.

Compound Miter Saws

Compound miter saws allow two angles to be cut into the material at one time. Not only does the saw rotate left and right around the table, but it also tilts on the table. This compound action allows difficult cuts in things like crown molding to be done with a single cut. A single bevel saw only tilts the saw in one direction which may require reversing the piece to get the required cut. A double bevel saw allows the saw to be tilted both left and right requiring less planning when making cuts. Note that many double bevel saws allow for more tilt one direction than the other.

Sliding Compound Miter Saws

Sliding miter saws add a forward-backward sliding action to the miter saw. This allows miter cuts to be made in much wider material. For instance a 12" compound miter saw might be able to cut a 6-1/2" wide piece of crown molding laying flat. The sliding version might be able to cut one 11-1/4" wide. This added capacity comes at a price. Sliding miter saws are typically more complicated beasts. As such, they are more expensive than their un-sliding siblings, a bit more ungainly to move around and have more things that can get out of alignment.

Portable Stands

In workshops, miter saws are often mounted on a dedicated bench. This bench provides a comfortable working height for the tool as well as the support needed for long pieces of molding and trim. Additionally some method of setting up 'production stops' is usually available to speed up repetitive cutting tasks.

Miter saws see much of their work on-site and must be setup and torn down on a daily basis. To simplify this process the portable miter saw stand was created. These cleverly designed, folding stands come in many flavors but all provide essentially the same thing: a portable work bench for your miter saw for use at a job site. Some of the stands are minimalist in design. They fold up small and light and a special clamping system allows the miter saw to be removed and attached in a few seconds. Others are designed not just as a workbench for the saw, but also as a transportation device. The bench folds up, saw and all, and ends up looking a lot like a dolly with wheels.

Types of Miter Saws

About Us Contact Search Help Use of this site is subject to the Terms of Service. © 2006-2010 Critical Pursuits. All Rights Reserved.